


Avengers: Infinite Wars

by FreeManWriter



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) - All Media Types
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-10
Updated: 2021-01-09
Packaged: 2021-03-09 02:42:01
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 48
Words: 507,634
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27487480
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FreeManWriter/pseuds/FreeManWriter
Summary: The Clone Wars are in full swing with the galaxy divided. The Jedi lead the clone army against the infinite droid army of the Separatists. Yet a wild card enters the fray. The Avengers. From there, newer, more sinister and deadlier threats emerge and The Galaxy, no, the universe, shall never be the same again. Now entering Phase 3. Co-written by Jebest4781.
Relationships: Obi-Wan Kenobi/Satine Kryze, Padmé Amidala/Anakin Skywalker, Riyo Chuchi/Pietro Maximoff, to be added
Comments: 40
Kudos: 70





	1. Recruitment and Mission

**Author's Note:**

> Phase 1 cover art here 
> 
> https://www.deviantart.com/freemanwriter/art/Avengers-Infinite-Wars-817012651

**After the amount of Marvel films, return of the Clone Wars and the added lore and original plans for seasons 7 and 8 I've realized I have so much more to work with and I realized how narrow my original plans were. MAN do I have some surprises in store for all of you guys.**

**And due to the length of this story and how large in scope and scale it is, this is actually the very first story where I legitimately wrote out every single Arc that I have planned and in mind. BulletstormX and Jebest4781 were as always HUGE contributors, especially for this particular story as the three of us share an extensive knowledge of Star Wars both from the TV shows and films as well as the extended lore. Also, a lot more and I mean** _**A lot** _ **more use of the legends canon then the Disney one.**

**Some of my original ideas will remain but there is so much new things to add and do as well as the changing of the title.**

**We're taking place in a galaxy right? Well that means that the conflicts are endless or shall I say Infinite**

**Rate Read and Review and As Always Have Nice Day**

Avengers Infinite Wars Chapter 1: Recruitment and mission

Three years ago, a day unlike any other occurred.

A day where the earth was threatened by an extra terrestrial force unlike anything that had been seen before.

In response to this, six individuals from all different walks of life came together, setting aside egos, personal agendas, pride and motives to be the sword and shield the Earth needed.

The Avengers, Earth's Mightiest Heroes

Captain America, Iron Man, Thor, Hulk, Black Widow and Hawkeye fought back the invading aliens called the Chitauri lead by none other than Thor's own brother, Loki.

Together, the Avengers repelled the invading aliens, defeated Loki and achieved victory.

After said victory each one separated to go on their own adventures and harrowing dangers until reuniting and have been openly active across the globe, fighting threats from London, to Africa, To Korea, and back home in America.

And even though things changed, the ideal still remained the same.

It had been several months after the Avengers had battled against the villainous AI that Tony Stark had created called Ultron.

Since then, the Avengers had gone through a great change.

Now the team had consisted of new faces lead by some old ones.

Captain America and Black Widow together lead the new Avengers made up by Steve's good friend, Sam Wilson AKA The Falcon, War Veteran James Rhodes AKA War Machine, the twins Pietro and Wanda Maximoff AKA Quicksilver and The Scarlet Witch. And last but not least the synthetic android known simply as Vision.

This was the new team of Avengers that operated at the New Avengers Facility in upstate New York, the new safeguard of the world. And right now…

"You're sure about this guy, Sam?" Steve asked his friend, looking over the data pad in his hands.

"Damn sure." Falcon said with a confident nod. "It all matches up and he's definitely a contender."

"So now we're recruiting a guy who can….communicate with Ants?" Natasha said jokingly, though she too held interest in this subject.

"He sure kicked your ass good Sam." Pietro said with a grin.

"Hey, I didn't know he could turn into a tic tac." Sam rebutted with a huff making Rhodes and Pietro laugh at his expense.

"But all things considered, this has to be a unanimous agreement." Steve said in total seriousness, surveying the team

Steve first looked to his right hand man (Woman really) Natasha.

Nat looked up at Steve before shrugging and replying with. "I'm all for new faces"

Nodding, Cap then looked over to the others.

"Hey if he can beat one of us in confrontation, he's got some potential" War Machine said with an accepting nod

"Well, it gets a little boring with the same people over and over again" Pietro remarked, casually leaning back in his chair "So hey, I approve"

His sister merely deadpanned at him, then faced Cap.

"You have my vote Captain" Wanda said with a friendly smile and Cap gave her a nod of acceptance.

"I find that it is necessary to increase our ranks." Vision said sagely, crossing his arms together in thought. "After the events that have transpired for the past few years and for what is yet to come, we must be ready. Though I do not know of this…Ant-man. I feel as though after what I have seen of him, he will be a great addition to this team."

"Well that was a long philosophical way of saying yes." Falcon quipped "But hey, he's a good guy so he's got my vote as well."

"It's decided then." Steve said a final nod "So…"

Captain America leaned onto the table. "Who wants to go convince our newest contender to be an Avenger?"

_One Week later San Francisco_

Scott Lang was currently eating at a diner, looking over some of his most recent enhancements of his suit, along with a much better understanding of the suits workings.

After several months of constant study, Hank Pym bestowed his knowledge of how to repair the suit and how to replicate and create stable Pym Particles.

Sighing to himself, Scott continued to eat his meal, his mind feeling a bit exhausted from all of the information that he has had to learn in the span of a short time.

So much had changed for him so quickly. Now, he felt so overwhelmed with all these new responsibilities.

Thankfully, he wasn't alone in his studies nor his training.

Hope Van Dyne had become an integral pillar in his new life, often helping him in so many different ways. Soon after, much to Scott's astonishment, Hope had her own suit and had taken up mothers mantle of The Wasp. Scott figured that would be the coolest way for his daughter Cassie to meet Hope, suit and all. Her reaction was simply precious, instantly earning a special place in Hopes eye as she was easily taken with peanuts infectious happy personality.

There was a natural tension between Hope and Scott though not in the conventional sense. They did kiss after all among other things since he first became Ant-man and now here he was taking her out for breakfast at a diner….as his boyfriend.

"So how's Hanks upgrades for you coming along?" Scott asked while wolfing down some waffles

"We're just about finished with it. Some tweaks needed here and there until we can do a field test." Hope replied, taking a sip of her coffee while reviewing some blue prints of the Quantum portal that they had been working on. "How's Cassie?"

"She is doing great." Scott stated with a loving fatherly smile. "She says hi and got us a few little gifts."

"Did she now?" Hope said in amusement.

"Oh yeah." Scott nodded with a laugh, rummaging in his backpack and pulling out a medallion and a trophy.

"She gave me this one." Scott wagged the trophy, holding out the medallion next. "And you, this one."

Taking both medal and trophy in hand, Hope snorted and chuckled.

"Worlds greatest Grandma?" Hope couldn't help herself.

"And best Step-sister." Scott said with a wide grin.

"Well I feel honored." Hope said gazing at her medal fondly, placing beside her plate. "Hanks been meaning to test out the growth aspect."

Scott groaned. "Again? I knocked out after the first time. Didn't wake up for hours."

"He set the dosage to high and not the proper stabilization." Hope admitted "Dad figured that out after the first time."

"Really?" Scott said dryly, letting out a sigh.

"Hey." Hope placed her hand over his "Don't worry about it, you'll get the hang of it."

Scott gave her a grateful expression, twisting his hand around to squeeze hers. It was then that something behind her caught Scott's attention. More like someone.

A certain someone who he had encountered not too long ago.

Scotts eyes widened in disbelief, confusing Hope who turned to see what Scott was staring at only to share his expression soon after.

"Guess I came at a bad time." Sam said, smirking down at the two. "Didn't realize you were in the middle of a date."

"Uh…" Was all Scott managed out.

"What's up Tic tac?" Sam said.

Scott stammered for several moments before shaking his head to clear his jumbled up thoughts.

"Listen." Scott said right away. "About last time, it was really important that I…"

"It…" Sam interrupted, somewhat embarrassed at the memory. "It was a great audition, but it'll never happen again."

"Yes, I completely agree" Scott said quickly. "It was a one off, I just needed something so I could stop this lunatic from helping out HYDRA so I could…"

"I think that more than qualifies you for what I'm about to ask." A different male voice cut in this time, making Scott pause.

Glancing up to his right, Scott's eyes widened in shock and awe as it was none other than Captain America looking down at him with a friendly smile.

"Mr. Lang" Steve said "Ms. Van Dyne. A pleasure to meet you both at last."

Steve offered his hand and after realizing what Cap did, Scott stood up in a rush.

"Captain America." Scott said shaking Steve's hand vigorously.

"Scott." Steve said, not minding the enthusiastic handshake.

"It's an honor" Scott said, looking at their shaking hands "I'm shaking your hand to long."

With that, the two let go.

"Wow." Scott said like a little fan boy looking to Hope who was still greatly surprised by who she was meeting. "This is awesome"

"Captain America." Scott repeated once more, still trying to come to terms with standing in front of his idol.

Scott then grabbed both of Steve's shoulders, marveling at his physique. Sam only snorted at the action.

"Jeez this is insane." Scott said when he realized something. "Wait, uh, why are you here? And did I inadvertently do something bad again? I mean, Hope was with me so I don't think I did."

"Captain." Hope spoke up, recovering from her previous state. "If this isn't about our time uh…raiding your base, then what's this for?"

Steve gestured for them all to sit which they did.

"It has nothing to do with anything that you've done in the past." Steve said "We've read up on your resume. Impressive for a 'convicted' criminal."

"Uh, listen, what I did against Vistacorp." Scott tried to defend himself, but Steve held his hands up

"We read up on it before" Steve said calmly "After reviewing what happened, we know you're in the right."

Scott began to stutter in disbelief as one of Earth's mightiest Heroes just said that he believed and approved of his past actions.

"Which is why, Scott Lang." Steve said in more serious tone, extending his hand "We would like to personally invite you to join the Avengers."

Scotts jaw dropped, almost looking like it was about to fall off.

Hopes eyes widened to the size of dinner plates at the proposition, looking at Sam to see if this was some sort of falsehood only to see that it was clearly not.

"M-Me?" Scott stammered, finding his voice.

"You." Steve nodded.

Scott was stunned silent once again, going up to pinch himself.

"This isn't a dream, is it?"

"No Mr. Lang it is not."

"Can Hope join too, then?" Scott blurted out hopefully.

_That night_

"Absolutely not." Hank Pym stated angrily from behind his work station in their lab.

"Come on Hank please." Scott begged. "This is not something we can just brush off."

"Yes we can." Hank said sternly. "And I just did."

"But it's the Avengers!" Scott emphasized.

"And they work for Tony Stark and SHIELD." Hank argued back. "And you know my history with Starks and SHIELD."

"Well technically SHIELD is defunct now dad." Hope pointed out. "If not entirely."

"Don't you start with me." Hank deadpanned, walking away from them only for both to follow.

"Hank." Scott called out to him. "Why are you so against this?"

"Because I can't trust a couple of super people who have caused more harm than good to this world, especially with my tech." Hank said "They were even formed by SHIELD."

"But only two of them were SHIELD operatives" Hope said, recalling the public information on the team.

"Hope." Hank said, somewhat betrayed. "Don't tell me you also want this?"

"Well…" she stammered momentarily "Kind of, yeah I do want this."

"Why on earth would you want that?!" Hank exclaimed.

"Because I always wanted to be a hero like you and mom!" Hope nearly yelled out, stunning Hank into silence.

"Hope…" Hank said softly

Hope averted her eyes to the ground momentarily, biting her lip and curling up her fist.

"I've always wanted to be a hero like you and mom" Hope repeated in a small voice. "That was my dream as a kid and now I have the chance to do it more than ever."

That took both Scott and Hank by surprise. They never would have expected such a fantastical dream from Hope who was usually so grounded.

She looked up at her father with a fierce gaze

"I remember that even though it was dangerous, you and mom did what was necessary to help fight for a greater purpose." Hope said.

"We were working for Hydra, sweetheart." Hank countered sullenly. "We were benefitting an organization that manipulated so much."

"But you still helped people" Hope countered "You and mom went out of your way to save lives and help those in need. I want to do that with the people who actually took down the very organization you despised."

Hank remained silent, unsure of how to respond.

"Hank." Scott said. "Listen, I know this isn't my place to say it but you told both of us once that power can be trusted when placed in the right hands."

"But the Avengers…." Hank said challengingly.

"Yes the Avengers." Hope argued, now steely determined. "This could be our chance Dad, not only to make a difference but we could also have them help us find Mom."

Hank mouth opened to respond, trying to counter her ready to state that they could do it on their own. But he was outnumbered here. And the truth of the matter is that even with their tech, it may take a very long time in constructing the Quantum tunnel into the Quantum realm.

Sighing in defeat, Hank gave them both a scrutinizing stare to find any weakness but conceded.

"Alright." Hank said in slight resignation. "You can join them."

_Scene cut_

Whilst the trio of Pym Particle users discussed the topic of Avengers memberships, one former Avenger was currently in the old tower hard at work on his next suit.

Beside him were a collection of screens displaying video footage of a multitude of individuals that have had very high profile activities throughout the state of New York. In particular, Queens and Manhattan.

The Devil of Hells kitchen, the drunk detective, the unbreakable man of Harlem, the man with the glowing fist and the spider of Queens.

Such a colorful and eclectic group of enhanced individuals. Not unlike the Avengers in many ways just more…grounded so to speak.

He brought up the one that interested him the most right now.

The spiderling, crime fighting spider or whatever it was that he called himself.

He was eyeing the footage he had managed to find with great interest. From entrapping a car thief to literally stop a car with robbers mere inches from a bus, this kid was something special.

And yes he knew it was kid. Based on the footage and sound he had gotten his hands on where his voice was clear and present, this spider guy was clearly just a kid.

Question is, who was the kid beneath the mask?

After sending out a drone(Yes that's creepier then it sounds) to seek after the spider, he at long last found out that the kid lived in Forest Hills, Queens New York. Running facial recognition scans, the kids name was Peter Parker who currently lived with his Aunt May Parker.

Then there was this Luke Cage, the unbreakable man. He seemed determined to keep Harlem safe and was doing a good job at it. Along with all these other vigilantes that had been active across the city. Tony himself had mused and wondered what was it that caused this surge in enhanced individuals becoming such public figureheads.

Before he could delve further into his research, he got a notification from the Avengers base in upstate.

Opening the message, Steve had sent him an invitation in apparently welcoming the two newest members to the Avenger the following week.

"Huh, guess Shawarmas back on the menu."

_One more week later_

The team was gathered together in the meeting room, all in costume as today was a very important day in the Avengers history.

For the first time ever, they were about to have New Avengers join the team. And this time, it was without any conflict or major event that required additional support.

It was simply the team welcoming more heroes into something bigger.

"So after a long week of preparation and debate." Steve said to the entire team. "I would like you all to formally meet and welcome our newest members, Scott Lang The Ant-Man and Hope Van Dyne The Wasp."

Scott Lang walked in the meeting room in full costume(Civil War variant) with Hope(The one seen in Ant-man and the Wasp) in her suit as well. Their masks flipped back revealing one who was nervous and another who was positively beaming.

When Scott told Cassie, she was ecstatic to know that her daddy and hero would be joining Earth's Mightiest Heroes along with his partner and girlfriend Hope.

"Guys." Scott said abashedly. "This is too much."

"Gotta make you feel welcome Tic Tac." Falcon said graciously, shaking hands with the new Avengers.

"We were new once." Pietro remarked. "You got in the same way we did."

"How was that?" Hope asked.

"We ended up fighting one another originally." Wanda said, rubbing her arm in embarrassment. "It was a bit of a…well a really big misunderstanding."

Scott and Hope blinked at the witch.

"Uh…"

"Ah yes." Vision said in his solemn voice "I recall at the time of my birth I attacked Thor before coming to my senses."

Scott just stared between the trio, back and forth.

"Alright guys." Steve said, placing a hand on Scotts shoulder with clear amusement. "I think it's high time we show you the full base."

"Sounds like fun" Scott said

"You're gonna love it here." Pietro said "They have a bunch of shit I didn't even know existed."

The team went about the facility, showing Scott the multiple rooms from the science lab to the kitchen, the lounge, theater room and so on.

"And this." Steve said, entering a very large plaza. "Is the training room."

"WHOA." Scott exclaimed "This is awesome, we could actually do the crazy things I've been working on."

"Save it for another time." Rhodey said. "It's time for your initiation."

"Initiation." Scott said with some nervousness "What kind of Initiation? Like Freshman, no more mister nice guy or frat boy level stuff?"

Sam laughed, patting the new Avenger on the shoulder.

"No man, nothing like that."

"This is more of a…" Steve tried to pick the proper words "Taste test."

Scott tilted his head in confusion.

"Taste Test?" Hope repeated

"Ah dang it, was I too late already?"

Everyone turned back to see Iron Man walk in to the training room with a large brown paper bag the size of a suitcase.

"Actually, you came just on time shell head." Black Widow remarked.

"So you're Ant-man and Wasp?" Tony's helmet collapsed back "Nice to meet you both, Tony Stark."

"Scott Lang." Scott introduced himself a bit nervously

"Hope Van Dyne." Hope said with a more even tone

Both shook hands with the billionaire superhero with his eyes trailing on Hope momentarily.

"You're Hank and Janet's kid, right?"

Hope blinked at the question

"You knew mom and dad?" Hope asked in slight disbelief.

"I knew of your dad, yeah and his history with mine." Tony said wryly. "Not surprised your dad didn't get along with mine. You're mom on the other hand, met her a few times when I was kid before she vanished."

There was a bit of a tense silence that followed afterwards which Tony realized he had done which in turn made him quickly hold out the brown bag.

"Shawarma? It's the initiation." Tony said in rapid succession

_Scene Cut_

It had been two months since Ant-man and the Wasp had joined the Avengers, and life went on for the team as usual.

They trained, ate, spent time together while splitting up as usual to do their own things.

Scott had even brought in his daughter at one point which lead her to being very fondly remembered by the team. Especially Vision. As Scott stated.

"Kids have a weird penchant for guys like Vision. He's just those kinds of….people where you can't really hate. Like you Wanda, just way more red and green…like Christmas/"

Of course that all eventually had to come to an end.

There was an emergency meeting called upon by Captain America.

"Everyone." Cap said in total seriousness, leaning upon the table within the meeting room of the facility. "As you know, since the collapse of SHIELD, HYDRA went down with it but has remained active underground for the past two years with many splintered groups."

Behind Cap, the viewing screen turned on, showing a mountainous European village that seemed a bit too familiar to several of the Avengers.

"Thanks to some of Nick Fury's old contacts, there has been whispers of a HYDRA base stationed just outside this village."

The screen now showed a metal door that was built into the base of the mountain.

"This is their base of operations" Steve said "But we can't discount what they could be hiding in the nearby village or the area surrounding it. Which is why we're going to be split up into three teams. Sam, Pietro and Wanda, the three of you will be investigating the town, try asking around to see if they had seen anything suspicious"

The selected trio nodded

"Vision, Rhodey, Hope, the three of you will be surveying the surrounding area" Steve said to the second team "They might have outposts and some leftover Chitauri enhanced technology at their disposal. If you find them, take them out and bring the tech in"

"Copy that" Rhode said while Vision simply nodded

"Nat, Scott." Steve said to the remaining two Avengers "You two will be with me. We're going to going right into the base. Simple reconnaissance and infiltration before the rest of us storm in. See what information we can find, what else they've been working on, possibly even locations to other HYDRA bases."

Nat acknowledged the order and Scott let out a breath of anticipation and anxiety.

"Let's move." Steve said and the team all went to the Quinjet bay.

"Anything else we should know?" Sam asked as they boarded the Quinjet.

"Yeah." Steve said with a somewhat agitated tone. "Turns out that this HYDRA base has the scraps of an old friend of ours. Ultron."

That alarmed the Avengers, but was quickly placated by Steve.

"Don't worry." Steve said "It's not Ultron himself, least I don't think it is. Vision saw to that personally. HYDRA has collected many drones and bodies, every scrap of Ultron and his army. So whilst we aren't dealing with Ultron directly, we may be facing his leftovers."

The Quinjet lifted up into the air, coordinates placed in and away they went.

Most of the team was silent, with only Sam and Steve conversing softly with one another.

Ant-man was sitting with his hands interlaced, staring at the ground intently somewhat fidgeting in his seat.

"You alright?" Hope asked in the seat beside Scott, nudging him with her shoulder.

"Just a bit nervous." Scott admitted.

"Hey we've trained for this with and without the Avengers." Hope said confidently.

"Actually it was more like, you know, just the two of us and we weren't fighting anything to…crazy…" Scott trailed off, not sure of his words.

"You'll both do fine." Said an accented voice.

Scott and Hope glanced up to see Wanda now moving to sit beside them.

Wanda gave them an understanding expression.

"I felt the same way when I first fought alongside the Avengers." Wanda said, sitting down beside him. "I remember feeling like I was in over my head."

Wanda laughed at herself "Which is ironic considering that I was fighting them without knowing who I was fighting for….like always."

Scott felt a pang of sympathy for the Sokovian. She, like her brother at a point believed in what they were fighting for until reality told them it was a lie. And now…now they're using this opportunity and time for redemption.

Meanwhile, Steve was conversing with Tony who was at the old Avengers Tower.

"You sure you don't want to tag along Tony?" Steve asked "Might need the help."

"Nah Cap" Tony said from the other line "As the Avengers Consultant, all I 'can' do right now is advise you. Besides, the new and improved Quinjet would be there and back again before I could even have a chance to suit up"

Steve stared at the screen with Tony on it who was idly putting together some new invention.

Sighing, Steve gave his friend a grin "Alright, your loss."

"Have fun" Tony said cheekily, the line disconnecting.

"Arriving at destination in 10 minutes." An artificial male Russian voice said to the team

"Thanks Tap" Steve said to the Avengers personal AI, nicknamed Tap.

"No problem Comrade Captain." Tap said gruffly

"Is it wrong to say I still find it weird that Tony gave us a Russian AI?" Sam said to the team

"I think he did it intentionally." Rhodey said with a knowing look. "Probably some ulterior jab at Wanda and Pietro, or at Nat, or he just wanted to screw with us. Probably the latter….or all the above."

"Humor." Vision said in contemplation "I still find this human concept unusual."

"Well it's not really just a human, Viz." Wanda said to the android "It's something a lot of people use to deal with situations."

Over the past year, since his creation, Vision had been trying to adjust to his very existence with humanity. Most of the team has seen him reading books on human culture, religion, society and so on as well as constantly watching television and the internet.

It was amusing most of the time to see a being such an odd duck. So wise and yet so naïve. Vision seemed to have formed an odd friendship with the twins and constantly is a source of Pietro's jokes but sadly the android is none the ware of it all unless Wanda reprimands him.

"So we're facing Ultron's leftovers." Nat murmured to herself "Even now, he's still after us."

"It's not him" Steve said to the former spy "It's just scrap metal, leftovers"

Steve looked back to the team "Nothing we haven't handled before"

Of course that boost in confidence changed in an instant when the teams eyes widened in shock, jaws dropping.

Cap looked back up front and saw two large pairs of bluish synthetic eyes looking directly at them.

Steve's reflexes kicked in and the leader of the Avengers pulled the ship up into a sharp angle, avoiding crashing into a gigantic robot

"What the hell was that?!" Pietro exclaimed in shock.

"Flyers, get out there now" Steve barked to the Avengers, opening the back ramp

War Machines face plate slid on as did Hope's helmet, Falcon jumped out, Vision phased through the bottom of the jet, Scarlet Witch engulfed herself and floated out with Pietro going with her in a red sphere. Steve banked a hard left, narrowly avoiding a gigantic metal hand.

"That's a lot of scraps." Falcon said on the comm link while flying around outside.

"Looks like a supersized Ultron drone." Rhodey commented.

"HYDRA must have created this machine with a combination of the remains." Vision surmised.

"Scott, looks like we're going to have to get in this earlier than usual." Steve said to Ant-man who was already using his abilities

"Way ahead of ya Cap" Scott said and Steve And Nat heard a buzzing sound they had become familiar with over the course of the past several months.

Ant-man then shrank down, landing on a flying ant in the middle of his Ant legion.

"Best get in the fight, Cap" Nat said

Steve simply put the jet on autopilot and with Nat moved to the edge of the ramp.

Down below they saw the Avengers had now engaged with the gigantic HYDRA robot that stood in the center of the village.

Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch were doing crowd control, rushing over to civilians to get them to safety whilst Vision, Falcon, War Machine, Wasp and Ant-man kept the attention of the machine.

"Avengers Assemble" Steve said to himself, leaping out of the quinjet in a freefall

Nat shook her head at seeing Cap once again pull off his no chute fall and then jumped out after him.

Cap continued to freefall until he pivoted his body and threw his shield with all his might. The shield smashed and ricochet of the palm of the gigantic robots hand. The machine retracted its hand and now began swinging around to hit the flyers in the air that fired beams, bullets and miniature missiles at its head.

Down below, as Steve fell to the ground, he saw the bluish silver trail of Pietro running about getting people to safety with Wanda doing the same.

"Village is clear, Cap." Pietro said in the comms

"Good job you two." Cap said, moving his body around, feet first as a translucent red slide appeared beneath him.

The red energy caught him and Nat, the two descending down landing next to Wanda and Pietro.

"What's the game plan, Cap?" War Machine asked, his shoulder Mini-gun firing away at the Machines arms.

"This thing is called Ultimo-3." Falcon stated

"How the heck do you know that?" Rhodey asked

"It's on the back of his head." Falcon pointed out

"I did not notice that" Vision said in moderate surprise "Is this a human thing? To brand creation?"

"Ask Tony that next time you see him" Steve said "Alright team, the plan is simple. This thing may be large and made out of Ultron but that's just it, it's scrap metal. So lure the big guy away from the village into the mountains and tear the bastard apart."

"Copy that." Sam said "What are you gonna do?"

"Scott, Nat, Hope." Steve said "The three of you are with me. We're gonna storm the base and take it out. See what else we can find out about HYDRA."

"Way ahead of you Captain." Ant-man said "I've already got a swarm of my ants inside the base, scouting it out."

"Great job Scott" Steve praised "Think you can get the door open"

"Looks like that won't be necessary, Steve" Nat said pointing towards the mountain door which opened up and out ran HYDRA agents with Ultron drone type armor and Chitauri based weaponry.

"This should be interesting then." Steve said

Cap's group ran towards the oncoming Hydra agents, with Wasp and Ant-man shrinking down during their charge and Nat running along with Cap, brandishing her electrified batons.

Throwing his shield, the Vibranium disk bounced between the oncoming soldiers before returning to its owners hand.

Scott and Hope had taken to striking specific parts of their heads to take them out quickly with Nat using her batons to electrocute or whack them into unconsciousness.

The other Avengers in the meantime were battling Ultimo with everything they had, dodging and weaving its surprisingly large fast frame.

Eyes aglow, Ultimo targeted Wanda from a beam shot but the Sokovian managed to repel it with an impromptu shield cringing greatly from the impact of the energy upon her barrier.

Vision quickly relieved her with punch to the side of Ultimos head.

Wanda released her shield and flew up into the air, weaving her hands to create a platform for Pietro to run on. Wielding a sharp pipe, Quicksilver launched himself at full speed jamming the pipe into Ultimos eye.

It lumbered back, reaching up to grab Pietro only for War Machine to fly by and grab the speedster away to safety.

Falcon launched several missiles the giant robot, blindsiding it allowing for Vision to slam itself into its stomach.

Within the base, Steve, Nat, Scott and Hope were cleaning house. Thanks to past experiences with their raid of HYDRA bases Widow and Cap were making quick work of the HYDRA soldiers, with Ant-man and Wasp doing the same thanks to their instruction these past few months.

Wasps wrist mounted bolt stingers were proving to their job quite effectively as each one she fired off took out any and all HYDRA goon she targeted.

Ant-man had also displayed a more efficient fighting style as he jumped between each soldier using his strength and the assistance of his ants to take out enemies left and right. At one point, Scott had even made Steve throw him at another oncoming wave of HYDRA soldiers. The force of the throw on top of Scotts own enhanced strength knocked out several HYDRA agents right away while sending the rest stumbling.

The others capitalized on this advantage and beat down the rest of them.

They powered through the rest of the base, fighting quick, hard and precise to take out the guards and secure the base.

Back outside, the other Avengers continued to fight Ultimo, the machine now in complete disarray at the amount of heroes fighting it. It's programming had been upgraded greatly since its last two predecessors but still it has never been tested against a group like the Avengers.

So it was completely unaware of the red energy that was slowly making its way inside its body to its core.

"Found you" Scarlet Witch declared before she let her power explode.

Ultimo halted its attack. Suddenly, the machine began trembling before convulsing. Its mouth than opened and then….

BOOM

Ultimo blew up from within seconds and ultimately fell apart.

All that was left was the top half of Ultimos head.

There was a brief moment of silence.

"DAMN" Pietro exclaimed. "Nice on Sis."

"You got that right" Falcon said, the team now assembling around the head of the destroyed robot in victory while contacting Steve. "Cap, big bot's been taken down."

"Good job." Steve praised. "We're just about done in here as well. Make a sweep of the area and come rendezvous inside the base.

After doing as Cap instructed, the rest of the team entered the base.

What none of them had expected was the buzzing of ants floating around above them, forming an arrow in the direction where the other Avengers were.

"That's actually nifty." Sam commented, following the direction of the ants.

They soon entered a lab with Widow and Wasp sifting through files and other computers while a large group of scientists and soldiers were bound together in the center of the room.

"This is a big one" Black Widow addressed the group that had just entered. "They've got huge data caches of experimental tech that would make Stark's head spin."

"Wonder what they were working on here then." Sam said in thought.

"Cap went on ahead with Scott." Wasp informed, gesturing her head towards another door on the other end of the room.

As Steve and Scott were ahead of the group, they were the first to reach the final room in the base. Which was incredibly large. Almost about the size of the Avengers Quinjet bay.

All around the room were computers and in the center, an odd gyro like machine that had lights lined around the circular pieces, dimly lit.

"Geez, Hank would love a place like this." Scott said aloud in wonder.

"Maybe he'd make sense of everything in here." Steve said, looking around the room. Moving forward, Cap began investigating the room, going from computer to computer.

"Found something interesting?"

Steve jolted somewhat, looking over to see Widow, Sam and Rhodey enter the room.

"Damn" Rhodey murmured "What the hell is this place?"

"HYDRA's objective" Steve surmised "What they tried to hide cause this seems to be the last room in the base."

A silver bluish blur then dashed into the room, running in several circles, screeching to a halt in front of a computer.

"Whoa" Pietro said "This is different from before. Not like the base where Wanda and I got our powers"

"How was that base like?" Rhodey asked

"Very encompassing, depressing and caused claustrophobia" Pietro replied casually making the team stare at him

Not noticing the stares as he had his attention on the contraption in the middle, Steve turned to Widow.

"Nat"

"On it"

Natasha went up to the center computer, plugged in a kind of transfer chip in and began typing away.

Steve then got an incoming communications from none other than…

"Well hello beautiful" Said the voice of a giddy Tony Stark "What have you found for me today Cap?"

"Something I think you should be here for" Steve remarked "It's like candy land for you here"

"Whoa" said the voice of ant-man as he entered the room with the remaining Avengers "This is like Star-gate level sci-fi here"

"What have you got for us here, Tony?" Steve asked through the communication pieces

"Experimental tech, to say the least" Tony said, clearly impressed with what he was looking at "The data here suggests that whatever they were working on was, as most geeks would say in this day and age, Some next level shit."

"How next level?" Rhodey asked

"Oh boy" Tony said "The million dollar question."

There was momentary silence from the other end, the avengers continued to move about the room, examining everything.

Pietro was on one knee as he was looking at some kind of screen. Tilting his head in interest, Pietro pressed on the screen and like most tech in this century, reacted to his touch and displayed some techno mumbo jumbo that was beyond him.

Scratching his chin in thought, Quicksilver pressed the first icon that caught his interest which just so happened to be a video.

The video was of the contraption being put to a test. In the video, HYDRA scientists surrounded the machine as it whirled to life. In the center of the swirling circles, an odd energy substance could be clearly seen. The scientists spoke in another language('German?' Pietro thought), seemingly speaking about the machine.

Then came some testing as one of the scientists lifted up a bottle of water and tossed it into the swirling substance. The bottle was sucked in and there were some beeping noises.

Pietro was now fascinated and began exploring more of these videos, seeing HYDRA constantly toss random items into the swirling mass that they sent into the swirling mass.

Then they upped the ante. In the next video, a HYDRA agent was geared up in some heavy duty armor of tech and had rope attached to his back. Getting a thumbs up from one of the scientists, the agent entered the portal, vanishing entirely, yet the rope remained until it didn't and vanished. This sent the group of scientists into a frenzy, trying to figure out what went wrong before the video cut out, ending the long playlist.

Pietro looked up at the machine, now in slight awe and nervousness being around this thing. Pietro could only give a toss up of what it does exactly, but right now, he didn't really want to find out.

The rest of the Avengers were completely unaware of what Pietro had just witnessed, now surrounding Captain America as he conversed with Tony on their find

Of course none of that mattered when the room began to vibrate.

The rest of the avengers had rushed in an alarm and readiness at hearing the sudden vibration that shook the room nearby.

The team tensed and were now on the defensive.

Suddenly the machine activated and began whirling around at a fast rate, not even bothering to start up slow.

The door then closed and a grid encompassed the room before fading.

Steve and several of the Avengers ran up to the door and tried reaching for the handle only to get zapped back.

Vision attempted to turn transparent and phase through the wall but was met with the same result.

This scared the Avengers as now, they saw the machines gyro sphere was spinning faster and faster until it was a blur.

"Uh guysZZZZZ" Tony tried reaching out to them, but they heard static seconds later.

The gyro sphere had produced a swirling bluish white energy portal when the contraption began to produce static, electricity jumping about its structure.

"Avengers" Steve shouted out "Brace yourselves"

The group gathered together just as the energy within the sphere had reached a breaking point.

It collapsed on itself, disappearing in a blink.

A second passed and then the energy exploded, engulfing the Avengers and blinding them.

The last thing they all saw was a bright light and felt themselves being pulled into the center of the room. And then they knew no more.

The light dimmed, revealing an empty room, the machine slowing down to a jerking halt. Wires were now hanging from the ceiling and computer and there were pieces of rubble on the ground crumbling from the ceiling.

Then at last, the room went silent.

Nothing but the leftover hum of the room.

**This is the start of something new. I always love bringing together the unusual.**

**I'm gonna have a lot of fun with this one. Then again I have a lot of fun with all my stories.**

**This is another one where two entities with insanely large fan bases come together.**

**Naturally, them being Avengers, they upset the balance of Star Wars.**

**Get ready star wars, the Avengers assemble in your universe and they're doing things they're way.**

**Oh, any pairings you people want?**

**Like Steve finds a lady love in one of the Jedi? But too late for that as I already know who Steve is gonna get.**

**Also, again another quick reminder people, AU there will be alterations to the past actions of the MCU**

**Rate Read and review and as Always Have Nice Day**


	2. Welcome To Naboo

**Oof, I have so SO much planned for this story I couldn't even decide where to begin until I looked to the legends for help and I got it.**

**Glad to see the few reviews of the faithful that are glad that I have returned to this story.**

**And of course as soon as I return to the story, Clone Wars is being removed from Netflix within a few weeks. Ain't that a case for irony?**

**Also let me just get this out of the way. I will not, I repeat I will not be taking on ANY new story ideas. I've already gotten my plate full with my current stories on top of so many others I'm working on in the background right now I won't be able to add on anything. So there, that's done.**

**Anywho, really I'm just glad that I came back to a project that had unresolved and untapped potential but this time with a much bigger idea in mind and an actual game plan. So really, let's do this.**

**And Hunter? Yes I had to delete it entirely. Fresh start.**

**Rate Read and Review and as Always Have Nice Day.**

Avengers Infinite Wars Chapter 2: Welcome to Naboo

Ringing.

A loud, ear piercing ringing was the first thing that Steve Rogers' senses registered upon awakening.

Groaning, Steve had an overwhelming numbness coursing through his body barely being able to register his hand that had subconsciously went up to clutching his aching head.

Straining himself to sit up, Steve felt a solid wall on his back that he had been leaning on. Feeling slowly began to return to his being, rubbing his eyes.

Opening them slowly, Steve shut them a second later before opening them again to properly register the lighting.

He was in an alleyway that was for sure. Narrow walkway with the opposite wall of the building he was facing being obvious to see.

Sensation and relief started to come over him as Steve forced himself to his feet. Wobbling slightly, the Avenger winced from a light the blared in his eyes. Glancing down, he saw his shield lying beside his foot.

Letting out a slightly relieved sigh at the sight of something familiar and important to him, Steve grabbed his valued shield up off the ground and placed on his magnetic back harness.

A groan close by caught Steve's attention and he turned to see that it was his stalwart comrade and friend Sam coming to his own as well.

"Sam." Steve said in relief, quickly jogging over to him.

"Steve?" Sam asked blearily, shaking his head in an effort to throw off his dizziness. "What the hell happened?"

"Your guess is as good as mine." Steve answered, helping his friend to his feet.

Leaning against the wall for support, the aviator flexed his hands to get a sense of feeling back as he too was experiencing a kind of numbness all over him.

"Where are the others?" Sam inquired, keeping himself steady on the wall.

"I don't know." Steve said with a frown. "I just woke up myself and you were the first person I saw. What do you remember?"

Rubbing his head, Sam focused momentarily. "Just the lab and all that weird light with the tech going off like crazy. Then…. Just waking up here."

Looking around, Steve saw the exit to the alleyway a few yards away from them. Glancing back to Sam, Steve went for his earpiece.

"Avengers, come in." Steve said with a tinge of hope only to be met with static. Gritting his teeth slightly, Rogers tried once more. "Anyone on Comms, come in."

Static once more.

"Nat?" Steve tried again. "Scott? Rhodey?"

"Got nothing on my end either, Steve." Sam said dejectedly, finally standing firm on his two feet.

Steve sighed in defeat, looking up to the sky until turning back to the alleyway exit at the sound of laughter. He spotted kids running by, chasing after something.

"Well, they sounded friendly." Sam commented, eyeing their surrounding area. "Did that place teleport us somewhere?"

"Maybe." Steve said taking a step forward. "Only one way to find out really."

The two cautiously walked forward and stepped out from the alleyway to find themselves standing in one of the most architecturally beautiful places they had both ever laid eyes on. It just so happens to be the most alien as both immediately spotted a small group of children walking together and amongst them were without a doubt Extraterrestrials.

Some had long faces with fin like ears with maybe one or two of them being human in appearance though completely blue with tale heads if that's what they would call it.

Steve and Sam both soon spotted other very unusual beings stationed around this new area, primarily the more adult version of those fin-eared aliens and half a dozen people that were clearly soldiers due to the near pristine white armor they wore that covered them from head to toe, posture and the large rifles each held in hand.

"Steve, we are definitely not in Kansas anymore." Sam murmured to Cap who could only blankly nod his head. "Any ideas Cap?"

Steve looked around, taking into account the white armored soldiers and the other civilians walking around. Up above, he could clearly see ships flying around with a few headed in one direction. Looking forward Steve saw a ginormous palace in the distance, one could call it kingly and royal in appearance.

"They're definitely military." Sam murmured, observing the white armored soldiers standing around. "Maybe they can help us out. From one soldier to another."

"Maybe." Steve murmured rubbing his chin, eyeing the gaggle of kids who were now moving around the terrace with the head of the group clearly being a teacher. Some had now taken a moment to look over to the two Avengers with curiosity apparent on their faces.

It was then that at long last the soldiers who had been standing vigil in this open area noticed the two unusually garbed individuals, both of whom seemed clearly at a loss as to where they were.

"Uh… Any idea who those guys are?" Said the first armored soldier closest to them in their comm link.

"No clue." The Second one spoke with a shrug of his shoulders. "They Seps?"

"Don't think so." Said the first soldier. "Sergeant Buck, any idea what to do here? They don't look threatening."

Sergeant Buck was much easier to distinguish amongst the six armored soldier as out of all of them he had his helmet and shoulder pads accented with green markings.

"Standby boys, I'll get this all sorted out." Sergeant Buck said, moving forward to meet with these strangers.

Both of them noticed his coming approach and faced him tensely with a steely resolve. Their poise, the way they stood, there was no doubt in the sergeants mind that these two were seasoned warriors. It was clear as day to see.

Color him interested. And wary.

"Identifications sirs." Sergeant Buck said politely enough.

"Captain Steve Rogers." The blue suited man said.

"Lieutenant Sam Wilson." The goggled-eyed said a moment later.

Both delivered their introductions in a crisp military like fashion. But they didn't have identification. However after spending some time here on this planet and its inhabitants, Buck learned that a candid approach would be needed in certain situation. His gut was telling him this to be one of those time.

"I'm Sergeant Buck of the Grand Army of the Republic." He introduced himself and saluted them both. Though he did not know of them, their tone and delivery made it clear that they did indeed hold military ranking.

Both tilted their heads at the salute, glancing at one another before both saluted him back in turn.

Surprising, aside from the GAR not many other people do such a gesture.

"Not to be rude or anything." Steve Rogers spoke up. "But Sam and I here are in a bit of a bind."

"By bind we mean we have no idea where we are." Sam Wilson bluntly stated, throwing off the sergeant.

"Err… What?" Was Sergeant Bucks response.

"Look." Steve said in a placating manner. "We're not here to cause any trouble at all. That much we can tell you and promise. We were in the middle of… a mission to best describe it and a few unexpected twists happened and the two of us found ourselves… what is this place anyway?"

"You're in Theed, capital city of Naboo." Buck responded right away.

"Naboo?" Sam and Steve repeated in confusion. "What's that?"

Buck stared at the two of them, somewhat disbelieving in their question. "The planet of Naboo. You know, the Naboo? One of the Republics strongest allies and supporters."

_The planet of Naboo_ were the only words that both Avengers registered, slowly turning to look to one another as to see if neither misheard what Sergeant Buck just said.

"Another Planet?" Sam murmured, trying to get a grasp on the situation.

"Looks like we know what HYDRA was working on." Steve whispered back bitterly.

"Oi, you two alright? You're both stiff as stone right now." Sergeant Bucks accented voice cut through their small talk.

"Sorry." Steve said, hanging his head slightly. "Listen… Sergeant Buck, I'm not sure how exactly we got here but we are not from this planet for sure."

"I was kinda starting to figure that." Buck said earnestly. "You don't look or dress anything like the people of Naboo here."

"Shit." Sam cursed. "What do we do now Cap? We got no idea where the others are let alone the two of us."

"I don't know Sam." Steve admitted frustratingly. "This is kinda new for me."

Sam snorted, shaking his head while crossing his arms in thought.

Buck couldn't help but feel a form of sympathy for the two guys standing before him. Both were clearly lost and bit down as they brought up their lost comrades several times. He may have only known the two for a few minutes but quite honestly, he felt a need to help them.

Sergeant Buck then gazed back to his soldiers who were all standing at attention at their posts though some had their helms turned in his direction.

"Come on over boys, they're alright." Buck called out to them.

In an instant, the other five soldiers approached them. As they drew near, Buck introduced the two superheroes to his squad.

"Brothers, I'd like you all too meet Captain Steve Rogers and Lieutenant Sam Wilson." Sergeant Buck said.

Hearing the fact that these two men were apparently military and hire rank than even their Sergeant, all five snapped at attention and saluted both men.

"SIRS!" All five in unison said at the same time, sounding exactly the same peeking Wilson and Rogers' curiosity. They returned the salutes in turn.

"You all sound the damn same." Sam noted "You guys all brothers or something?"

"Huh?" One of them spoke up. "You don't know about us?"

"Son, I think it's easy for me to say that both Sam and I have no iota as to what's going on and where we are." Steve said in total honestly.

"You don't know anything about what's going on?" Another asked, the same voice again. "At all? The war with the separatists? The Droid army? The Republic? Anything?"

"Easy Flapper, let the two breath." Sergeant Buck admonished lightly.

"War? Droid army?" Sam reiterated. "Where the hell did we land ourselves in?"

"So just to be clear…" Buck said to the Avengers. "Neither of you have any idea as to the war or anything like that?"

"No." Steve said firmly. "Whatever we were expecting, landing in the middle of a war was certainly not on our agenda. Nor was leaving our home planet to begin with."

"And I thought our lives couldn't get any crazier." Sam wryly stated.

"Well, you're in luck." The soldier on the far left said with a chipper tone. "Naboo is a pretty peaceful planet. Nice and quiet and really beautiful under the night sky. Or in the rising sun… you know this whole place is pretty amazing actually."

"Don't mind him." The closest soldier to Sam said in amusement. "Jolly fell in love with this planet first time he laid eyes on it. Wants to retire here after the war's all done."

"Ah shut up Rook." The now identified Jolly soldier snarked back. "You're just jealous you can't see the beauty of this world."

"All I see is boredom." 'Rook' shot back. "Right Pac?"

"More or less." 'Pac' agreed affably. "Though I do like the fruits."

A small banter erupted between the soldiers now, the same voice arguing back and forth amongst them while Buck only shook his head at his squads childish behavior.

Steve on the other hand couldn't fight the growing smirk he had with a wave of nostalgia washing over him as he watched the white armored soldiers bicker back and forth with one another. In the back of his mind, he heard the familiar sound of gunfire, explosions and then… laughter. The laughter of long lost comrades that he tragically never saw again save for only one.

Sam held a similar expression, chuckling silently at the soldiers who were now getting a bit rowdy with one another until their Sergeant effectively ended their harmless fun.

"I gotta ask one question though." Sam said to the men. "And it was from before, are you guys all brothers? Cause damn you guys sound _Way_ to alike."

"That's the thing sir." Jolly said, moving to remove his helmet. "We are all brothers in a manner of speaking."

Both Steve and Sam's eyes widened at the site of six helmets being removed to reveal six exact same faces staring right back at them with maybe one or two distinguishing features on each of their faces.

"Are you guys clones or something?" Sam asked.

"Hey, that's exactly right." Flipper said with a grin. "Yeah, we're all members of the Clone Army of the Grand Republic."

"Clone Army?" Steve whispered, now moving to remove his own helm to rub his slightly overwhelmed head. "One thing after another."

"Tell you what." Buck stepped forward. "How about my unit and I show you around."

"Yeah, I'd rather honestly do that than just stand around all day." Rook admitted. "Hey Chalk, maybe you'll see your special little lady friend later."

"Shut up Rook." Chalk, a clone with bleached Chalk white hair retorted irritably. "Least out of all of us, I'm personable enough to get one."

Chortling at their behavior, Steve couldn't deny the humorous argument here was rather endearing to him.

"You know, that tour sounds like a good idea." Sam reasoned, nodding his head at Buck. "Get a lay of the land and figure out things from there."

"No problem." Buck said, helmet back on. "Follow us sirs."

"You don't need to call us that." Steve said amused by the gesture. "We're not your commanding officers."

"Force of habit sirs." Flapper said. "It's in our training."

By this point, the group of soldiers had arrived in a market place. The area was bustling with activity, humans and other aliens Steve and Sam had yet to identify were conversing, trading and simply giving off a lively, peaceful vibe.

A few other clones were spotted throughout the crowds of people, as they were easily distinguished with their white armor.

"He y look, they got some new Chak-Root!" Pac said excitedly, moving to walk over to a stand only to get bumped by the butt of Bucks rifle.

"No drinking on the job, trooper." Buck said sternly.

"It's for later Sergeant." Rook said with a grin. "We've gotta spend our downtime somehow you know."

Sergeant Buck only grumbled beneath his helmet whilst Sam only shook his head with an amused grin in place.

Steve was observing the area with great interest in the meantime, taking a moment to take in the rather astonishing natural architectural beauty the buildings and environment gave off. He really wished he had a sketchpad on him right now, he wouldn't mind getting a few sketches out of this place. There were also decorations all around the place.

He was cut off by his observations when he felt someone bump into his leg.

Glancing down, Steve saw that it was a little girl with wavy light brown hair with small flowers decorated around her head like a crown.

"Sorry about that." Steve said kindly, helping the girl to her feet.

"It's ok." The young girl said happily giving him a beaming smile. "Here, this is for you. Sorry for bumping into you."

Steve quirked a brow, giving a small smile at the flower presented to him by the little girl.

"Why thank you." Steve accepted graciously. "You seem to be carrying a lot of those around."

"Yup, today is a very special day." The little girl nodded her head vigorously.

"And what might that be? My friend and I over there aren't from Naboo so we'd like to know what the fuss is all about."

"Oh it's a very special day." The girl said excitedly, bouncing on her toes. "It's the ten year anniversary of the unification of the Naboo and the Gungans."

"I thought the planet was called Naboo?"

"That's what the people call ourselves."

"And are those the Gungans?" Steve inquired gesturing to a fin eared humanoid nearby speaking very strangely and goofily with what seemed to be a friend. The girl nodded her head.

"You're very smart for a girl your age." Steve praised making her eyes light up. "What's your name?"

"Ryoo Naberrie." She introduced herself.

"I'm Steve Rogers." The super-soldier patted his chest and gave her a gentlemanly bow making her giggle at the gesture.

"Ryoo, there you are." An older, motherly voice cut through the crowd. "You know not to run off like that."

Both head turned to see a middle-aged woman coming up to the two of them, eyeing Ryoo.

"Sorry mommy, I made a new friend." Ryoo said sheepishly, looking up to Steve making her mother face him.

She was momentarily thrown off by the unusual garb but brushed it aside.

"I hope my daughter didn't cause you any trouble." The mother said in a kind manner, similar to her daughter.

"No, as a matter of fact…" Steve held up the flower he had been given to him by Ryoo. "She was kind enough to give me a welcoming gift to Naboo."

The mother proceeded to give her give her little girl a proud smile whilst Ryoo blushed at the attention.

"It is a pleasure to meet you then…"

"Steve Rogers." Cap held his hand out to shake which she did.

"Sola Naberrie. I hope you enjoy your stay here on Naboo." She said pleasantly, moving then to take Ryoo's hand. "Come along Ryoo, Aunt Padme's waiting to see us."

"Aunty Padme?" Ryoo said now jumping with delight, turning back to wave goodbye to Steve. "Bye Mr. Rogers."

"Goodbye Ryoo." Steve said in turn, smile on his face as he watched the two depart.

"Daw, that was adorable." Said a familiar teasing voice from behind. "And she even called you Mr. Rogers. It's a really great day in the neighborhood."

And thus the mood was ruined by Sam as Steve rolled his eyes and turned to face not only Sam's joking grin but the stifling laughter of the Clones that had been accompanying them.

"Didn't know you were so good with kids Captain." Pac complimented.

"That was the sappiest thing I have ever seen." Rook chortled.

"It's like one of those bad drama holo-vids." Jolly concurred.

This was something way too familiar to Steve. Soldiers teasing and japing at his expense. The clones themselves couldn't help it really. There was something about these two that was strangely natural. Maybe it was the air of comradery that was easy to see, maybe the battle-hardened eyes that spoke of many conflicts. What it was, these clones didn't know but it was just so easy to act like this around these two. And they had only known one another for less than an hour!

Steve shook his head faux annoyance when something in the distance caught his eye. Something that didn't exactly match the tranquil air of the city.

"Sergeant Buck." Steve spoke up in total seriousness. "What exactly are those?"

Buck quirked a brow and turned to direction of Steve's rather intense gaze only to balk and swear under his breath.

"It's those damn Seps!" Buck exclaimed aloud, rifle held up now. "SEPARATISTS INBOUND."

The moment Sergeant Buck shouted those two words pandemonium erupted as all around them, the inhabitants of this planet began to see the ships descending down to them in turn making them flee for their lives.

Clone Troopers who were either patrolling or standing around on guard duty now rushed into action, some shepherding civilians in the direction away from the incoming fight while the rest were either firing or moving to other positions in order to prepare for the battle to come.

"What the hell are they doing here?!" Flapper shouted/asked. "This is a republic stronghold! We've got an entire fleet defending the planet!"

"Crazy clankers." Rook growled out.

"VULTURE DROIDS!" Pac shouted.

Up above were a dozen unusually shaped four pincered flying ships that were headed right down at the city below. From the bottom of the Vulture droids came small glowing orbs that fell down and began blowing up.

The sounds of civilians screaming and fleeing for their lives began to fill the air along with blaster fire.

"What the hell is going on?!" Sam exclaimed in disbelief. "Why are they attacking a civilian population?!"

"Those damn separatists don't give a Kriffing damn about lives." Buck growled out, readying his rifle. "Every Republic world is fair game for them."

"Let's show those Clankers what happens when they mess with the Grand Army of the Republic." Pac said, excited at the prospect of battle.

"Looks like we're gonna get our chance soon." Rook gestured his head at Droid Landing Craft that had managed to get close enough to the ground on the other side of the terrace. It hovered their momentarily until it began to get bombarded by missiles.

"Our boys are in the air." Jolly fist pumped at the site of LAAT Gunships and ARC-170 Starfighters that were moving to engage the Separatist air forces.

"And we've gotta move now." Buck commanded. "The people of Naboo are under attack men. Let's hit those clankers with everything we've got."

The six clones ran off, leaving the two Avengers in momentary shock until Steve and Sam spotted debris on top of a man struggling to escape with several other people trying to help him escape.

Legs moving automatically on its own, Steve was already beside the down man.

"Hang on." Steve said to the surrounding civilians, already throwing and pushing off debris they were have trouble with. In a matter of second the man was freed and was raised to his feet, thanking Captain Rogers before his companions helped him in escaping from the invading Separatist forces.

"What do we do Cap?" Sam asked, very much tense and keeping his eyes in the sky. Gigantic ships high above the planet could be seen quite literally zipping into view with other smaller ships flying down to the surface.

"We help the people and get them to safety." Steve said instinctively. "Let's move."

"Copy that Cap."

The two broke off into a run, going after the Clone Troopers they were just speaking with. They heard the sound of blaster fire just up ahead and picked up the pace.

Rounding about a corner, it was complete and total chaos.

Robots of several variations and size were all over the place firing at other white armored soldiers while people were fleeing for their lives.

Steve spotted Sergeant Buck and his unit using rubble and a nearby shop for cover, with Jolly nursing his arm.

They were facing a large platoon of lanky bots that were slowly advancing upon their position.

"Sam." Steve said, grabbing his shield.

"On it." Unfurling his wings, Falcon took to the skies and pulled out his SMG's.

Captain America sprinted forth at full speed and with a mighty swing threw his shield at full force. The spinning disk cleaved through the bots with complete ease.

"What's that?" Were the last nasally words of one of the bots when it was decapitated by the shield. It bounced around the terrain cutting through the robots with complete ease.

Sam fired his guns but the bullets only managed to destroy two and dent others. Seeing that they weren't cutting it, Sam dive bombed them with his wings shielding him in case of fire. Smashing through the bots, Sam used his thruster pack as a boost to perform a spinning kick corkscrew that sent droids flying into the wall and smashing into pieces.

Not taking a moment to rest, Falcon jabbed the top metal part of his wings to bash the droids down. Grabbing two guns on the ground, Sam figured they would prove to be much more effective than his SMGs and immediately began firing upon the droids while taking to the skies.

All the while the display was witnessed by Sergeant Buck, his unit and other Clones, all having wide-eyed dropped jaws beneath their helmets.

"Holy Kriff, who the hell are these guys?!" Chalk exclaimed in shock.

"I don't know, but right now I don't care." Rook said excitedly. "They are scrapping those clankers like a breeze."

"We've got the advantage boys." Buck yelled out, stepping out from his cover. "Push forward brothers."

The clones within the vicinity followed in the Sergeants lead and began to press their counter-attack on the attacking droid army.

Cap and Falcon fought in tandem together, wrecking the droid forces.

"Hey who are those two?" One of the lanky droids asked.

"I don't know, they're definitely not clones." Another said.

"Are they Jedi?"

"They don't look like it. I've never seen a Jedi move like that."

"You've never even seen Jedi to begin with."

"Oh yeah! This is my first BaACK."

The conversation between the droids were promptly put to an end via Caps shield slicing right through them.

Returning to his awaiting hand, Steve charged forth grabbing a droid by the neck and throwing it with ease at another cluster before Sam flew by and shot them all down.

Cap was then joined by Buck and his unit who backed him up in repelling the droid forces along with the many other Clones within the area.

"Area secured." Flapper announced.

"That was incredible." Jolly declared soon after, cheering for Sam and Steve. "How'd you guys do that?"

"Yeah." Pac said in equal excitement. "I don't think even Jedi could move like that."

"No time for that." Steve cut them off, taking on a commanding presence which startled all the clones. "Right now, those droids are invading the city and we've got civilians under fire by them. We need to split up. One half takes on the droids while the rest move to get the civilians to safety."

The clones were silent in response to Steve's instructions until Buck spoke up.

"Copy that Captain Rogers." He agreed whole heartedly, looking to his brothers. "You heard the man, move your ass's we've got a battle to win here."

Snapping out of their stupor, the clones divvied themselves up amongst one another, one half staying here with Cap and Falcon while the rest went off to aid in keeping the civilians of Naboo safe.

"What are we dealing with here, Sergeant?" Cap asked straight away.

"Landing Crafts, couple of cruisers and several droid command stations." Buck listed off.

"We spotted mostly Vultures, Tri-fighters and Gunships in the air." Chalk added.

"Why exactly would they wanna attack Naboo?" Sam questioned. "Judging from the marketplace back there, this place doesn't seem like a military target aside maybe from resources."

"There's a number of reasons actually." Jolly said.

"Save it for later." Steve said straight away. "Right now, we've gotta figure out what would their objective for the attack be."

"I think I've got an idea to that." Buck said, eyeing the palace of Theed. "Senators from the Republic had arrived several days ago. One in particular which has quite the history on the planet and the separatists, especially the Trade Federation. Senator Padme Amidala."

That name was vaguely familiar to Steve as his short-term memory scrounged to recall where had just heard that name.

"So this is more personal than anything?" Falcon surmised.

"That'd be my guess Sir." Buck said respectfully.

The sound of vulture droids zooming overhead being pursued by Arc-170's interrupted any further conversation and speculation as to why the CIS was attacking.

"Let's move then. Stay in tight formation." Steve commanded. "Long range Troopers I want covering our rears with CQC specialists front and center with me. Sam here will be our eye in the sky. Keep a tight formation and check your corners."

"Yes Sir." Was the resounding reaction from all Clones present who were jittery with anticipation was. Aside from Sergeant Bucks unit, the rest of them had no clue as to who these two new guys were. But in this short instance, they had displayed battle prowess, awareness and tactics that had eclipsed whatever expectations they held.

These two right here, especially the one with the shield? They were definitely worth following.

Falling in line, Cap lead from the front with Sam by his side, deploying Redwing into the skies for surveillance while Buck followed up on Steve's other side.

"We've got some civilians trapped up ahead Cap." Sam said, his goggles receiving a live feed from Redwing. "Got a few dozen of those lanky one's we took out but they've got some bigger, bulkier black one's with them."

"The lanky ones are the standard B1 battle droids." Buck chimed in. "The larger ones on the other hand are the B2 Super Battle Droids."

"Super Battle Droids?" Steve murmured.

"What are you worried about Cap?" Sam joked. "You're already a Super-soldier so this should be a cakewalk."

'Super-soldier?!' the clones all had the same thought on their minds.

Cap only rolled his eyes good naturedly before picking up the pace. "Let's move gentlemen, we've got civilians to save."

The Clone Troopers obliged, picking up after Cap and Falcon into a run until they stopped by Steve holding up his arm for them to wait. Standing nearby a building, Rogers gestured for them to lean against the wall for cover while pointing at Buck, Chalk and a clone holding a sniper rifle to come forward with him and Sam.

Peeking round the corner, the five soldiers saw a large contingent of droids all surrounding an equally large group of Naboo, Gungans and even a few clones who had been stripped of their weapons along with other uniformed men and women. The captured Clones and uniformed individuals were on their knees before the civilians almost intentionally as they seemed to be making sure the droids paid most of their attention to them rather than the unarmed people.

"Do we normally take prisoners?" A B1 battle droid asked a yellow accented B1.

"Not normally." It mused in its high pitched voice. "Not sure about the clones though."

Steve's exceptionally enhanced eyes took the time to get a layout of the environment around the droids and their prisoners, taking note of angled walls a nearby fountain and several tapestries hanging above. Formulating a plan, Steve looked back to the men.

"Spread out." Steve instructed. "Use the stands and booths as cover and wait for my move. Sam, get ready to reign down some fire."

"You got it Cap." Sam said, already using Redwing and his goggles to mark down targets.

"You heard 'im." Buck said. "Move out."

The clones went in pairs of twos and threes and used the alleyways and food and souvenir stands to surround the Droids while Steve remained where he was with Sam along with Buck and Pac.

Meanwhile the droids were still debating, remaining none the wiser of the impending attack.

One of the captured Clones however had managed to spot brief instances of white armor in between the stands and booths all getting into position.

Grinning beneath his helmet, the Clone noticed some of the B1 Battle droids amicably glancing around boredly while the ones in front of him continued to speak on what to do next.

Those air-headed clankers may spot his brothers so he needed to act fast.

"Oi Clankers." He called out to them getting everybody's attention. "You do know that it's standard procedure for you to feed your captured prisoners right? Haven't you ever had prisoners before?"

"Uh, what is he talking about?" a Droid asked.

"I don't know, I've never held prisoners before." Another said, turning to the accented B1 Battle Droid. "What about you commander? Have you ever held prisoners?"

The yellow accented Battle Droid was put on the spot, quickly trying to recuperate from the sudden questions. He wasn't programmed for this kind of leadership.

"Uh… uh, Of course I have!" The commander droid responded in a stammering manner. "But I've never fed them before."

"Then what do we do?"

"Get scrapped clanker, that's what." The clone said mockingly.

"Huh?"

It was at that moment a flying disk had completely destroyed the commanding droid along with a few other unfortunate droids before bouncing off the walls several times and coming back down for another run through. It had cut down the hanging decorative tapestry which in turn fell upon the droids, blind siding them.

"Hey, what's going on?" one of the B1 droids cried out in panic.

"NOW."

Falcon fired his missiles from his pack and flew forward along with Cap who snatched his shield from the air as the clones who had been hiding sprang out and in a matter of seconds the droids were all but destroyed.

The civilians all let out breaths of relief and gratitude with a few even cheering for the victory.

"Incoming!" Flapper shouted. "Droidekas!"

Several rolling balls were headed their way until they stopped and unfurled themselves, shields up and firing at them.

"Take cover now." Steve shouted, standing in front of the civilians in order to protect them from fire.

Sam had taken to the skies whilst the clones all hid behind stands, booths and the nearby fountain to avoid the Droidekas fire.

Several clones sadly were not fast enough and got hit, dying on the spot.

Steve moved like a blur to deflect the blaster bolts, making sure not a single one got past him. He even managed to redirect some back at the Droidekas, something he did not know his shield was capable of doing so yet it proved ineffective against the shields.

"Anybody have any ideas on how to take these guys out." Steve shouted aloud.

"Sir." Rook called out. "Their ray shields reflect regular blaster fire but you can phase through them physically on your own."

"You heard that Sam?" Steve grunted out, deflecting several more blaster bolts.

"Loud and clear Steve." Sam said from above, dive bombing a Droideka from above.

Buck's information of the Droidekas shielding proved true as Sam combined with his weight, downward flight and momentum smashed through a Droideka. He then utilized his flight pack to boost himself over to the next set of rollers and with his wings smacked them back hard before going into the air once more.

All the while, the other Droidekas were slowly turning themselves to face Falcon giving the other Clones the chance to run forward and bypass the shields shooting the rolling tin cans down.

"Area secured." One of the Clones said aloud.

"Thanks brothers." The captured Clone who had been a distraction for them said gratefully.

"Don't thank us brother." Rook said, thumbing over to Steve and Sam. "Those two over there did most of the heavy lifting."

"Who are they?" Another clone had asked.

"Tough bastards, that's what." Jolly answered with admiration.

Steve took a moment to survey the civilians who were now safe when suddenly…

"Mr. Rogers?" Said a small meek voice.

Blinking, Steve saw a small kid force her way through the crowd and saw that it was none other than Ryoo Naberrie.

"Ryoo?" Steve said in surprise approaching her, seeing her mother Sola appear through the crowd as well to stand behind her daughter.

"You took out the bad robots?" Ryoo looked up to him in awe.

"I had a lot of help." Steve said kneeling down to her level, pulling out the flower she had given to him. "And I feel like I owed ya for this little flower."

Ryoo giddily laughed with Sola smiling down in gratitude.

"Thank you so much." Sola said earnestly.

"Don't mention it." Steve waved off. His head then snapped up at the sound of star fighters doing battle. "We're not in the clear just yet. We still need to get you all to safety."

"I believe I can assist with that then."

One of the uniformed men with a metal patch on his left eye who had been held prisoner stepped forward.

"I'm Captain Gregar Typho of Royal Naboo Security Forces." The man introduced himself. "I cannot thank you enough for what you and the Clone Troopers have done here."

"Just doing our job." Steve said humbly. "I'm Captain Steve Rogers. That's Lieutenant Sam Wilson."

"A pleasure sir." Gregar said respectfully. "Captain Rogers, I believe the best course of action is follow me and my men back to the palace of Theed. It is the most fortified location within the city and the safest place for these civilians and our forces to hold out until aid arrives from the Republic."

"What about the rest of the city?" Sam butted in intently.

"I understand your concern sir but the people here, myself included understand the importance of getting members of Royalty to safety." Gregar argued back.

"Royalty?" Steve said in bewilderment until Gregar looked towards Sola and Ryoo.

Before Steve could say much else, a vulture droid had crash landed through the fountain inuring several clones in the process.

"Shit." Steve swore, looking to the palace and then back to the civilians.

"Alright, make a formation around the civilians." Steve instructed taking the initiative, jogging over in assisting one of the down clones. "Injured and children in the center. Stick close to the walls and alley ways for cover. Check your corners and your six at all times. Do not stray away from the group. Gregar, you know the fastest way to the palace?"

"Course I do Captain." Gregar promised.

"Lead the way then." Steve gestured. "Sam, is Redwing still in the sky?"

"You know it."

"Keep us updated." Steve said, returning his gaze to the civilians and little Ryoo. "Come on people, let's move it."

_Scene cut_

It was complete and utter chaos within the grand palace of Naboo as the very building struck and the sounds of battle clear as day echoing through the windows and openings.

Within the grand hall were a collection of individuals all being guarded by the Naboo security force and Clone Troopers.

Anti-Aircraft guns were used to the fullest along with the shields that were installed not to long after the breakout of the war.

Whilst it protected them from rogue fire, Droid Starfighters were easily able to phased in and out of the shield thus necessitating the use of the guns in repelling the fighters.

Clones and Security personnel were stationed across every exit and entrance, fending off wave after wave of Droids, holding out strong.

The Guard of the palace and Security Force had fought with exceptional aggressiveness, surprising even the clones as they had not allowed on inch of the palace to fall into the hands of the separatists.

In the center of all this was Senator Padme Amidala with her dear friend Senator Bail Organa and her student and newest Senator representative Riyo Chuchi. With them was also Queen Jamilia and her brother-in-law Darred Naberrie and his youngest daughter Pooja.

She, like Darred, was worried beyond belief at the idea of the CIS brazenly attacking Naboo even more so with the fact that Sola and Ryoo had been unaccounted for.

Armed with her own blaster, Padme held a focused and stoic gaze making sure to help Darred in keeping little Pooja calm as the battle raged on.

She was truly frustrated and beyond infuriated at her home planet being once again attacked by Battle Droids.

Call it a gut feeling, but Padme had an inkling of an idea out of all the Separatist just who it was that had launched such a bold and daring attack.

She wanted to get out there and fight but she knew it would be smarter to remain here and assist the queen in keeping the peace within the Grand Hall.

"This is not what I expected to be for a 'Lesson on Foreign Politics'." Riyo Chuchi said wryly with underlying nervousness.

"Well, this isn't my first tango with the Separatists." Padme said dryly. "And this is the second time they've tried their hand on Naboo."

"Ten years ago, right?" Riyo asked getting a nod out of Padme.

"They know how to hold a grudge." Padme said, grimacing at the memories of the Trade Federations oppression of her people.

"The Republic will be here soon enough." Bail Organa cut in, though his expression was grim. "Yet the amount of damage and lives that will be lost… I dread the aftermath in all this."

"It is war Senator Organa." Riyo said sympathetically.

"Yes…" Organa had his head down, eyes glazed. "War."

"We'll make it through this." Padme promised, placing her hand on Bail's shoulder.

Giving her a grateful smile, Organa moved to speak with Captain Panaka while Padme surveyed the people.

There weren't as many people in the Grand Hall, a few aristocrats and Gungans along with other Nobles from Royal Houses.

"Padme." Chuchi spoke up, gaining her attention. "On the way to the Grand Hall, I heard one of the guards speak of an intruder within the palace."

"What?" Padme said sharply in alarm.

"I believe Captain Panaka may have answers." Riyo stated, gesturing to said captain who was conversing with Organa.

Going over to the both of them, Panaka saw Padme and inclined his head respectfully in her direction.

"Senator."

"Captain, Riyo Chuchi has just informed of an intruder within the palace." Padme said in a stern tone. "Is this true?"

Panaka grimaced but nodded all the same. "There was an intruder yes, though this was minutes before the attack. We were unclear as to who it was as he disappeared before our very eyes upon the attack commencing."

"What do you mean by disappear?" Bail inquired. "Like stealth technology? Being able to turn invisible?"

"That's not how I would describe it." Panaka said with a furrowed brow and frown. "It was more like…"

" _Is anybody there? Come in Captain Panaka."_ A voice had suddenly cut in via the Comms.

The elder Security member recognized the voice immediately.

"Gregar?!" Panaka said in relief. "Thank the Force, you're alright. Where are you? How is it in the city?"

" _It's chaos out here Uncle but we're holding out."_ Gregar answered from his end. _"I'm traveling with my squad right now with a batch of Clones along with a group of civilians including Senator Padmes sister and niece. We're on our way to the palace right now."_

Upon hearing this, Padme let out a shaky breath of relief hand place over her heart. "Darred is going to happy to hear this."

Panaka gave her an encouraging smile, returning to speak to Gregar. "How far off are you from the palace, Gregar."

" _Not far off, just another few…"_

From the background on Typho's end came the sound of blaster fire.

"Gregar!" Panaka yelled out in panic.

" _Incoming tank."_ Gregar shouted from his end followed by him crying out in pain only adding to Panaka's fear when an unfamiliar voice was heard.

" _Hold on Gregar, I got ya. You three, stay with Gregar and the civilians. We'll take care of this."_ The voice spoke in a commanding tone.

"Gregar? Gregar?! What happened? Is everything alright?" Panaka tried speaking with his nephew once more.

" _I'm alive Uncle, don't worry."_ Came Gregar's grunting response.

"Who was that with you?" Padme couldn't help but ask.

" _Senator Amidala?"_ Gregar said in relieved tone. _"Glad to hear you're alive and well. That was Captain Rogers. He and his ally Lieutenant Wilson have been assisting us in getting the civilians and your family to safety. He save our lives several times already. Those two move like Jedi, Senator."_

"I'll be sure to thank them both when they get here." Padme said. "And you as well Gregar. Just make it here."

" _Consider it done."_

Gregar's line disconnected, making Padme clench her fists tightly.

"We should help." Padme said determinedly "Is there anything we can do from here? Anything?"

"We can't do much other than escape should the palace get overrun with enemy forces." Panaka said. "You know this Senator."

"But this isn't the first time we've dealt with something like this." Padme argued back.

"Yes but this time we have an army to back us." Panaka countered. "Please Senator, just this once, don't be a hero."

Padme shot him a deadpan look at the attempted humor by Panaka, shooting a slight glare at Organa who snorted.

"He has a point you know." Organa said with a bit of a shrug.

"You're one to talk." Padme shot back.

"Guilty." Organa admitted with no guilt whatsoever.

Their light-hearted mood was cut short by the palace shaking from the shields taking another bombardment.

Back outside within the city, Captain America was running in a wide circle to keep the attention of the droid AAT Tank on him as he kept throwing his shield at it which dented the metal with every throw.

The civilians were hidden in a nearby school whilst Cap, Falcon and the clones dealt with the Droid infantry and their tank.

They had suffered two clone losses, one of them tragically being Pac yet they fought on.

Due to Cap keeping the tanks focus on him, the Clones and Falcon were making quick and efficient work on the Droids that were with the tank.

Cap had made the cannon rotate in a 180 degree fashion, leaving the front exposed. Picking up his speed, Steve ran around the tank up to its front and climbed up to the hatch.

Lining himself up with the primary laser cannon, Steve bashed his shield into the base of the cannon several times to leave a sizeable dent.

Feeling the entrance hatch beneath his feet shudder, Steve maneuvered back and allowed the hatch to open.

"Hey, what's going on up here?" Said the Droid piloting the tank only to get grabbed by Cap and thrown out of the tank.

"I need a grenade!" Cap yelled out to the Clones.

"Thermal Detonator Sir, primed and ready." Rook shouted, tossing Cap said detonator into his hand.

Without wasting any movement, as soon as the detonator was in his hands Cap jumped back and threw it into the tank with the sounds of droids panicking within before it exploded.

"Holy smokes." Jolly remarked. "These guys are unreal."

"Man am I glad they're on our side." Chalk said reverently.

Sam landed beside Cap, examining the decimated tank with a raised brow. "That display just now? That was just you showing off."

"Be it ever so humble."

The two shared a short laugh, turning back to the regrouped clones along with the civilians who were filing out from the nearby school.

"Gregar." Steve addressed the Naboo guard. "How much further?"

"We're almost there." Gregar said, being supported by one of his fellow security members clutching his injured side.

"INCOMING." A clone shouted.

All heads snapped upwards at a sudden shadow cast overhead.

It was a vulture droid falling towards them.

"MOVE NOW!" Cap shouted with everyone scrambling as quickly as possible.

The vulture droid crashed into the building that was used for cover, rubble and stone flying out everywhere.

Gritting his teeth, Steve got back to his feet a second later to take a moment to survey the damage.

All around him were people struggling to get back up, now nursing injuries with some not moving at all.

Among those were some of the clones and Naboo forces as well as the civilians.

Keeping a growl from escaping, Steve moved to assist the people in getting back up checking them over.

Sam thankfully was in the air at the time and was already back on the round helping anyone he can.

Some of the clones were also uninjured and were now assisting the two Avengers.

Several more clones perished though along with the Naboo Security guard including half a dozen civilians. Steve helped up an old man when his eyes widened in dread, running up to the two currently unmoving individuals.

"Sola." Steve said in fear. "Ryoo."

His heart-beat had increased drastically as he placed his two fingers upon Sola's neck and let out a near exhausted sigh of relief at hearing her pulse. It greatly increased at the sounds of Ryoo moaning beside him and slowly opening her eyes.

"Mr. Rogers?" Ryoo murmured quietly.

"Hey there little princess." Steve said kindly, using himself as a support stand as she grasped his hands and was helped up. "Mommy?"

"She's fine. Just sleeping is all." Steve reassured, moving over to see if Sola was still unconscious. Seeing a bruise on the side of her head, Cap placed his shield on top of her scooped her up his arms.

"Ryoo." Steve said, remaining crouched down. "Think you can climb up on my back and hang on tight?"

Ryoo stared up at Cap and then around her nervously before giving him a firm nod, yet the fear in her eyes remained.

"Steve." Sam walked up beside him with Sergeant Buck using his shoulder.

"How bad is it Sam?" Steve asked, feeling Ryoo cling tightly on his back.

"4 more of my brothers dead sir." Buck said bitterly. "8 Civvies with them and 3 security forces."

"Think we can move?" Steve asked.

"We're not that far." Gregar's pained voice said from the side, making them look to the Naboo native who was being supported by his own comrades. "If we move now, we'll be there in a few minutes."

"Is everyone ready to move?" Steve asked

"More or less." Gregar stated. "We have no choice really."

"Then we gotta keep moving."

_Scene Cut_

On the east entrance of the palace of Theed was a large barricade with clones manning every position available along with the native Naboo guards who were fighting tooth and nail in keeping the droids back.

Though the droids had the numbers, the Clones and guards had the tenacity fighting with unmatched vitriol.

They had been fighting for some time now and though the numbers have indeed whittled down to manageable margin they were still greatly outnumbered.

That was until missiles reigned down from above, a circular disk flying and cutting its way through the CIS forces along with blaster fire coming from behind.

The palace soldiers and clones paused in their momentary fire to see just who it as that came to their support and let out cheers at the site of other clones and Naboo guards coming to their aid along with two other individuals.

As soon as the droids were cleared out, rather than entering the palace right away their reinforcements turned back and ran around the corner they came from.

Confusion changed into realization as the palace forces saw the Clones and Guards guiding and helping many civilians, some of whom were injured towards the building.

Opening up the barricade, clones and guards rushed out to assist their brethren in their task creating a defensive corridor for the unarmed civilians.

Leading the group were two humans that distinctly stood out from all others, one helping a Clone Sergeant while the other had an unconscious woman in his arms and young girl clutching onto his back.

Regardless, this was a welcomed site with the Naboo guards taking charge in directing the civilians and those who were injured to safety.

Things might be looking up for the planet of Naboo.

Within the palace, word had reached Padme that Gregar along with his group of clones, guards, civilians and family had at last made it to the building.

Though they were injured, they were safe which was all Padme needed to hear.

Rushing off with Panaka by her side, the Senator made her way to the medical wing of the palace.

Entering, she was greeted with the less than pleasant sight of Clone, Guards and innocent people all strewn about on beds being tended to their wounds. It didn't take long for her in spotting her sister who had a bandage wrapped around her head with her niece standing right beside her.

However who she did not recognize was the tall individual standing next to little Ryoo whom she had been holding hands with in a very scared manner. He didn't seem bothered by Ryoo at all, patting her head in a comforting manner before wiping away her tears, muttering something to her which made her niece smile up at him.

Behind was another man, also sporting strange clothing and gear speaking with Gregar Typho and a clone sergeant.

"Ryoo." Padme called out to her making her little niece turn to her.

"AUNTY." Ryoo cried out dashing into her awaiting arms, hugging her tightly.

"I was so worried." Padme said, kissing her temple in a soothing manner.

"Mommy's hurt." Ryoo said with tears streaming down from her eyes.

"It's ok." Padme said calmly. "Your mother is going to be alright."

"Are you Senator Amidala?"

Looking up, Padme saw that it was the stranger who Ryoo was holding onto before her arrival. She was startled by his sudden appearance, surprised at how much bigger and broader he seemed up close and personal than from afar.

"This is my Aunty Padme." Ryoo said happily to him, pulling away to look up to him with a smile.

"Good thing then." Steve said kindly, giving her a warm smile of his own. "Wouldn't want you running off until your mother woke up."

Ryoo agreed with a nod until she turned to hug Padme once again making her aunt giggle at the gesture.

"Who are you, if I may ask?" Padme asked politely, standing up to her full height while picking up Ryoo with her.

"Steve Rogers ma'am." Steve introduced himself. "My associate behind me is my friend and comrade Sam Wilson."

"They're the reason we made it back alive." Gregar had limped over to the both of them.

"I thought you were supposed to be recovering Captain." Steve said disapproving of Gregar being on his feet.

"My duty is to check with senator Amidala first and foremost." Gregar said with a teasing grin. "Along with making sure in giving you and your friend Sam most of the credit to so many of us making it here alive."

"Did Sam tell you to say that?" Steve asked knowingly.

"Didn't need to." Gregar shook his head. "Was planning on doing so from the beginning."

"You protected my people?" Padme questioned the good Captain who opened his mouth to speak when another voice cut in.

"More like saved our ass's through the whole trip here." Sergeant Buck called out from his bed with many of the clones, guards and civilians yelling out in agreement making Steve shake his head and shoot Sam and amused expression making the aviator grin and shrug.

"Thank you." Padme said earnestly. "Thank you so much. I may have just met you, but you have my undying gratitude."

"Think nothing of it Ma'am." Steve said respectfully. "Just doing our duty to help."

"You save my niece, my sister, my people and one of my closest friends." Padme listed off, shooting Gregar a smile turning back to Steve. "You can call me Padme, Mr. Rogers."

Sam couldn't help but snort making Steve soot him a withering look.

"Hey, it's not the best day in the neighborhood but you can always make it better." Sam joked.

Looking back to Amidala, he saw her befuddled expression making him chuckle softly.

"You can just call me Steve, Padme."

_Scene Cut_

Once everything was settled and done with down in the medical bay, Cap and Sam were now in the Grand Hall with other high ranking officials, politicians and nobles as they both had been personally brought there by insistence of Padme.

They were cordially introduced to many individuals, amongst them being Senators Organa, Chuchi, the Queen and several others.

"Senator Amidala." Steve spoke to her after introductions have been made. "While it was pleasant in meeting everyone here, there is still a battle going on out there with many innocent lives still in danger. Do you have a plan or any contingencies when it comes to situations like these?"

"Several." Padme answered straight away. "There's the swamp lands of the Gungan cities we are allied with but I fear they too may have been attacked by the Separatists. Bunkers are all located around the city, though it may prove to be difficult in getting there with the citywide attack."

"What about those flyers in the air?" Sam had inquired.

"Since the forces aren't as overwhelming as we thought, the defense fleet above must be holding out strong though considering how many managed to punch through I fear how long it can keep up the stalemate." Padme admitted begrudgingly. "Aside from the Gungan cities and a few other locations, this is the most secure city on the planet. The palace is at the very least."

"Then we'll need to get out there, find a way to direct people in this direction, both clones and civilians." Steve said determinedly.

"Otherwise we're just leaving all those people out there to their deaths." Sam agreed.

"My oh my, what a pair of truly heroic individuals." Said a condescending feminine voice that echoed around the halls with all going quiet.

Many within the halls tensed up at the sound of cackling when from the ceiling above dropped a hooded figure right at the entrance to the chamber.

The cloak fell revealing a lean, fit, ghostly pale and nimble looking bald woman who eyed Steve and Sam with interest before gazing out at the assembled people within the room.

"So many Republican supporters all in one room." The pale woman said with malicious glee, her eyes landing on Padme who had her arm trailing over her blaster. "And I can't believe my luck. Senator Amidala. What an honor." She bowed. "Dooku and Gunray would prefer speaking with you in person."

"I know who you are." Padme said, glaring at the pale woman. "You're that assassin under Dooku. Ventress."

"Oh, she even knows me." 'Ventress' said in faux astonishment. "Then you should know me properly before I take you and kill your friends. Asajj Ventress, at your service."

"You're not taking her anywhere." Steve said stoically, stepping in front of Padme with Sam by his side.

By this point, Clones and guards within the room had their weapons leveled at the assassin making Asajj grin.

"Boys, boys, let's not do anything drastic." Asajj said lightheartedly when she unleashed some kind of invisible force that knocked away many and made Steve fall to his back only to instinctively kick back up to his feet whilst Sam responded by taking to the air.

Asajj quirked a brow at Falcon and Steve who remained relatively unaffected by her Force push.

"She's an enhanced?" Sam said, pulling out guns that came from his suit while Cap had his shield in hand.

Asajj couldn't help but laugh mockingly, gazing at the two in humor.

"Oh, so you two wish to play with me?" Asajj unclipped two curved hilts from her belt and ignited blazing red laser swords.

"You know you talk like every generic bad guy we've met." Sam said boredly dismissing her threat rather casually which rather irked her.

These two clearly did not know with whom they were dealing with so she decided to show them. But the force. It spoke to her, warning her to be wary and not to treat these two lightly.

Something was off yet Ventress ignored the force in favor of attacking her two would be victims.

In a burst of speed, Ventress leaped forward with her sabers raised above her.

She first assumed that the man would be thrown off by her speed only to be surprised by how quickly he responded with a jumping roundhouse kick to her gut which sent her flying back.

Landing her feet, Asajj felt the Force warn her and reflexively shot her lightsabers up to defend herself from the bullets Sam fired at her. What she did not expect however was rather than the bullets being deflected like one would usually expect the bullets melted and a few globs of super-heated liquefied metal got on her skin.

Hissing in pain, Asajj threw out another Force push on Sam who only flew back with his wings keeping him stable.

Looking up to him, Asajj sneered in spite. "Slug throwers? You must come from quite the primitive back water planet to use those poor toys."

"Really? Then why's your face all singed up?" Sam taunted, giving her a wry grin.

"I'll show you singed." Asajj snarled with venom.

Using the force to enhance the speed and power of her body, Ventress went on the attack once more momentarily throwing Steve off balanced but the seasoned soldier recuperated in time. He grabbed one of her wrists while using his shield to jab her other hand, knocking her blade out of it and the two briefly entered into a power struggle until Steve clenched his teeth and with his enhanced strength threw her into the air and Sam landed a powerful double boot kick to her side.

Asajj fell to the ground hard, letting out a cough.

"Stay down." Steve warned with the Sam landing beside him, guns trailed on her.

By this point, many of the clones and guards had recovered with their own weapons pointed in her direction.

Asajj Ventress could only glare in spite at the shield bearer and flyer.

In a short amount of time, the two had absolutely humiliated her with near practiced ease. Who were these two individuals?! And how dare they do such a thing to the apprentice of Count Dooku.

Asajj, much as she knew it would be better to flee rather than fight felt a bubbling anger within her.

She wanted to kill these two so badly right now after publicly showing all those she had been sent to assassinate that she was so easily bested. No this would not standing.

Seething, Asajj called upon the dark side of the force and unleashed yet another force shockwave this one being powerful enough to send the surrounding soldiers back once again, this time knocking out a few.

Steve and Sam landed hard on the ground, completely taken off guard by the display of power. Many of the nobles and politicians were also thrown back to the ground.

Asajj saw her downed opponents and jumped forth, her weapons ignited once again in a downward killing fashion. Steve raised his shield up in defense, though noticed Sam was still dazed.

Ventress had picked up on this and was about to redirect herself onto Wilson when an unseen force struck her right in the jaw.

Going bug-eyed by the strike, Asajj was sent careening back and landed hard upon the floor clutching her jaw.

Steve sat up and to his utmost relief saw a very familiar person quite literally _grow_ into full view.

"Scott." Steve said, rising to his feet.

"Hey Cap." Scott Lang AKA The Ant-Man greeted, helmet retracting to reveal a grinning face. "Boy am I glad to see you guys."

"You're not the only one Tic Tac. " Sam grunted from his position on the ground. Scott and Steve moved to grab both his arms and raised him back up.

"Hey Cap, I know this is an awkward and weird time to ask but who is she? Where are we and where is everyone else?" Scott asked in rapid succession.

"We'll focus on that later, Scott." Steve said, eyeing Asajj who had stumbled back to her own feet. "We've gotta deal with her first."

"Right, ok, yeah right, that makes sense." Scott said, helmet flipping back on.

Falcon's wings sprung out again with his guns back in hand and he hovered above.

Asajj now knew that she was outmatched and completely outclassed.

That new guy displayed a power she had never seen before and along with the other two's skills she realized it would not be that much of a fight.

So she could do the only thing that made sense to her right now.

Run Away.

Deploying a smoke pellet from her belt, Asajj ran off from the grand hall, leaving the trio staring at where she once stood.

"Well that was anticlimactic." Sam mused, holstering his guns.

"Kinda scared her off basically." Scott remarked with a shrug.

"Yeah" Steve murmured, placing his shield on his back. His eyes narrowed at the thought of this Ventress until he felt many, many eyes upon him.

Turning back to the assembled crowd, all he saw were wide-eyed, dropped jaws looks of complete and utter astonishment and awe.

Scott and Sam turned to face them with the former cringing a bit under all the pressure.

"So uh… Cap?" Scott whispered next to him. "About earlier. Where are we?"

Steve only sighed, upon realizing just how much more insane and crazier his life as well as the rest of the Avengers had just become.

"I don't know Scott… But I think saying it's a long story isn't even gonna come close to cutting it."

"So we're not in Kansas anymore then?"

"Already said that Tic Tac, try to keep up."

Steve snorted, all the while trailing his gaze over the people who had watched them fight back the Assassin without much of a struggle.

All the while, his thoughts were on the rest of his team, home and just what to do next in this situation remaining none the wiser of the monumental shift he along with his scattered Avengers had just caused by appearing within the galaxy.

**Yo, so yeah there's your second chapter.**

**Had a much more fun time with this chapter then my original story cause now that I know how and where the trajectory of the story will go, got the writers invigoration going for me.**

**That and the fact that sadly Clone Wars is being taken off of Netflix soon has lit a fire under my ass to get as many of these bastards out as humanly possible before we gotta wait for the fucking Disney streaming service.**

**URGH DISNEY WHY YOU ASSHOLE.**

**Cough, anyway some of you may address the handling of Asajj Ventress here but I shall do so in the opening of my next chapter as that would take too much time and I wanna go to bed.**

**So nyeh, till next time.**

**Rate Read and Review and as Always Have Nice Day.**


	3. Republic to the Rescue

**Alright so pressing right along, there is something that has come to mind that I will address in this chapter because at a first glance I didn't think about it but due to my personal extensive knowledge on the MCU, I have a legit work around.**

**Anyway, not much needed in going in to this chapter.**

**Really I usually have something to say but no, not as I thought.**

**Oh, there is one thing though. Legends will play a GIGANTIC role in this story. Not that new canon stuff that essentially said fuck you to the 35+ years of expansive lore of Star Wars since 1977. Stuff like the Old Sith Wars, the Birth of the Jedi Order, the Mandalorians and many more elements shall play a role in this story especially some of the originally used material that showed the Clone Wars before the show we know and love so well.**

**So yeah, let's get to it then shall we?**

**Rate Read and Review and as Always Have Nice Day.**

Avengers Infinite Wars Chapter 3: Republic to the Rescue

Anakin Skywalker, Jedi Knight of the Ancient Order stood upon the bridge of his personal ship the _Resolute._

All around him were Clone pilots and troopers going about their own business of maintaining ship functions, communications as well as making sure to stay on alert for any Separatist movements or attacks. It was a stressful job but such was the life of a Jedi.

It was strange to think that more than ten years ago, Anakin was nothing more than a slave boy on Tatooine who was just a little pod-racer to now being a commanding general in the Grand Army of the Republic.

At the thought of Tatooine, Anakin envisioned his lost mother and closed his eyes trying to conceal the pain he still held at losing her.

"Master?"

"Hmmm?"

Anakin glanced to his side to see his young Padawan Ahsoka Tano looking up to him in concern.

"Are you alright?" Ahsoka asked.

"Huh? Yeah, I'm fine." Anakin waved off.

"Are you sure?" Ahsoka pressed on. "You got all intense there for a second."

Anakin was internally touched by his Padawans concern for him, playfully shoving her head down slightly before pulling her in for a side hug while giving her a noogie.

"Aw, my little Snips has already grown to care for me." Anakin teased.

"Ugh, Master." Ahsoka whined childishly, attempting to free herself from Anakin's grasp. "Let me go."

"Not unlikely, my young Padawan for I have the high ground."

"You only say that because you're taller."

"I see the two of you are getting along in your usual way of passing time." Said an amused sage like voice from behind.

Both Jedi turned to see Skywalkers old master and friend, Obi-wan Kenobi.

"Just a friendly little lesson in humility." Anakin said offhandedly, making an over exaggerated grunt from being elbowed lightly by Ahsoka.

Shaking his head at their antics, Obi-wan gestured for them both to follow.

"Come on, the others are awaiting the three of us." Obi-wan said, walking towards the main meeting area of the _Resolute_ with Ahsoka and Anakin in tow.

Approaching the holo table, Clone Commander Cody along Clone Captain Rex were awaiting for their three Jedi Generals and Commander.

Both wore customized Clone Trooper armor to distinguish themselves amongst their brothers with Cody sporting orange markings and armor plating while Rex had blue accents and plated shoulder armor over his right side.

"They're waiting on us, General." Commander Cody addressed Obi-wan directly.

"Then let's not keep them waiting." Obi-wan said and turned on the holo comm link.

Many individuals appeared around the table through transmissions. It was a large assembly of both Jedi and their Clone Commanders that were paired up with them.

Jedi Master Plo-Koon along with Commander Wolffe were beside Cody and Obi-wan. Aayla Secura and Commander Bly beside Anakin, Ahsoka and Rex. And around the table were Mace Windu, Ki-Adi Mundi, Luminara Unduli, Eeth Koth and Jedi Grandmaster Yoda. With them were also their Clone Commander and Captains Ponds, Bacara, Gree, Lock and Thire.

While all were attentive and present within the meeting, Yoda appeared distant as his eyes were faced downward with his expression conveying deep thought.

"Master Yoda." Mace Windu spoke to the green Jedi. "We are all here."

"Hmmm?" Yoda perked up, noticing the meeting has begun. "Apologies, friends. Deep in thought, I am. The Force, a change has occurred."

While the Jedi wished to ask just what it was that Yoda detected, they knew that now was not the time for such a thing with Aayla Secura deciding to begin the meeting.

"After Skywalker and Tanos successful mission on Teth and Tatooine, we have established a firm route within Hutt Space." Aayla supplied, a map of the galaxy appearing in between the meeting and highlighting the outer rim and Hutt Space.

"We've managed to create several bases along several key access points and strongholds here, here and here." Commander Bly added on, gesturing to several areas within their newly acquired areas.

"We've been having to deal with some pirates and other outlaws every now and then." Clone Commander Bacara stated. "But that's usually been on the outskirts of Hutt Space."

"What of our own individual missions?" Mace Windu inquired to the collective.

"My fleet has moved in assisting the 224th legion on Mimban." Eeth Koth stated.

"We'll be scrapping the clankers with the Mud-Jumpers for the time being." Commander Lock stated.

"Successful I have been, yes." Yoda declared. "Negotiated into an alliance with King Katuunko and his people hmmm. A strong ally, the Republic has gained."

"More good news." Anakin said with a smirk of admiration at the little master.

"Dooku and Grievous have been relatively silent however." Luminara mused aloud. "After their failure in securing the Hutts allegiance, my fleet has only picked up on sporadic movements."

"The same on my end." Plo Koon said.

"And mine has yielded similar results." Windu said with a frown.

"The Count awaits for an opportune strike, he does." Yoda said stoically, closing his eyes at the mention of his old student. "To throw the Republic off balance, his goal is."

"Throwing us off balance would be his next play after his recent failures." Obi-wan said, thinking over what the Sith lord may attempt next. "He's been successful in doing so since the start of the war. It's why we're still stretched so thin even after consolidating our new regiments and legions of Troopers."

"He may go for a more unpredictable target and attack then." Commander Cody surmised, following along with the thought process of his commanding general.

"So then were would he strike?" Mace Windu asked to no one in particular.

The assembled Jedi and Clones were silent in these regard, all trying to figure out as to what the Count and by extension the Separatists might pull next within this war.

It was at this time that Yoda let out a grunt, something several Jedi and the Grandmasters Clone Commander noticed.

"What's the matter General?" Thire asked straight away.

Yoda was about to speak when all assembled Jedi either held expressions of shock or let out gasps as they felt a great shockwave within the Force strike them all.

Their Clone Commanders, Captains and other nearby troopers from all of their individual ships were all by their side due to the simultaneous similar reactions each one of them had.

"What was that?" Bly asked aloud.

"Is everyone alright?" Cody inquired somewhat panicked, standing closer to Kenobi as he seemed as though he were about to pass out.

"Commander, Can you stand?" Rex was crouching next to Ahsoka who had actually fallen to her knees, clutching her head.

Anakin was also rubbing his forehead, gritting his teeth to fight off the oncoming headache.

"By the force, what was that?!" Luminara exclaimed somewhat tiredly as she leaned upon Commander Green for support.

"A great disturbance, no, great change within the force something had occurred." Yoda said solemnly with Thire kneeling down to him in case the master may have a similar reaction like the other Jedi.

"That was something else entirely." Mace said, patting a silent appreciative hand upon Ponds' arm who had helped in keeping him standing.

"The Force…" Plo was leaning upon the table on his end. "It was not a warning. It did not feel like one."

"What did the force tell you then?" Bly couldn't help but ask as he hovered over Aayla Secura who was recovering now. "Cause it looks to me like it hurt all of you more then it gave you a heads up."

He got nods and grunts of agreement from the rest of his Clone brethren.

"Appreciate the concern, give us you have." Yoda spoke on behalf of the Jedi. "But dwell on such a matter, we must at a later date. Rages on, the war does as we speak."

As soon as Yoda finished that statement, Rex had noticed a blinking light upon the table.

"Generals, incoming transmission." Rex announced to all present, not waiting for a response as he activated the link.

In the center of the table appeared a holo-transmission of Senators Padme Amidala, Bail Organa and Riyo Chuchi.

"Padme?" Anakin said in surprise and underlying worry. The look in her eyes and her tense posture. Something was wrong.

"Attention all Republic forces within the area, this is an open broadcast message of Senator Padme Amidala. The Separatist Forces have launched a full scale attack upon Naboo and they've been assaulting the planet and the orbital defense fleet. We've been holding out but more Separatist forces have been arriving as the assault went on."

Organa then added in his part of the message.

"The Republic forces are holding out but if help doesn't arrive soon, Naboo will be overrun and taken by the Separatist army."

Riyo Chuchi then added.

"There are many Civilians, Senators, Noblemen and the Queen hold up in the palace with many others still in danger across the capital city."

"Please, to whoever can help, Naboo needs you." Padme finished, the message ending.

Panic exploded from within Anakin whilst the rest of the Jedi were greatly disturbed by the sudden attack upon Naboo.

"To think the Separatists would strike again so soon after their recent loss." Windu murmured.

"And to target the Chancellors and Senator Amidala's home world on top of that." Obi-wan added, frowning at the prospect.

"She wasn't alone either." Cody noted aloud. "She was with other Senators when sending out the distress call. There could be other Senators on Naboo as we speak."

"A literal pen of Bantha fodder for the Droid army." Plo said grimly.

"We need to act fast." Anakin declared. "Both mine and Obi-wans fleet is a jump away from Naboo."

"My fleet is not that far off neither." Aayla said aloud.

"As is mine." Plo chimed in.

"Then go, the four of you all must." Yoda said, not allowing any room for further debate. "The force… answers we all seek begin at Naboo."

"One step at a time then." Mace said, facing the Five Jedi Knights and Padawan about to undertake the counterattack against the Separatist invasion of Naboo. "May the Force be with you all."

The transmissions all cut off save for Plo's and Aayla's that remained on.

"There was more to the transmission then just a message general." Rex said whilst all around them the preparations for hyper space and battle were being set. "They managed to get a gauge of the amount of ships the Separatists."

"And?" Anakin asked. "What are we dealing with?"

"Damn near close to an invading force." Rex said, throwing up a display of nearly several dozen Separatist with mix of three Capital Ship Star Destroyers along with frigates, Lucrehulk Battleships, Dreadnoughts and Gozanti-Class Cruisers.

"They've gone in prepared." Obi-wan noted with utter seriousness.

"The Naboo defense fleet can only hold out for so long." Cody said militarily. "If they've already got forces on the ground then unless we don't hurry, the fleet is going to be completely overrun and destroyed."

"Then we must make haste." Plo said. "Skywalker, Kenobi, the two of your fleets are on the northern end of the jump so my fleet shall come in from behind theirs with Aaylas hitting them on the side."

"A three pronged attack then." Anakin nodded. "Let's do it."

The Jedi sent out commands to all their ships to prep all fighters and Gunships for landing and have all crew standby for battle.

Anakin was tense the entire time, thoughts occupied by the safety of his wife. He knew that she was more than capable in handling herself in a life and death scenario as she had already been in more than enough for one lifetime. But still, as a husband it is only natural for him to worry because of course Padme has admitted the same since the start of the war.

But right now, he was on his way to save her and he'd be damned if anything stood in his way.

However, a thought occurred to him something that was shared amongst his fellow Jedi next to him were now thinking on as well.

Yoda spoke of answers being found on Naboo, or at the very least the start of it.

What did that mean?

"Answers will start to be found upon Naboo." Obi-wan said aloud, breaking the silence of the Jedi and their Clone counterparts that stood with them.

"You too huh?" Anakin said knowingly.

"What did Master Yoda mean by that?" Ahsoka asked the two veteran Jedi.

"We'll know when we get to Naboo." Obi-wan said firmly. "Or an idea, at the very least."

"Let's hope so." Anakin said, grimacing slightly. "With Naboo and the whole Force seizure, I'd like to know just what's going on."

"We all do Anakin." Obi-wan said, placing a hand upon Anakin's shoulder. "We just need some patience."

Anakin rolled his eyes good naturedly. "By _we_ you really mean me, don't you?"

"Well if you insist." Obi-wan retorted with a wry grin.

_Scene Cut_

Steve Rogers jumped back to dodge the next onset of plasma fire directed towards him, giving his hand a downward motion. Behind him were a unit of clones, amongst them being some of the clones he and Sam had first met when they arrived here. Chalk and Jolly waited patiently for the Captain to make his move.

Quickly eyeing a balcony on the building to the left of him, Cap calculated the trajectory of his shield taking note of the nearby pillars of the other building on the right. Turning back to the clones following him, Steve made a series of gestures pointing out the thick pillars on the side with an arch of his free arm and held up three fingers, signaling a countdown.

The clones all nodded, tensing up as they prepared for Caps move.

Counting down the digits, upon clenching his hand into a fist Steve rolled out from cover and threw his shield at the balcony. This move startled some of the droids as they had expected to have been hit yet they remained unscathed. That changed the second the Clones rushed out from cover, taking to the pillars nearby as cover while firing at the droids.

Caps shield in the meantime bounced off the balcony he threw it at and proceeded to cleave through a line of droids. Hitting the ground, it angled upwards through more droids before sliding back into the waiting arm of its owner who then proceeded to bash a super battle droid into a wall. The droid shattered upon impact while Steve continued in decimating the Droid squadron that the Clones aided him in destroying.

"This is Steve Rogers." Cap spoke into a new set of Comms directly linked to the palace. "Sector 284 is secure."

"We're done on our end here Cap." Falcon chimed in who had gone off with Scott and a number of clones to fight off their own battalion of battle droids.

"Still can't believe we're not on Earth anymore." Scott murmured through the comms making Sam snort in amusement.

"You can go into a some kind subatomic universe but this here freaks you out?"

Sam of course was hiding his own shock as he himself was still in a bit of disbelief. They all were for that matter.

However that's not what currently occupied the mind of the Leader of the Avengers. Steve had been eyeing Senator Padme for several moments now, trying to put a name on her face other than Padme Amidala. He had seen that face somewhere before but he just couldn't figure out where at the moment.

Shaking his head, Steve decided now wasn't the best time to dwell on names and focus on the here and now.

After driving off that would be assassin named Ventress, Scott had a blaster pointed at him momentarily courtesy of Captain Panaka. Apparently, Scott had inadvertently stirred up some commotion in the palace as that was apparently where he was found.

Of course after discovering that Scott's mouth got him in trouble by accident along with Panaka's own intimidating questioning of how Ant-man had gotten into the palace led them to a small confrontation.

Thankfully, Senator Amidala and Organa had calmed Panaka down simply stating that if Scott was with the two men who had saved Padmes sister and niece and his nephew then he is to be trusted.

Soon after Steve had spoken to the queen and the assembled senators and noblemen on the state of Theed and the attacking droid army.

Though the fighting was scattered, more droid forces were entering both the city and the planet by the second while they idly sat to the side and waited for the Republic for aid.

Picking up on Caps thought process, Padme had agreed in sending him out there in backing the city up and getting the civilians to safe zones as that was a greater priority in mind then simply sitting on their bums and doing nothing.

When the clones that had traveled with Cap and Falcon caught wind of the two going back out there to fight against the droids, they rushed in to help, eager to get back I n the fight and drive the droids off.

Steve of course was appreciative of them volunteering but made it important that their mission was to primarily get the civilians to safety.

Along with several Naboo guards, Steve had lead a string of successful skirmishes against the Droid army within the city, creating a strong line of defenses that kept expanding with every victory.

Thanks to the participation of the trio of heroes, they had managed to keep casualties to a bare minimum though they were beginning to pile up.

They had received new of Republic force on route to Naboo but they would have to wait for the time being and hold out just a little while longer.

During that time, Steve, Sam and Scott had continually amazed the people of Naboo, the soldiers and the other senators and royal individuals with their skills and aptitude for combat.

Steve and Sam had a particular set of fans in the form of the Clone Troopers who found themselves easily swaying into their command and rallying to their side at a moment's notice.

Scott of course was a particular oddity for many, including some of the off worlders as they had seen many strange and unusual things even by Jedi standards yet Scott's powers were something that they barely comprehend. Regardless, Ant-man's reputation was held in the same light as Caps and Falcons due to his contributions in repelling the droid army.

"Sir?"

Steve blinked and saw that it was Chalk speaking to him.

"Are you alright Captain? You looked like you were out of it."

"Just a lot on my mind right now, Chalk." Steve assured. "What's the sitrep on the state of the city?"

"We're pushing back the separatist army street by street." Chalk said, holding up a disk like contraption that brought forth a holographic projection of Theed. "Thanks to your strategy sir, we've established the defenses both on the ground and our Anti-Aircraft guns."

"And the Civilian population?"

"All accounted for Sir." Chalk said. "We've gotten word from the Gungan cities that they have taken in a considerable sum of people for safety and the rest are all here in the palace and other safe bunkers."

"Good to know." Steve said, patting Chalk on the shoulder. "Well done trooper, take 5, all of you."

"Take 5 sir?" Jolly asked.

Steve stared at the clones until blinking in realization. "Oh right, right. That's a saying on my home planet. It means take a moment to rest. You'll need it."

"Appreciated sir." Chalk said, turning back to give the go ahead for the rest of clones to take a break.

Steve held a slight reminiscent smile at the sight of the Clones all bantering and japing with one another.

"… _God's righteous man…"_

Rogers head snapped around behind him with a sharp intake of breath. His eyes darted about everywhere, trying to find the source of the voice.

Hand placed over his beating heart, Steve steadied his breath with a clear face of bewildered fear. That voice was too familiar and too personal.

He rubbed his forehead to soothe an oncoming headache, mind returning to his current predicament.

Steve along with Sam and Scott were on an alien world in the middle of a war that they had no idea as to how and why it started. The rest of the Avengers were god knows where and now they had thrown themselves into conflict.

Granted, the site of seeing innocent men, women and children being harassed by Droids certainly was more than enough of a motivation to get into the fight.

But this was not their fight in the end.

Cap honestly wasn't sure what to do at this very moment. Aside from finding the others, he was at a loss on what to do here. This was uncharted territory and he certainly wasn't sure of how to get into to contact with Thor as he's the only extraterrestrial who truly knows the machinations of space travel. Or at least his version of it.

However Thor was out of reach as were the other Avengers back on Earth along with Fury and his contacts.

They were stuck here on this planet which means they'd have to figure out their own way of finding the others and making it back home.

Without even realizing, Steve had undertaken a massive task beyond his understanding yet he internally decided to run straight forward towards this challenge.

In the background, some of the clones were looking over their equipment with their helmets off and a few chewing on some rations.

"Man, I never would have thought the Seps would have the nerve to attack Naboo of all places." A clone trooper with tattoos of curved horns on both sides of his neck. "This is a republic stronghold. Hell, ain't it the chancellors home world?"

"That's what Sergeant Buck said, Ram." Jolly noted, wiping away some grime from his helmet. "Right after we met Captain Rogers there and Lieutenant Wilson."

"So who are they then?" Another clone, this one more in line with the default look of a clone.

"Not sure really." Chalk murmured, rubbing his chin. "We kinda met them at where we were stationed. They just appeared out of nowhere when I really think about it."

"So do you think they could be separatist spies?" Ram asked, side-eyeing Captain Rogers who had his back facing them.

"Not likely." Jolly waved off immediately. "If it weren't for him and his two comrades we'd be all dead."

"Yeah but what about that flying guy using slug-throwers?" Another Clone questioned. "Those things haven't been used in…well thousands of years."

"They aren't that effective." Chalk mused. "But Lieutenant Wilson is a damn good fighter so that's all that matters right now."

"He's used to this, isn't he?" Another clone whispered, this one still wearing his helmet with thunderbolts on both sides of his helm.

"Huh?" Jolly said. "What do you mean?"

"He's been through war before." The clone went on.

"He is a Captain, Bolt." Chalk said. "Don't think he got that rank by just loafing around like the Republic was prior to the war."

" _THIS IS ADMIRAL CHATTA OF THE NABOO FLEET."_

The sudden scream of the admiral through the Comms startled the entire group of clones with many jolting up to their feet.

" _THE SEPARATIST FLEET IS PUNCHING THROUGH."_ The Admiral shouted frantically, explosions going off in the background. _"MORE SHIPS JUMPING OUT FROM HYPERDSKFGJSBHDKGVBS…"_

Steve had been staring up into the sky saw a large foreboding ship makes its descent down towards the planet's surface.

"We need to move now." Steve said seriously. "Get a call out to all troopers and have them fall back to the palace. We're gonna be sitting ducks if we stay here."

"Copy that." Chalk said, placing his helmet back on and turning on the open channel to all Republic forces. "This Corporal Chalk of Jackknife squadron, all Republic forces are to retreat back to the grand palace and regroup for the oncoming Separatist fleet. Repeat, all Republic forces fall back and regroup at the grand palace."

As soon as Chalk finished relaying the message, explosions went off around them, Vulture and Hyena droids zooming past overhead.

"Move, now." Steve barked out with all Clones now going into a full sprint back to the palace.

All around them the droid fighters were dropping bombs while Republic flyers did everything within their power hold them back.

It was a combined effort of both the Anti-aircraft guns and the Republic Fighters in staving off as much Separatist air power as they could. The droids seemed more coordinated this time around as they had specifically targeted the Anti-aircraft guns.

Whilst the fighters did their damndest in fending off the droid fighters, Steve Rogers ran with the Clone unit that he had been fighting with making sure to hold himself back as to not get ahead of them.

A large explosion went off behind him with the sounds of pained shouts following after. Turning back, Cap saw several Clones were now on the ground with a few being motionless.

Rushing over to them, Steve along with the still standing Clones checked over the fallen with enemy fire going off around them.

He checked the pulse of two, gritting his teeth at getting no responses from them before going over to others. Some were already being helped to their feet while one other was still unmoving. Chalk.

Jolly was hovering over him when he glanced up to see Steve approaching.

"He's alive, sir." Jolly reported grimly. "But he's unconscious."

_**BOOM** _

Steve saw the shadows of falling rubble and instinctively stood over Jolly and Chalk with his shield raised and body tensed up.

"Get your head down." Steve yelled in time as large rocks and rubble began falling atop them with Cap's shield managing to take the brunt of the falling debris and successfully protect the two clones.

Once the miniature avalanche of rubble subsided, Steve gestured Jolly to move aside and in one quick motion hefted Chalk up and over onto his shoulders.

Jolly could only balk slightly at the great display of strength.

"How are we doing, Troopers?" Steve asked aloud to the rest of the Clones.

"We can move, sir." Ram spoke up holding Bolts arm around his shoulder.

"Unconscious and wounded up front and move fast." Steve ordered. "I'll cover the rear."

"Then I'll back you up." Jolly stated firmly.

Steve only nodded in appreciation.

The group of soldiers began running at a more rapid pace even though half of them were now injured. The raging aerial battle above went on all the while, the battle becoming much fiercer by the second.

Captain America kept running with the palace in the distance.

"Hey Cap!"

Up above, Falcon descended down with the Clone unit he had been travelling with coming around the corner.

Ear twitching, Steve looked over and squinted at small movement barely noticeable to most eyes.

"Scott?"

"I'm here, Cap." Scott's voice chimed in through the comms. "We're getting hammered all around us, Cap. What do we do?"

"Get back to the palace first." Steve said. "It's still our best line of defense right now."

"Are you sure?"

"Positive."

The sounds of other running footsteps were heard and they were joined by more retreating Clone Troopers that had gotten the message of retreat.

"Double time it, everyone." Steve said aloud. "Move it now, we're in the home stretch."

_Above Naboo._

Separatist ships were engaged in a heated and violent battle against their Republic counter parts, each side fighting tooth and nail against one another.

Both had displayed exceptional brutality against each other and neither showed signs of relenting. Though the Separatists had called in reinforcements, they still had to fight with a great ferocity as the Republic defenses had not shown any signs of bending to their onslaught and each ship that bypassed the blockade was at a cost.

Observing all of this was Darth Tyrannus, otherwise known as Count Dooku the leader of the Confederacy of Independent Systems. He watched the naval engagement with an analytical frown, taking into account the mounting losses both sides were suffering from.

But taking Naboo was not the only reason as to this attack.

"Are you sure this is wise, Master?"

"Very, Tyrannus." The holographic projection of his master, Darth Sidious spoke with his sinister presence. "This attack will continue to display a great deal of the Republic and the Jedi's incompetence in dealing with the Separatist army. As well as help in furthering our plans."

"Be that as it may, I feel Doctor Vindi's work to be irrelevant with what we're doing as of this moment."

"Is it due to the disturbance in the force, my Apprentice?" Sidious inquired, hooded face turning to him.

Dooku only remained facing forward, face impassive and eyes narrowed. It had only been a few hours ago, but that literal force shockwave had remained present on his mind for some time now. That was unlike anything he had ever felt before and had never been as truly troubled as he was in the Force as he had been at that very moment in time. Before he could even consider contacting his master, Sidious had beaten him to it.

While he had displayed his typical calm, imposing aura it was easy for Dooku to pick up on his masters own state of mind.

"Yes my master." Dooku confirmed for the dark lord. "The Force had never sent out such a… warning like that."

"It was more than a warning, my Apprentice." Sidious said, face looking down to his native planet below. "There is… a great change that is beyond either of our control as well as the Jedi's coming to this galaxy. We must consider all our options, perhaps even hastening our own plans."

Dooku's response was unable to come as an incoming call from the surface appeared before him. Sharing a momentary look with his master.

Before he could speak, his own Apprentice -Asajj Ventress- appeared in front of him looking worn out with singed spots all over her clothes and skin.

"Master." Asajj spoke in a slightly strained voice, noticing Sidious beside Dooku. "Lord Sidious."

"What has happened to you, my apprentice?" Dooku asked, troubled at seeing his trained assassin in such a state with the battle only in its early stages.

"I encountered someone down on Naboo." Asajj said, using something in her area as a means to rest. "Or rather, I encountered three individuals down in the palace that defeated me with skills and powers I had never seen before."

Both Sidious and Dooku shared a skeptical look.

"What do you mean, Ventress?" Dooku asked in seriousness. "Explain yourself."

"I think it would be better if I showed you." Asajj said, turning to her side and speaking with a droid off transmission. "Play what you managed to recover from the Palace's security recordings."

"Roger, Roger."

Before long, a video playback was given depicting what had been retrieved. And suffice to say, both Sith Lords had varied responses on what they were seeing.

The one flying didn't seem all that special at first, given most people being able to do such things with jetpacks. Yet he displayed a certain aptitude and naturalistic ability with those overly enlarged wings that certainly showed his own talent for combat.

Then there was the shield bearer and he had moved and fought with exceptional skill that clearly outclassed Asajj. His movements in a fight and fluidity in going from throwing his shield, fighting hand-to-hand and casually catching his shield and going back to fighting with it in hand was seamless. Practically moves that were much like that of a Force user, given certain adjustments.

However the one that oddly stood out the most… was a man that literally grew from a small size from seemingly nowhere and knocking Asajj back with utmost ease.

These three men had beaten back Asajj within a matter of seconds, showing that they were a cut above the usual kinds of combatants the assassin had faced. Sidious was stroking his chin now in thought while Dooku only gave the playback a hard stare as it was paused on the three men standing tall against his apprentice.

"SIR!"

Dooku blinked and looked to a red accented droid turning his head to him.

"What is it?"

"Republic forces are coming out of hyperspace."

Dooku sharply looked up in time to see the arrival of a dozen more Republic Venator warships appear out in hyperspace with more warning signs blaring all around him.

"Sir!" The same red tinted droid spoke. "Multiple republic forces coming from the rear and the west side. We're getting surrounded."

Scowling now, Dooku began barking out orders. "Form up our defenses. Concentrate your fire upon the weakest fleet and punch a hole. We must retreat."

"But sir, a capital ship is now planet side with orders to take the Palace of Theed." The Red droid stated.

"Leave it to its fate." Sidious stated, leaving no room for argument. "It no longer serves a purpose."

"Roger, Roger." The droid said.

Dooku in turn instructed his apprentice. "Get off the planet by any means necessary, my Apprentice. We must reconsider our next set of plans."

"At once, my Master." Ventress said with a bow of her head before ending the holo-transmission.

"This changes things." Sidious remarked, looking to Tyrannus.

"Do you believe those three men on Naboo to be the source of the reverberation in the Force?" Dooku asked.

"They may hold the cause to it." Sidious mused. "The Jedi have sensed the same thing, of that I am sure."

"Then what shall we do, Master?"

"We must discover if there are more like these men."

"Master?"

"Just leave the system and await for further instructions."

Dooku wished to ask more but knew now was not the time for such a thing. With a bow, Dooku acquiesced to Sidious's orders and began to move his ship and fleet toward the rear.

He now faced Jedi Master and General Plo Koon and his 104th Clone battalion.

All the while, Anakin Skywalker along with his former master and his Apprentice had arrived on the scene with Secura and Koon, immediately engaging the enemy forces.

"That's Count Dooku's ship." Obi-wan had instantly picked up on the presence of the former Jedi turned Sith **.**

"What do we do then?" Ahsoka had asked.

Anakin opened his mouth to respond when he received an incoming call from the other two Jedi Generals.

"Aayla, Plo." Anakin greeted on his wrist mounted comm. "Glad you guys are as punctual as we are."

"If only we had time for pleasantries." Plo stated. "We need to get down to the planet's surface now. I had just received information that a separatist capital ship is hovering over the city of Theed."

"If we do not move fast, the City and all its inhabitants will be leveled to the ground." Aayla said on her end. She was already moving with her Commander, Bly, down to the hangar bay.

"Skywalker; you, Kenobi, Ahsoka and Aayla head down to Naboo now." Plo instructed. "I shall deal with Dooku and Separatist fleet up here."

Said Jedi nodded in response before making their way to their transports.

"Rex." Anakin switched channels. "Are all units prepared and waiting?"

Down in the _Resolutes_ hangar was Captain Rex with the 501st legion and Commander Cody with the 212th corps.

"We're ready and waiting, General Skywalker." Rex responded, seeing the last of the AT-TE's get hooked up to dropships.

"See you in a second then, Rex."

_Back on Naboo._

Padme Amidala was on the frontlines of the defense of the palace, making sure everything was going well with citizens getting inside. Many were coming in droves, either in one piece or hurt along the way.

The Separatist Droid Army was now sending in wave after wave of clankers with many landing just outside the range of Theed's remaining defensive AA-guns. Clones were essentially set up in suicidal positions as they provided cover for the civilians still entering the palace.

Originally, the defensive line was a wide berth of nearly five blocks with military forces standing over the civilian safe zones. Upon the droid army breaking through and sending a capital ship down to Theed, that all changed into a mad dash scramble to get all to the palace.

There were some bunkers of civvies and Clone troopers on the outskirts of the city but they were instructed to hide out then risking the lives of the people.

The ones that hadn't gotten the order to lay and wait were instead told to get to the palace and within range of its defensive guns as most around the city had been neutralized. Their air power had also been all but taken out with only LAAT gunships available with many considering using them as ways of evacuating the civilians.

Easier said than done.

Padme shot down a couple more droids when the growing familiar sight of a red, white (silver really), and blue shield ripped through the robotic soldiers, bouncing around the battlefield until returning to its owner, Captain Steve Rogers.

Giving the good Captain a nod of thanks, Padme resumed in her firing at the battle droids while Steve rushed in to fight them off barehanded which amazingly proved to be quite effective.

Above him, Lieutenant Sam Wilson -the Falcon- flew at top speeds weaving through the enemy fire and providing support overhead thanks to Thermal Detonators he had snagged up and his own pair of DC-17 blasters.

As for Scott…

"This is… _POW_ … Not exactly… _CRACK…_ What I had in mind-WHOA… When I joined the team."

Upon an occasional random droid, body parts were smashed left and right. Whole ones were even flung all over the place with the neighboring ones being outright confused with what was happening. The way their fellow droids were being destroyed made a few of the B1's panic a bit as the unseen force just smashed them apart with no rhyme or reason.

As much as the three newcomers had provided a great boost in holding back the CIS, Padme knew that it would only be a matter of time until the palace defenses would be overrun.

The Senator could only pray that the Republic would get here in time and alleviate her home planet of an enemy it had once been subjugated under a decade ago.

With a renewed fire in her eyes, Padme went on a greater offensive pocketing her personalized weapon and grabbed a DC-155 Carbine and blasted away at the droids at a more rapid pace. She didn't need to look to her side to know that Clone Troopers and Naboo Guards had moved to back her up as she saw more blue and green blaster bolts fire off behind her at the Droids.

Steve Rogers in the meantime stood in front of a now injured Pac who was being helped by his comrades Jolly and Rook back behind defensive lines. His shield had proven to be effective again in deflecting the blaster bolts, managing to send a few back at the shooters.

Falcon saw his friend in trouble, moving to assist him.

"Cap, we can do this all day, but unless this Republic isn't gonna come soon, we're all just holding back the inevitable."

"I know, Sam." Steve said in frustration, lashing out to grab a B1 by its scrawny neck and throwing it at another few B1's. "But right now, all we can do is keep fighting."

"INCOMING TANKS!" A random clone shouted.

A line of AAT Tanks were now seen coming right towards them.

Several were immediately destroyed by detonators and rocket launchers but the rest began firing back, devastating the Clones defensive line.

Falcon dived down to one of the tanks, priming some detonators and throwing them down the primary cannon.

**KABOOM.**

Padme and Steve were now fighting alongside each other with Sergeant Buck and Rook when an AAT targeted them in mind.

"Fire at the Senator." The nasally voice of the droid commanding the tank ordered.

"GET BACK." Steve roared, jumping forward to protect Padme.

Suddenly, Ant-man grew to full size in front of them and chucked a tiny disk at the tank.

_**VVVRRMM.** _

"Wha-Where'd it go!?"

"Holy crap, I can't believe that worked!" Scott Lang exclaimed in awe. "That actually worked!"

"What the hell was that?!" Sergeant Buck yelled in bug-eyed disbelief.

Walking forward, Ant-Man bent down and picked up a small sized tank which rested at the palm of his hand. "Oh, I just shrunk it down."

"...JUST SHRUNK IT DOWN!?" Was the collective response of the Clone troopers and even Senator Amidala.

Steve on the other hand chortled at their responses when he noticed that the shooting had stopped around their area. There was still a firefight over on the other side but it appears that both sides within this vicinity were momentarily stunned into pause as to find a way to process what they had just seen.

"Did you know they could do that?" A Clone asked Sergeant Buck who only shook his head in silent shock.

Scott all the while was observing his new little tank and the tiny B1 battle droids that had jumped off his hand in an attempt to flee their new giant overlord. It was then that he got an idea.

"Oh, hey." Scott said to a nearby trooper. "Can I borrow a grenade?"

"Uh…"

Without getting a response, Ant-Man snagged the explosive and tossed it to Cap. "Hey Cap. Aim for this disk I have in my hand."

"Why-"

"Trust me, it'll be good."

Choosing to follow his fellow Avenger's order, he reared his arm back before throwing it once Scott tossed the small disk rather high. The two objects soon made contact before-

_**VVVRRMM.** _

"Umm… Roger, Roger." Was the meek final words of one B1 battle droid at the site of a now gigantic Thermal Detonator.

_**KABOOOOOM** _

The explosion rocked the whole area and utterly devastated the battalion of battle droids Steve, Scott and Padme were fighting.

Asides from a large portion of the tanks destroyed -almost all- there was quite the massive hole made in the middle of the clearing leading up to the capital palace.

"I… I…" Padme tried saying with a twitch of her widened eyes. "I don't…"

"Senator." Steve's firm voice cut through her stuttering, making her look to see a rather amused Captain Rogers. "I think it's best for you not to dwell on it. Otherwise, you'll be here all day."

Padme blinked, trying her best to school her features yet her mouth opened and closed several times until she finally stammered out. "Y-Yes, Of course yes, yes, let's not dwell on it."

"LAAT GUNSHIPS." Rook abruptly shouted, pointing above. "It's the Republic!"

"Oh thank the Force." Padme breathed out. Looking back up, she looked at the Clone Troopers. "Don't relax too soon. Naboo's citizens still need to be brought to safety."

"She's right." Steve said in agreement. "We can't let up now. Even with reinforcements here, we might get overwhelmed and defeated without them getting here in time."

The Defense of the palace commenced once more, a renewed offensive defense on the droid army.

LAAT Gunships plowed through the fighters of the CIS, going down directly to the palace while others engaged in taking on the Separatists air forces.

Two Gunships dropped off two AT-TEs whilst the rest deployed reinforcements in the form of the 501st, 212th and 327th all being led by…

"Jedi." Many clones yelled out with glee and relief.

And leading at the vanguard, heading straight towards the palace, was Jedi Master Obi-wan, Jedi Knight Anakin and his Padawan, Ahsoka.

"Looks like we got dropped right into the fire." Ahsoka commented, deflecting blaster bolts left and right. "Just the way you like it master."

"You know me oh so well, my young Padawan." Anakin said whimsically, moving to slash apart a few droids close by to him.

"Don't get to excited Anakin." Obi-wan jokingly chided.

Right behind the three Jedi were Captain Rex and Commander Cody, blasting away at the Separatist droid leading their men by example. Rex saw a droid aim at Anakin and wordlessly shot him down without any prompt.

Skywalker saw this at the last second and looked back to give his Captain a grin of appreciation which Rex nodded in return.

"Palace is just ahead, Masters." Ahsoka said to Anakin who schooled his expression, leading his men and Padawan forward.

Coming closer and closer, the group soon stopped when seeing not only the destruction near the palace but also-

"Woah! What caused this hole?"

"...Your guess is as good as mine, Rex."

"Anakin!"

Skywalker snapped his head at the source, smiling when seeing his secret wife coming towards him. As she got close, he quickly buried the urge to embrace her.

"Padme." He happily said. "Glad to see you are alright."

"I should be the one saying that." Padme said, looking to him and then Kenobi and Tano beside her secret husband. "You don't know how much it means to me you all came to my home planet's rescue."

"Senator."

Padme turned around and it was now that the trio of Jedi and their Clones laid their eyes upon a very strangely garbed man jogging up to her with a perfect circular shield in hand.

"Captain Rogers." Padme nodded her head, turning back to the Jedi and Clones. "Everyone, I'd like to quickly introduce you to Captain Steve Rogers. Him and his men have been aiding the people here and protecting all of us."

"Really now?" Kenobi said with intrigue, taking a moment to analyze this Steve Rogers.

"Hey, Cap."

All heads then turned up with those unfamiliar either blinking or tilting their heads at the sight of a man sporting metal wings fly down to them.

Landing beside Cap, the flying man spoke with him. "Those new gunships tore through the Droid forces. They're in disarray."

"Glad to know that." Steve said, looking to the Jedi and Clones. "Much as I'd like to get to know you, we still got a battle to win."

"Agreed." Anakin and Obi-wan said at the same time.

The odd collection of two Avengers, a Senator, three Jedi and their Clone units moved to engage the remaining Droids forces still in the area.

"Say, what caused that hole back there?" Ahsoka innocently asked, voicing the same thought as the newcomers.

"Oh you can blame Scott for that." Sam answered.

"Who?"

"Tic-Tac."

"Tic-Tac?"

"Over there." Sam pointed over to a group of droids marching towards them. "The Ant-man."

"...I don't-" Ahsoka quickly shut up when seeing a man wearing an unusual suit appear from nowhere only shrink down and disappear from sight. "What!?"

Droids suddenly began to jerk about violently, being hit by an invisible when the Ant-man grew in the center of the droids greatly startling them. Grabbing a droid by its arm, Ant-man moved in for a hip toss and shrunk down in the process.

It added more momentum and power to the throw which flung the poor droid forward, all the while having its arm torn off. He then batted several droids left and right with the severed limb before disappearing once more.

Ahsoka and even Rex, Cody and the Clones were all staring at what they had just seen trying to make sense of it all.

"Is that what my face looked like?" Padme whispered/asked Rogers who shrugged.

"Pretty much the same. Except they didn't see the explosion."

"...Noted."

"Skywalker, Kenobi." A female voice cut through the battle and both Jedi saw it was Aayla Secura cutting a swath through the droid forces over to them being backed up by Commander Bly and the 327th corps.

Steve had also taken a moment to see who it was coming towards them and couldn't help but find the alien girl really…

"That's a lot of blue." Steve murmured to himself.

"Nice of you to join us, Aayla." Anakin joked, lightsaber deflecting more blaster bolts.

"Apologies. We had to take a detour. Bly couldn't help it." Aayla teased. "He just loved the scenic route."

"The Architecture is surprisingly sound." Bly couldn't help but go along with his general's joke.

The Jedi and Clones were now fighting in complete unison, completely decimating the CIS army. Arc-Wings, Z-95s and LAAT Gunships were beginning to turn the tide up in the air whilst several Venator Class Star Destroyers and Acclamator-class Assault ships moved to engage the Separatist Capital Ship over Theed.

Back down below, the trio of Avengers helped with the newly arrived Republic forces in completely wiping out the remaining Droid forces who were now in full retreat.

Cap was fighting alongside Aayla Secura, Commander Bly and Ahsoka Tano taking down a squadron of Super Battle Droids.

"We're pushing them back, General." Bly said to Secura.

"Good." Aayla said with determination in her eyes.

"Grenades!" A clone shouted with several primed detonators in the air sailing towards them.

Before any could responds with evasive maneuvers or the force, a blue blur of sorts shot forward and caught the grenades with his shield and slammed them to the ground.

The grenades exploded with the slight amount of force nudging Cap up a bit but leaving him and the surrounding Troopers and Jedi unharmed.

"Whoa." Bly whispered a sentiment shared by all, including Tano and Secura.

"Thank you." Aayla said sincerely.

The battle went on for an undetermined period of time but by this point, it was nearing sunrise.

Some who had been battling for so long hadn't realized that a near entire day had gone by with the brief invasion of Naboo.

Republic forces came down in droves with food and medical supplies along with many other resources in assisting the Republic allied world.

All the while, The Jedi, their Clone Counterparts, the senators and queen were all in the meeting hall of the grand palace.

It was a circular room with a circular holo-table.

Right now, all aforementioned parties and individuals stood around the table with everyone's eyes on three people specifically.

"You have our eternal thanks and gratitude in assisting Naboo in its time of need and fighting back against the Separatist army." Obi-wan Kenobi spoke for the assembled Republic party.

"I can't express to the three of you what this means to the people of Naboo." Padme said earnestly.

"Well…" Scott said coyly only to get silenced by Sam nudging him.

"With that being said." Anakin went on. "I think the main question on everyone's mind right now is…well, just who are you people?"

Obi-wan ran his hand down his face, slightly cringing. "As much as my friend here lacks his tact, I do find myself agreeing with him."

Steve, Sam and Scott exchanged glances silently speaking with one another.

"That's a bit of a long story." Sam stated.

"And to be honest, we've got some questions of our own." Steve said. "We threw ourselves into a war we know nothing about honestly."

"Then why did you fight?" Aayla couldn't help but ask.

"We couldn't let innocent civilians die in a battle they have nothing to do with." Steve said in total seriousness.

The Jedi, Clones and Senators couldn't help but balk at the declaration in slight awe and admiration.

"Perhaps then…" Obi-wan spoke up after several seconds of silence. "We could help one another then."

"How so?"

"Exchange of information." Obi-wan said. "We tell you what you want and need to know and you tell us exactly who you are."

"We can even tell you about the war and everything in between." Anakin added. "You've earned that much after helping out while going in blind."

"And if you need any assistance, feel free to ask." The Queen of Naboo stated. "You have all been champions in protecting my people, it's the least I can do."

Seeing that they at least had options now, Steve stepped forth.

"So, what would you like to know?"

**CLIFFHANGER**

**HAHA**

**Gonna end it here for now and not say much else cause I'm going to bed right now.**

**Thanks Jebest as always, you're awesome.**

**Rate Read and Review and as Always Have Nice Day**


	4. How Do We Explain This

**So continuing on, we're starting to get into the real nitty gritty of the story as the first set of Avengers are now getting introduced to a much larger galaxy.**

**Let me also clarify a few things. This takes place after the Clone Wars movie and episode 1 of season 1. So that's out of the way.**

**And in response to some reviews, we'll be seeing the other Avengers soon enough so don't worry. I'm also gonna be incorporating elements from the original Clone Wars cartoon by Legendary animator Genndy Tartakovsky.**

**Really, I thought my Avenging Remnant crossover was gonna be hard. This one is even bigger and crazier than I had thought in hindsight cause I'm combining two universes with gigantic histories behind them both. But that's why I love a good challenge.**

**Rate Read and Review and as Always Have Nice Day**

Avengers: Infinite Wars Chapter 4: How do we explain this.

To say that Steve Rogers would have a grasp as to where they were going and what they were doing would be a straight lie.

He, Sam Wilson and Scott Lang sat within the personal quarters of one Anakin Skywalker aboard the man's personal Venator Star Destroyer named the _Resolute._ And apparently they were on their way right now to another planet called Coruscant, the "Heart" and capital world of the Republic.

After brief introductions were made back on Naboo, The Avengers stated that they were from another planet called Earth and made it clear to the Jedi, Clones and Senators that they unfamiliar with space travel, the galaxy and its current state of affairs.

The conversation was short though it was clear that it would achieve nothing. Aayla Secura then suggested it would be better if they all returned to Coruscant. Seeing merit in the idea as well as a chance to get the senators back to a more secure and safer world, the Jedi had agreed and now here they were.

They had been relatively silent, keeping their thoughts to themselves. Though certain signs of nervousness and wariness were easy to pick up on.

Scott's jittery shaking of his legs while Sam had taken to assessing his suits functions in order to make sure they were working at peak efficiency.

Steve in turn had taken to pulling out a small little notebook with a pencil clipped to it and began sketching whatever came to mind.

Beginning a rough sketch of a body, he was interrupted from the process suddenly when doors to the room opened.

In walked in that young alien girl, Ahsoka Tano.

All three silently regarded her, waiting for her to say something which actually made the young Padawan slightly uncomfortable at receiving such intense stares.

"Uh…" She nervously massaged her wrist. "We're exiting Hyperspace and arriving at Coruscant in a bit. Do you wanna come see?"

Steve and Sam exchanged a glance with the latter shrugging, conveying a silent expression of 'we've got nothing better to do'.

Getting up to follow Ahsoka, the group walked past many clones all going about their duties and business. They received passing glances at most with a few lingering on them.

Some couldn't help but comment.

"Is that them?"

"Yeah, those three who fought off the clankers on Naboo."

"I saw some Holo-recordings. They're crazy."

"Wish I was down there to see it."

"Looks like you guys are already famous." Ahsoka couldn't help but comment making Steve shrug.

"Didn't mean to be." Steve remarked.

"You guys helped save a lot of lives on Naboo." Ahsoka said, suddenly growing more serious with a show of admiration. "Senators Amidala and Organa spoke of how many clones and civilians survived thanks to your efforts."

"It's not like we were just gonna stand by and let people get bombed like that." Sam said good naturedly. "It was a festival after all from what we saw."

"Ah you guys were at a festival?" Scott slightly whined out. "I got mistaken for an intruder at the palace."

"Wouldn't be the first time now, would it?" Sam japed making Scott laugh in a strained manner while Steve only let out a 'Hmph' of amusement.

Ahsoka gazed back at them curiously before looking forward once more just as they entered the bridge of the ship.

There she saw her master, Rex, Obi-wan, Cody, Aayla, Bly and Senators Amidala and Organa all standing around the holo table in deep conversation when they noticed their arrival.

"Ahsoka." Anakin greeted his Padawan before eyeing the three men behind her.

"Ah, the conquering heroes." Obi-wan said, nodding to the Avengers.

"I hope you are all fairing well enough." Padme said

"As well as we can be." Steve admitted honestly.

"Is this truly the first time any of you had ever left your home world?" Aayla couldn't help but ask suddenly, truly finding this rather fascinating.

"Aside from Thor, none of us back on our planet had ever gone into space." Steve explained.

"We were always kind of aware of life beyond our world, but never thought we'd be going up here anytime soon." Sam stated.

"That's rather strange." Obi-wan mused. "You mentioned this Thor individual is the only one amongst you who can achieve space travel?"

"Not in the way you guys are used to." Steve said.

"What does that mean?" Ahsoka asked.

"That's a bit difficult to explain properly." Sam said truthfully.

"Mostly cause we ourselves don't really understand how it functions." Steve added on.

A momentary awkward silence permeated between them all until…

"So uh…" Scott then chimed in. "What's this Croissant place we're going to right now?"

"Croissant?" Rex murmured, looking to his clone brethren who only shrugged in response.

"Coruscant." Aayla corrected. "It is the heart and core world of the Republic and the Jedi Order. The center point of galactic civilization one could say."

"What's it like?" Sam asked.

He got a response in the form of a Clone pilot notifying them all. "Exiting Hyperspace Generals."

"Well, how about you see it first." Ahsoka said mischievously, nudging the ex-criminal.

Soon enough, the blue tunnel that was faster than light travel ended abruptly as a planet with many ships surrounding it quite literally stretched into full view.

All three Earthers blinked at the affect with their eyes widening.

"This is Coruscant." Obi-wan said. "The entire planet is one large encompassing city connected by many means with many levels across the entire planet."

"Unreal." Scott blurted out, jaw dropping slightly as the Venator went past the defense fleet of the planet and down to the surface.

Soon, the city became more distinct and clear along with the many flying vehicle, tall skyscrapers and gigantic landmarks that could be seen in any and all directions. All around them were ships whizzing by and if one looked closely enough, the dozens of alien species that populate this galaxy could also be seen piloting these flying cars.

"Tony would love to see this place." Steve said in wonder making both his companions nod in agreement.

"Bet Hank would to, this is insane."

"That right there is where the Senate of the Republic meets." Senator Organa pointed over to a large building shaped in what the Avengers could only describe as large metallic mushroom with another dome shaped building more to the ground beside it.

"And where we're going…" Obi-wan picked up for Organa. "Is the Jedi temple, the seat of the Jedi order."

"You keep on mentioning this Jedi Order." Steve spoke up. "That you yourselves are all Jedi and members to this organization. What is it exactly?"

"I think that it would be best suited if the entire council were present to explain to you but to put it simply, Jedi are the peacekeepers of the Galactic Republic overall as is our duty to the galaxy and to the force." Obi-wan said in a lecture-like manner.

"Peacekeepers huh?" Steve said to himself, thinking back to Earth and its most recent conflicts.

"We're arriving." Anakin said. "Come on, the rest of the council and Chancellor should be waiting for us."

They all followed after the Jedi and soon arrived down to one of the many docking bays that had been customized near the Jedi temple to accommodate for larger ships such as the Venator-class Star Destroyers.

Soon all were transported within two LAAT gunships to another hangar bay, this one being directly linked in with the temple. Landing there, the Avengers were greeted with sight of an additional collective of some of the strangest beings they had ever laid eyes on.

Yet none of them mattered as all three Earthers saw one man that made their hearts stop and jaws drop.

"Fury?" Steve said aloud in disbelief walking right up to what he could only describe to be the former head of SHIELDs doppelganger.

Said doppelganger could only step back, startled at how close this strange man had just come up to him.

"Excuse me?"

"Alright, Are we in space? Or another reality?" Sam then spoke up, now looking to the other bewildered Jedi and Senators. "Or is this some kind of elaborate test set up by Fury and his guys. I wouldn't put it past him honestly. That would even explain the eyepatch."

"Maybe we went through some Quantum mumbo jumbo." Scott said, squinting his eyes at the Fury look alike.

It was at this point the doppelganger got his bearings together and asked. "Do you know me? Because I certainly do not know you."

Breaking out of his momentary trance, Steve began to realize he had caused a bit of a scene so instead he pulled out his own phone. While it showed no signal that wasn't what Steve was going for. He had his own separate files downloaded there along with a few that apparently Tony had placed there just in case. What in god's name was Monty Python? Question for another time. Finding what he was looking for, Steve held it up to the man before him.

"Does this look familiar to you by any chance?" Steve asked.

The Fury look alike squinted at what he was staring at, widening his eyes slightly before giving Rogers a slight glare.

"What is this?" He asked. The picture was of him with an eyepatch shaking hands with another elderly Caucasian individual both wearing strange attires that he had not once ever wore.

"That…" Steve began slowly. "Is Colonel Nick Fury, from Earth. So that leaves us with a question of who are you?"

It was at this point another decided to make his presence known.

"Many questions we all have, yes."

All heads turned to a small, green imp like creature hobbling towards both Rogers and the Fury look-alike with a cane.

"Questions better answered together, hmm?" It spoke strangely with a voice conveying a layer of age gained wisdom. "Master Windu has questions more personal now, he does. As do we all."

"I do say I wasn't expecting that." Said a kindly elderly voice.

Steve turned to see an aged human with regal set of clothes standing behind this 'Windu' person, eyeing the screen he still held up with great interest and slight astonishment.

"Master Windu, have you been living a double life we are not aware of?" The elderly man asked in humor.

"That quite possibly might be the case." Windu replied, eyes still on the phone screen until Rogers at last put it away.

"Be that as it may." The Elderly man then turned to Steve and gave him a pleasant smile. "Greetings to you Captain Steve Rogers. I have heard much about you but let me just say and personally thank you in your noble defense of my home planet of Naboo. You have put a great deal of ease upon this old man's heart. It is a pleasure to meet you, my name is Sheev Palpatine."

Holding out a hand, Cap accepted it giving him a firm shake.

"Steve Rogers." He introduced himself. "Though you already knew that."

"Yes, my fellow Naboo Senator Amidala spoke of you and your companions brave and valiant actions on our home world." Palpatine said softly, a show of admiration. "Truly heroic of you."

"Think nothing of it sir." Cap said humbly. "Just doing our duty."

"Speaking of duty." Windu cut in. "I think it is high time we all got some answers as to what happened on Naboo."

"Yes" The small green alien said solemnly. "Much to discuss, we have. The Force calls to us, directing towards you it does."

Sam and Scott shared a look whilst Steve stared down at the green creature.

"We'd like answers of our own." Steve stated firmly. "Something about an 'inter-galactic war' that we apparently roped ourselves into."

"Then let's find a place more comfortable for us all." Obi-wan stepped in. "I'd rather us not stand around here for another few hours with one revelation after another with no explanation."

"Agreed." Was the collective response.

All were now present within a spacious meeting room of sorts within the Jedi temple. It was ovular in shape with steps elevating upwards acting as seats for many.

Steve, Sam and Scott were officially introduced to the Jedi High council.

The council consisted itself of Grandmaster Yoda the small green creature.

Mace Windu, The Fury look alike

Obi-wan Kenobi whom they have already met.

Then of course were the more unique humanoids such as Ki-Adi-Mundi with a large cone-dome shaped head. Sam murmured to himself something about Dan Aykroyd garnering a look from Steve wherein Sam only held his hands up signifying 'don't mind me'. Scott however got the reference and they somehow managed a discreet fist bump.

Next came the equally aquatic green, tentacle headed Kit Fisto who held a disarming mischievous grin. Followed by Plo Koon wearing a strange respirator mask type contraption.

Then was a dark skinned woman with a strange head piece that was akin to a crown of sorts named Adi Gallia.

And lastly was the strangest one of them all, the one named Oppo Rancisis, an alien with a bushy long beard, elongated finger nails and a snake like body from the waist down.

Three Jedi council members however were apparently absent. The ones referred to as Eeth Koth, Shaak Ti, Saesee Tin and Even Piell. All were off world conducting their own missions in the war effort.

"Introduced ourselves, we have." Yoda spoke for the collective Jedi, Clones and Senators. "The same in turn, you do."

"Right, right." Steve nodded. "So some of you already know but in full, my name is Steve Rogers. Back on our home world I'm also known as Captain America."

"Captain America?" Aayla said in confusion. "That seems more akin to a title if anything."

"So your Captain Rank was for show?" Anakin asked.

"Ah don't mind Humble here." Sam butted in, not allowing Steve a chance to explain. "This guy here is a Captain legitimately. Captain America is the name of the country we come from on Earth. He basically represents the best of what we can all be."

"Our world's first superhero." Scott added chipperly whilst Steve hung his head a bit from not being able to explain it in his own way.

"Superhero?" Obi-wan questioned with a raised brow.

"We all are." Scott proclaimed until slumping a bit. "Well, these two guys are. I'm more of an ex-convict who got a lucky break."

A pause.

"Oh, Scott Lang, Ant-man."

"Lieutenant Sam Wilson. Other codename is Falcon."

More silence.

"Er…" Ahsoka was speaking for all when she said. "What? Aside from you names and hearing you guys say you're heroes…"

"That's all we really did say." Sam pointed out. "Look, we don't exactly know how to condense a lot of craziness down to span of about 20 minutes so…"

"Take your time then." Obi-wan said, now seating himself. "We have some to spare at this very moment."

Glancing at one another, Sam and Scott both gestured for Steve to start for them. Nodding, Steve faced the Jedi Council, Clones and Senators.

"To put it plainly, myself along with Sam and Scott here are part of a team called the Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes." Steve said with a hint of pride. "We were formed as a fast acting response team in the face of an overwhelming threat and enemy no lone hero could face alone. Each individual both present and past came from different walks of life, each with different agendas, personalities and egos."

"And we had some real big egos." Sam said knowingly making Steve snort actually.

"It wasn't easy at first." Steve said plainly. "I myself know that as the original iteration of the team nearly clashed with each other on just our first meetings alone."

"I feel like a lot is missing here." Anakin interrupted aloud.

"We could show you." Scott said, pulling out his phone. "But we don't got any signal here."

"What is that anyway?" Ahsoka asked.

"It's one of our forms of communication on our planet." Sam said holding up his own phone. "A literal multi-purpose device that can help you communicate with friends and family, listen to music, look up information and so on."

Many looked on impressed and slightly awed.

Now that they thought about it, they can't really think of something like that for themselves save for perhaps maybe their holo-tables and communicators but these felt a little different.

"We're getting off topic." Mace Windu said somewhat irritably. "This isn't about us getting to know each other and our civilizations. This is also about the how you are here as well as the fact that the Force gave a seismic warning shortly before we heard about all of you."

"Excuse me generals." It was at this point the relatively silent Captain Rex spoke up. "That whole episode involving all of you nearly passing out and giving us collective heart attacks. You're all saying, or really implying that it may have something to do with _them?"_

"Possibility is high, yes." Yoda announced. "The Force, speaks to us it does. These three, surrounds them it does."

"But I feel nothing from them." Obi-wan said squinting his eyes at them. "The Force surrounds them yes, now I can feel it. Yet, from them directly, from their very being…I feel nothing."

"Ok now we're confused here." Sam interjected. "What the hell are you guys talking about? What's this Force stuff supposed to be?"

"Sounds like some video game stuff honestly." Scott said. "Have any of you guys played an RPG before?"

"It feels that the more we talk, the more questions seem to pop up." Palpatine said humorously to Amidala and Organa making both chuckle. "And at an exponential rate mind you."

All conversation ended when Grandmaster Yoda tapped/slammed his cane down to the floor, expunging a kind of Force wave which effectively silenced all.

"Calm ourselves we must." Yoda said sagely. "And from the beginning we must start. Captain Rogers, if you may."

Giving a respectful nod, Steve, along with the help of Scott and Sam went on to give a decently detailed explanation of just who they were.

From personal stories to an extent to the eventual formation of the Avengers and the catalyst to the event, Steve was the primary speaker in regards to it all.

During this time, he had inquired if the Jedi or Senators had heard of the species known as the Chitauri or of the alien civilization called Asgard along with its denizens of Thor, Loki and Odin.

When they received negative responses, Steve moved on when…

"Who is this Thor fellow exactly you speak of then?" Obi-wan inquired curiously. "You have spoken of him several times as being the only one amongst this team of yours to achieve space faring capabilities."

"It's more than that." Steve said. "Thor's people have been space fairing for thousands of years apparently and he can do so as well with many ways."

"And he's also a god." Sam threw out casually making all blink and slowly turn their heads to him.

"I beg your pardon." Plo Koon had now spoken. "What do you mean by that when you say, _he's also a god."_

"Right, well that's exactly as Sam said." Steve said. "Thor is a god where we come from and to many other realms. He's the God of Thunder to be precise."

"God of Thunder?" Ahsoka asked, trying to understand what he had exactly said.

"Oh, I got something that might help." Scott fiddled with his phone when suddenly a holo-screen appeared from his phone making him gape momentarily. "Whoa, I forgot this was upgraded."

"Scott."

"Right, right, right." Scott went through his phones videos and brought up the one he was looking for. It was captured videos of Thor in action in the Battle of New York along with the original line up of the Avengers.

"Why do you have all that in your phone?" Sam couldn't help but ask in bewilderment. "Actually, we should have just started with that now that I think about it."

"You can thank Peanut for that. Cassie put them all there." Scott said bashfully. "She really loves you guys, you know. Wants me to know how much she loves that you guys got me and Hope to join."

At the mention of Hope and Cassie, Scott abruptly grew more somber with his face falling into a more crestfallen mood. Sam and Steve frowned themselves but the former patted his friends shoulder.

"Chin up, tic-tac." Sam assured. "We'll find Hope and the others and get you home to your little Peanut."

Scott gave Sam an appreciative smile, looking back to the patient audience and plying the various clips of Avengers first outing in the city of Manhattan as they fought against the alien menace they identified earlier as the Chitauri.

To say that the Jedi, senators and Clones were stunned to a degree would be understating their reaction.

They were witnessing an alien invasion of a planet where only a group 6 extraordinary beings held back the army for as long as they were capable of.

Captain Rogers was easy to spot as they witnessed him in a different more form fitting and tighter attire combating the alien humanoids with extreme effectiveness and skill, throwing his shield around with ease and precision.

Then there were the other Avengers.

The woman they called Black Widow fought with a great deal of ferocity, utilizing her entire body as a weapon along with some kind of electric shock gauntlets, small slug throwers and even the Chitauris weapons against them.

Next came Clint Barton AKA Hawkeye. His skill with a bow were on full display, showing an acute awareness of not only his surroundings but the entire battlefield as well. It seemed that he had his eyes on a dozen places at once as he fired off arrow after arrow in what seemed to be different directions yet each hit with such precision and expertise, it almost looked impossible. And he did it most of the time without even looking! His level of awareness could be better compared to a truly honed and trained Jedi Master.

From there, it seemed to get crazier with the God of Thunder swinging a hammer at insurmountable speeds and calling upon literal thunderbolts and storms and laying waste to all who opposed him. His strength was completely overwhelming and half of everyone's jaws dropped at seeing this Thor individual single handedly kill off a leviathan of an alien with a mighty blow of his thunder infused hammer.

Then there was the being that was pure rage incarnate, Bruce Banners alter ego The Hulk. His pure strength alone was something that all present aside from the Avengers couldn't even fathom. He too accomplished the feat of taking down one of those gigantic building sized flying beast with a single punch!

And lastly was Tony Stark, The Iron Man. His suit was a sight to behold as he flew around the city, blasting away at the Chitauri. There was even a point where someone from a low vantage point looking up managed to capture the exact moment Iron Man had actually flown into the _mouth_ of the flying Chitauri and blew it up from within.

The small amount of astonishment grew into genuine awe and amazement at seeing only six people, granted superhuman, but still six people hold back an army on their own.

Steve had a bit of a fond glaze over his eyes at seeing the event that first brought the team together and cemented the bond they had together since that harrowing experience. Taking a moment to gaze over those watching, it was at this moment that Steve's eyes landed on the face of Chancellor Palpatine.

Steve's expression grew stoic suddenly, eyeing the Chancellor as he continued to observe the old recordings of the Avengers. While he shared similar expressions with many of those present, it was his eyes that truly startled Steve. There was a hunger to them, a deceit that he feels like he'd seen it before.

Shaking his head, trying to dissuade himself from his thought trajectory he turned his attention back to the meeting at hand. He gestured for Scott to put his phone away and addressed their audience once more.

"After that day, the Avengers were formed though we all went on our own separate ways." Steve said. "We reconvened a few years after encountering various threats across the world on our own, realizing the growing number of threats our world faced. So we decided on remaining as a team in full, taking a more proactive role in safeguarding our world."

"And you two are new members then?" Mace said, directing his question to Falcon and Ant-man.

"More or less." Sam said with a shrug. "After the first incarnation of Avengers prevented another world ending event, it went through a reshuffling of its members. Some stepped down, sadly one went missing, the other left on a separate quest and we got ourselves a new team now."

"An entirely new team?" Anakin said in clear befuddlement.

"Aside from myself and Black Widow, the Avengers since then has had 7 new members." Steve said.

"That is rather radical of a change." Plo Koon noted. "To restructure your team such an extent."

"I think it plays to our teams greatest strength honestly." Steve said with conviction. "Anyone who is willing, who knows what we fight for can join the team. Our job, our duty is to be the sword and shield for Earth and protect it together from threats beyond what one man can do on their own."

"Then there are 9 of you right now then." Windu said. "You mention yourself and this Widow along with 7 others."

"And 3 stand before us right now." Plo Koon said.

"Which means there are six other Avengers we need to find." Sam said firmly.

"We don't know how to find them though." Scott admitted straight away. "Steve and Sam found me by dumb luck honestly. But we know now there's a galaxy out there. And god knows where the rest of our friends are."

"Then I say it's settled then." Chancellor Palpatine spoke up excitedly almost. "I would like to offer you the aid of the Republic and the Jedi in finding your friends."

"What?!" Was everyone's response.

"Chancellor." Anakin spoke first. "What are you doing?"

"What's it look like I'm doing my boy." Palpatine said pleasantly. "I'm offering assistance to those in need. And consider this a way of me repaying you for my undying gratitude for your heroism on Naboo. If these other Avengers are anything like you three alone they are worth looking for."

"I actually agree with the Chancellor." Obi-wan found himself saying. "The three of you have done a great service to the Republic without asking for anything in return. I believe in one's actions over what they say and the three of you helped where you were not asked for."

"Hey now, let's not all just jump to conclusions here." Steve now said in a slight commanding tone. "Look I truly am grateful that we were able to help those in need at that time, but there's the fact that we are now roped into a war and to be honest I don't think that's something any of us truly want."

"Hmmm." Yoda hummed thoughtfully. "A Jedi Master speak, you do. Great strength of heart, mind and body, you possess Captain Rogers."

"And I do believe I am in your debt for helping in saving myself and Commander Bly during the battle on Naboo." Aayla Secura stated getting an affirming nod from said Commander.

"You guys also helped save a lot of our brothers' lives on Naboo." Captain Rex said with appreciation. "I think we can spare some time in helping you guys out."

"Can't argue that." Commander Cody concurred.

"The Force." Yoda said aloud, facing the Avengers. "Pulls us to you it has. A great change has occurred. At the center point of it, the Avengers appear to be."

"By the will of the Force, it appears that we must aid you as you have aided us already." Kit Fisto said with a grin.

"I think it would be pretty great to be helping out real heroes!" Ahsoka said excitedly.

"Hey Snips, I'm hurt."

Snips stuck her tongue out playfully at her master.

"I too wish to help." Padme said with determination. "Like Palpatine said, you save my home planet, including my Sister and Niece. I can't thank you enough for that."

"And you saved our lives from an assassin." Organa pointed out. "Don't think I won't do my part in repaying that debt."

"Geez, what is this? Positive Price is right?" Sam joked, hiding his overwhelmed demeanor at the whole scene. "Next thing you'll be telling us is that we've won a free ship."

"That can be arranged." Organa humored.

"I was kidding." Sam said until he paused and looked up at the senator. "Wait, for real?"

"Alright, let's not get to excited there Sam." Steve lightly reprimanded. "Still, I know this feels sudden in what you're doing but thank you. If we really do find our friends cause of you then we can't thank you enough."

"Important, this task has become." Yoda said, walking forward to Rogers. "The Will of the Force has spoken. Never before has it been clearer or defined. Help you we must, for in turn you shall help us."

The Jedi Grandmaster offered a clawed hand to Steve Rogers who promptly kneeled down to Yoda's level and shook the offered hand.

"Thank you. Grandmaster Yoda." Steve said graciously.

A change in the air was felt, now more so then ever.

All Force sensitive beings present within the room could feel it to their very cores. A great shift within the galaxy will happen and these Avengers, these "Earth's Mightiest Heroes". They are the catalysts that will set everything into motion.

"Just one question." Scott piped up, cutting off the tensions building in the room. "Can somebody please explain to me this whole Force stuff, cause I'm starting to feel a bit light headed at thinking about it for too long."

That broke the rather intense atmosphere and humored air filled the room now, with some chuckling at the abrupt question among them being Scott himself.

"Yeah… but seriously, what is it?"

"Well, I think it's time you guys sat down then." Anakin teased. "This is gonna take a while as well."

**And there we have it folks, another one down.**

**This one is much shorter and really not as important aside from exposition sakes. Really it took me a while in trying to figure as to how to go about the first official meetings between these factions so this was came to mind.**

**And you know what else? This is a bit off topic, but when you look at it and it's kinda obvious The Force in many ways is the ultimate plot mover most of the time.**

**It's always about the Force and I don't know where I'm going with this but I just had it pop in my head. Yadda yadda yadda I'm rambling here.**

**Before I go though, there is this.**

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Eyes slowly opened to stare at the pitch black night sky, showing the endless expanse of space. He felt his entire body was sore right now, but honestly now wasn't the time to be laying down after that light show.

Grunting, he forced himself to sit up while the sounds of the suit powering up was heard.

Feeling a bit at ease knowing his suit was functioning at full capacity as it was displayed on his HUD, Colonel James Rhodes AKA War Machine got to his feet, having his helmet flip back to reveal his tired expression.

Looking around, Rhodey found himself in the middle of a barren wasteland with craters littering the entire area for as far as the eye could see.

Only one thing came to mind which he verbalized a moment later.

"Where in the hell am I?"

**Rate Read and Review and as Always Have Nice Day**


	5. Rookies

**Moving on with the story and all.**

**Rate Read and Review and as Always Have Nice Day**

Avengers Infinite Wars Chapter 5: Rookies

Steve Rogers was quite literally overwhelmed right now. He was staring at a digital book of sorts, chronicling a beginners guide of sorts on the history of the galaxy and he quite frankly want to put it down already.

Yes, Steve was very studious in terms of knowledge but he can't deny the overwhelming amount of it he had just received upon accepting the aid the Jedi and the Chancellor had offered.

He sat alone in a Spartan-esque room that the Jedi had graciously offered to him and his two companions during their stay at the temple. Grateful as he was, Steve's mind remained on the idea of finding the other Avengers and getting home.

'Easier said than done.' Steve thought bitterly, placing down the civilian holocron that he had received ending his reading session.

Getting up to his feet and stretching out his body, Steve was getting a bit stir crazy at being cooped up in his room and the guest area of the Jedi temple even if it has only been several days. Exiting his room, Steve went over to Sam's door and found him missing the same being with Scott.

Confused as to where the two were, Cap trusted his gut enough that they weren't far off and weren't getting into any trouble. At least crazy trouble, knowing Scott's tendencies.

Choosing to walk in a random direction, Steve walked down the large decorated and elaborate halls of the Jedi temple finding their architectural designs quite beautiful and pristine. The whole place gave off a very tranquil vibe yet there was an underlying tension throughout the temple. Steve chalked it up to the war going on right now.

Every now and then, a couple of Jedi passed by Steve travelling mostly in pairs with a small group being led by an elderly lady who was directing a group of two dozen young children dressed in traditional Jedi clothing.

Some stared in starry eyed wonder at the strange man who gave them a kind smile, conveying he wasn't anything special yet the younglings thought differently.

Continuing on his path, Steve passed by many other Jedi receiving momentary attention at best until he reached a more open space filled with plant life and foliage that he had never seen before.

"A garden huh?" Steve mused to himself, going along one of its many branching paths.

The air here was serene and peaceful, actually filling Steve up with a contentedness he had not felt in… well ever truthfully. Maybe it was the work of that Force thing the Jedi here have spoken of so many times.

"Ah, what have we here?" Said a soft, gentle feminine voice. "A lost traveler."

Quirking a brow, Steve turned round to see a woman sitting beneath a tree of sorts yet this was easily no ordinary woman. Human woman to say the least.

Her face was kindly in appearance though lacked a nose entirely with her hairs being like tendrils in the texture of tree-bark vines. In fact from the look of it, Steve would almost would have assumed her to be a part of the very tree she sat under.

"Pardon ma'am?" Steve said politely.

"You look lost, weary traveler." She said kindly, rising up off the ground to stand. "No, not traveler. Warrior. A warrior with internal conflict, great strife and concern."

Steve found her not to be invasive or prodding but rather curious with a calming demeanor. She held an aura of great wisdom and knowledge to her, equal to that of Grandmaster Yoda perhaps.

"Am I that easy to read?" Steve asked in good nature.

The woman smiled, approaching him at a leisurely pace.

"One's who project their hearts in the open are usually purest of people." She said kindly, standing no further than a foot away from him.

"I wouldn't call myself pure ma'am." Steve said knowingly, somewhat somber now. "Not after the stuff I've done."

"Wise, because you have doubt." The Plant-like being went on. "Strength, within the very flaws you see for yourself. You are a truly rare individual noble warrior."

"You can call me Steve Rogers, ma'am." Steve said kindly making her smile.

"And in turn, I am T'ra Saa." The Jedi introduced herself, a mischievous twinkly in her eyes. "And I'll have to ask you to refer to my name then ma'am. I may be a Neti, but being a few centuries old has done nothing in dampening my youthful soul."

Steve chuckled slightly. "And I thought I looked good for my age. Guess I still have a few more centuries to go then."

T'ra was rather bemused at the statement yet felt no falsehoods or mockery from the man, only there was a story to be told behind the comment.

"You are troubled, Mr. Rogers." T'ra said, voice conveying a sense of understanding.

"I think that would be putting it mildly, Ms. Saa." Steve's expression fell into a more neutral one. "There's a lot on my mind now and there's so much that I can barely think to be quite honest. And please, call me Steve."

T'ra only smiled, stepping to the side and gesturing her arm to the tree. "Would you care to have a seat then, Steve? I believe what you need is a way to clear your mind. I also insist on you calling me T'ra, my friend. Only seems fair."

Steve gave her a grateful smile. "Please, T'ra. I'd rather not intrude upon your business."

"Nonsense." T'ra said softly. "Companionship is always favorable then solitude. Come brave warrior. Sit with me. Let the Force, let the garden and allow yourself to let go and relax you mind and body."

Steve was having a hard time to say no and to be quite frank he really didn't see a reason or a need to. This Jedi T'ra just exuded a completely patient, calm and collected aura that was a bit enticing to be honest.

He walked with her over to the tree and now both sat beneath their leaves with their legs crossed and arms resting on their knees.

"Thank you for the offer, T'ra." Steve said upon leaning against the bark.

"Think nothing of Steve." T'ra said, kind smile still in place. "I saw someone in need and as my duty to the Jedi order and the Force, I had to do what I can."

Steve rubbed his chin in thought, replaying two words over and over again.

"The Force." Steve said aloud, T'ra tilting her head towards him. "I've heard just about every Jedi and even a few of the clones and Senators at one point refer to it. What is it exactly? Grandmaster Yoda and the Council talked about it like it was some kind of religion."

"It is more than that." T'ra said patiently, holding out her hand. Leaves fluttered down only for some to suddenly begin to encircle around her hand by an unseen 'force'.

"It is the source of power for all Jedi, all those who have a greater connection to it Omnipresence across the galaxy. The life blood of anything and everything." T'ra recited while the leaves around her hand began swirling about at a faster rate. "We the Jedi are followers of the Force and its will, preservers of life and keepers of the peace. For my mantra, I am one with the Force and the Force is with me. With the Force, we find balance, clarity and purpose. The Force is a sentient concept. And it has a plan."

The more T'ra spoke of the Force, the more it sounded like this Jedi orders god if not the Galaxy they currently resided in.

"Then why have some of the Jedi mentioned that they can't detect the Force around me and my friends?" Steve inquired.

T'ra hummed in thought, lazily focusing upon one leaf while the rest drifted down to the ground.

"The Force utterly surrounds you, Steve." T'ra informed. "But it is void within you. You and your friends come from a world that has absolutely no connection to the Force. The three of you and your lost companions come from a place not of our understanding. It is truly fascinating to be perfectly honest with you. A world devoid of the Force, no pull of the Dark Side."

"The Dark side?" Steve said in confusion. "What's that?"

Before T'ra could answer, another voice interrupted.

"Ah, there you are Master Saa."

This was a woman and one that sounded a bit familiar to the super soldier. T'ra however recognized it immediately.

"Aayla." T'ra said pleasantly, standing up to face the Twi'lek Jedi Knight. And she was not alone.

With her was a grizzled middle-age man with a scar going down his left eye, garbed in primarily black robes.

"Ah, what a pleasant surprise to see you as well Tholme." T'ra greeted with a warm smile directed at the scarred Jedi Master who chuckled good naturedly.

"I see you in good company as well." Tholme said in turn, facing Cap who had also stood.

"Sir." Steve said respectfully.

"None of that now." Tholme gently waved down. "I've never been one for formalities unless necessary. Just Tholme, thank you."

"Pleasure, Tholme." Cap nodded. "I'm Steve Rogers."

"Yes, I have heard of you." Tholme said, extending a hand for Steve to shake which he did. "Heck of a grip you got there. Aayla mentioned your great display of strength and combat."

"I do what I can." Steve said, turning to the blue skinned Twi'lek. "Miss Secura, hope you're doing well."

"Well enough Mr. Rogers." Aayla responded kindly. "If only under better circumstances. And please, I follow the same ideal my master have in terms of names."

"Then the same goes for me as well."

"You are departing then, Aayla?" T'ra questioned with a slight frown marring the features of the young Jedi Knight.

"I am." Aayla confirmed. "Bly and the 327th is geared up and ready. We're being deployed to Hypori."

"Hypori." T'ra said a bit hesitantly. "That is a Separatist strong hold."

"I'm not going alone." Aayla said as a measure to assure her master. "Masters Mundi, Shaak Ti and K'Kruhk are accompanying my fleet. We aren't going in weak."

"I think two Jedi council members should be enough to alleviate a level of our concern." Tholme said lightly.

"Indeed." T'ra agreed.

"Good luck Aayla." Steve said with respect. "Hope to see you back safe."

"Thank you Captain." Aayla said appreciatively, bowing her head. "And I'll see again masters."

"Ah, Come here Aayla." Tholme gave her a fatherly hug which she reciprocated followed by doing the same with T'ra.

"May the Force be with you, Aayla." The Neti Jedi Master said in goodbye.

"And to you as well, Master." Aayla said, departing shortly after.

Watching her leave, Steve heard the haggard sigh of master Tholme looking over to see him slump a bit.

"This war…" Tholme said tiredly. "Has brought about concern and worry for this old mans heart. The thought of losing both his apprentices is a difficult thing."

"War does that to people." Steve said knowingly. "But I've seen Aayla fight in the short time that I've known her. She's more than capable in handling herself."

"Of that, I never had a doubt." Tholme said, though gracing Steve with a grateful expression. "It's just that war often makes one lose themselves. A fear unspoken of within the order."

"I know the feeling." Steve said with solemn expression. "Back in my time, during the war I was a part of, we had to make a compromise with ourselves… we had to do a lot of nasty things that didn't exactly make us sleep well at night."

"How did you cope with such a choice?" T'ra found herself asking.

"We did what we had to so that no one else had to endure those types of choices." Steve said. "We did it so people could be free and remain free."

T'ra and Tholme were rather stunned by the declaration sharing a look. Tholme let out a tired sigh a few moments later, shooting a wry smile at Steve.

"If a man like you were in the Jedi order sooner, perhaps this war could have been avoided." Tholme stated. "Maybe even guide the Jedi back to our old roots."

"Old Roots?"

"Story for another time." Tholme said. "Just know this now, Steve Rogers."

Placing a firm hand upon the Captains shoulders, a friendly smile now gracing the greying Jedi's features.

"You have made a friend in myself and Master T'ra." Tholme said with promise, T'ra nodding in agreement. "I feel a man like yourself and the rest of your companions may just be the necessary kick the Jedi order need to save the Galaxy and themselves."

"I'm using to saving one world." Steve said, humor lacing his tone. "A Galaxy? Even I think that may be way over our heads."

"Oh I think you will be more than up to the challenge." T'ra said knowingly.

"I appreciate the support then." Steve said honestly. "Thank you both."

_On the other side of the Galaxy_

To say that Colonel James Rhodes was confused as to where he was would be a bit of an understatement.

This whole damn place was kinda freaky. It was totally barren, no life for as far as the eye could see and if he wasn't mistaking it that moon up there looked more like Earth then it did the moon he knew of.

He had tried several times now in contacting the Avengers only to receive static… for the third day in a row.

Now, Rhodey's War Machine armor had come equipped with rations and water as a contingency for emergencies like these. Thank god for Tony's forward thinking that and the morbid idea that he had the random thought to install food in their armor involving the first time he suited up in the Middle East and the second time when he found himself in Tennessee. Granted, Rhodey had his own fair share of input due to years of being in the Air Force himself but still the fact that these add-ons were there due to Tony's constant near death experiences kinda sucked. Then again, he has been doing this on a daily basis even before either of the two 'suited up'.

But right now, he needed to focus. There had to be some way of contacting the others and finding out just where in the hell was he.

To be perfectly honest with himself, Rhodey began to garner the creeping suspicion that he wasn't on Earth anymore. Coupled with the very clear, un-earth like creatures that he had seen flying around only added to that theory.

Deciding to go for another fly, Rhodey's thrusters started up and War Machine was now high in the air with his suit working.

His suit of armor had naturally undergone an extensive amount of upgrades courtesy of his best friend and thankfully he had learned how to maintain his suit on his own to a great extent though still not onto the level of Tony. It was enough though as he had managed to pace out the suits functions and power, thankful for the personalized Arc Reactor Stark had installed.

Flying through the air, there was nothing in sight other than the barren wasteland and the endless expanse of stars above.

One might say that the view above was beautiful and artistic but War Machine wasn't here for that.

Suddenly, his armor notified him of a large structure just a few clicks ahead. A structure that had power emanating from it!

Rhodey propelled himself at a higher speed now with a destination in mind and in the distance. Maybe he could make some headway on his situation after all.

Meanwhile, at said structure…

It was built into a large canyon with a single landing platform where one lone figure in white armor stood.

A Clone Trooper.

Said Trooper had a set of scopes attached to his helmet, allowing for a wider and longer field of view from his position.

"This is the deck officer checking in." The Trooper said to the rest of his comrades within the base. "Nothing going on. As usual."

Inside the base were a group of clones all at several stations monitoring for any signs for unusual activity. More specifically, droid activity.

Save for the two in the center, arm wrestling with a holo-radio broadcast playing all the while.

" _You're listening to the Grand Army of the Republic broadcast. The voice of the Outer Rim. This next one goes out to the Mud-jumpers of the 224_ _th_ _, slugging it out on Mimban. Keep your head down and your seals tight, boys."_

Another clone holding a data pad entered the control room just as one of the clones slammed his fellow troopers arm down.

"HA HA YES." The Clone shot up in victory while the loser massaged his wrist. "Who's next? Fives?"

"Uh Shouldn't you be watching your scopes, Hevy?" The Clone who had just walked in asked.

"Yeah? Let's take a look." Hevy responded condescendingly whilst pulling up a visual of the Rishi Moon's atmosphere. "Hmm, what'd ya know? All clear. Just like the last hundred times I've looked."

"Personally, I like that it's so quiet out here." The Clone said, tapping his datapad. "Get to catch up on my Reg Manuals."

"Echo, what is wrong with you?" Hevy argued a bit childishly. "We should be out on the frontlines blasting droids. Right Cutup?"

"Ah, leave him alone." Cutup said, turning to Echo. "He was left in his growth jar too long."

"Yeah." Hevy said, sharing a laugh with Cutup while Echo just frowned in annoyance and looked back to his manuals.

"Ugh, what was the point of all that training on Kamino if we just ended up here." Another clone complained.

"Yeah, you said it Droidbait." Hevy agreed. "You might not realize it, Fives, but you landed on the most boring outpost in the entire Outer Rim."

It was at this point that a clone had entered the control room, this one being distinguished with his grey brows and sideburns. He made his presence known by responding to Hevy's offhanded comment.

"And one of the most important." He said firmly.

All heads turned to him with Cutup shutting off the radio and a signal going off. All clones snapped up, standing straight in posture.

"Attention, Sergeant on deck!" Echo shouted out.

"At Ease." The Clone Sergeant said, eyeing the assembled Clones. "I know you're all new here but I don't have to remind you that this quadrant is key to The Republic in the outer rim. If the droids get past this station, they can surprise attack the facilities we were all born on our home world of Kamino."

The reminder of said planet made some of the Troopers tense up at the thought of their birthplace being attacked.

"There's some officers on the way, so I want everything squared away and ready for inspection." The Sergeant informed his squad. "Understood?"

"Sir, yes sir!"

_Elsewhere in the galaxy._

A fleet of Republic fleets floated idly through open space with several V-19 Torrent Starfighters flying towards the center ship of the fleet.

Within said ship was Obi-wan Kenobi, staring out into the vastness of space in deep contemplation until turning back to head towards his former Apprentice turned Jedi Knight Anakin.

"Still up Anakin?" Obi-wan commented, approaching the younger Jedi who was leaning upon the center holo-table overlooking a spherical map. "I would have thought you'd have gotten some sleep by now."

"I'll sleep after we catch Grievous." Anakin said, all the while rubbing his temples. "Clone intelligence last reported seeing the General in the Balmorra system but that was several weeks ago. Since then, he's just vanished."

"Well, unlike you, maybe he's catching up on some much needed rest." Obi-wan said good naturedly. Anakin's faithful Astromech Droid R2-D2 chirped in agreement at Kenobis assessment.

Anakin instead kept up his frown, eyes glancing down.

"Something else has been bothering you, Anakin." Obi-wan said. "What's wrong?"

Before Anakin could answer, Admiral Wulff Yularen of the Republic approached the two.

"Excuse me General." Yularen cut in. "Incoming transmission from Commander Cody."

Yularen pressed down on a button with a small miniature holo-Cody appearing before them.

"General Kenobi, General Skywalker." Cody gave each Jedi a respectful nod.

"Cody." Kenobi greeted cordially. "How goes the inspections?"

"The Tracking station on Pastil is fully operational." Cody reported. "Captain Rex and I are on our way not to the outpost stationed in the Rishi system."

"Good. Report back when you arrive at the Rishi Base." Obi-wan said.

"Copy that, General. Cody out." The holo-Cody flickered out a second later.

"Good man, that Cody." Kenobi praised before looking to Anakin. "Don't worry, Anakin. If General Grievous comes anywhere near this quadrant, we'll know about it."

"Master." Anakin abruptly looked to him. "Do you feel something… unusual?"

"What do you mea…" Obi-wan fell silent, furrowing his face in concentration.

"General Kenobi?" Yularen spoke up, noting Obi-wans expression. "Is everything alright?"

After several seconds of silence, Obi-wan answered. "The Force. I feel it shifting and moving about."

"Keep a close eye on the Rishi system." Anakin instructed the Admiral. "I'd rather not take any chances."

_Rishi moon_

War Machine had been flying for a few minutes when at long last, he saw a large station in the distance.

"Finally." Rhodey murmured when suddenly, his sensors went off notifying him of incoming objects hurtling down from above.

Looking up, Rhodey's eyes widened at the flaming objects coming down from the sky.

"A meteor shower?"

Sensors went off once more, signaling how close one was to hitting him. Without thinking twice, Rhodey flew back a good distance and out of range of the falling meteorites and waited for the shower to subside.

"Alright, either I'm on the weird part of Earth or I'm not _on_ Earth." Rhodey murmured to himself.

While Rhodey was witnessing the Meteor Shower, the clones themselves within the base were notified of the falling rocks.

"Sir, incoming meteor shower." Droidbait notified.

"Raise the shield." He instructed with Droidbait doing just that.

"You wanted excitement Hevy." Cutup mentioned with Hevy rolling his eyes in response.

"Right. Oh~ Meteor Shower." Hevy said in sarcastic fear.

The meteors impacted the ray shield of the base yet all was not as it seemed.

Witnessing the shields defenses was War Machine who gawked a bit at what he saw.

"Seriously, Just where in the hell am I?" Rhodey asked for what felt like the thousandth time already but felt adequately appropriate now more than ever. He then noticed something not that far from him and tilted his head.

'What is that?' he internally asked himself seeing some kind of dome like contraption with three metal appendages imbedded into the ground.

A red light then shined out coming from the flat part of the unusual craft face the planet surface and out jumped lanky robots that looked somewhat similar to…

"Ultron Drones?" War Machine murmured aloud, narrowing his eyes with his weapon systems powering up. Thanks to his advanced suit, it allowed him get a clearer and closer visual of what he was looking at without moving from his spot.

'Not Ultron Drones.' Rhodey mentally said while assessing the situation.

Just what had he gotten himself into? He noticed one of them had a blade of some kind attached to its back while also carrying the same gun as the other dark plated bots following after it towards the base.

Making sure to edge himself closer to the base, he noticed something white get tossed from the platform a moment later. It looked like a body!

Gritting his teeth, War Machine now chose to fly over to get a closer look when he heard what could be described as some kind of pulse or plasma fire when it faded out quickly. Looking to the entrance, Rhodey used the many craters and hills as cover while edging himself closer to the base as to not alert any unwanted attention.

Unfortunately, attention came for him in the form of a looming shadow from behind. Armor warning systems blaring, Rhodey whirled around in time to see gigantic eel like creature with a four jawed mouth hovering over him with its intentions clear.

"Alright, seriously, What the Fuck?!" War Machine yelled out, taking to the air as the creature lunged forward in an attempt to devour the Air Force Pilot.

In retaliation, Rhodey unleashed a barrage of hot metal led into the beast managing to pierce its hide repeatedly which made it cry out in anguish. It used the many large holes in the area to flee the fire directed at it, leaving one very confused and now anxious Avenger.

"God Fucking Dammit." War Machine let out bitingly. "Just what the hell was HYRDA working on?"

His internal conflict was interrupted by the sound of metal echoing down from the cavern below. Turning around to face the interior, Rhodey's suit picked up on movement to the far right down from the base.

He then saw four white armored humans jump out from some kind ventilation shaft when from afar he spotted another one of those gigantic creatures seemingly stalking them from above.

Eyes widening in horror, Rhodey flew forward at top speeds in hopes of intercepting the giant monster.

Meanwhile, the four surviving clones of the Rishi base were conversing on what to do next.

"So what do we do without the Sarge?" Cutup asked his squad.

Echo of course recited. "Well, the Reg Manuals say that the next-"

"Hold on." Hevy cut Echo off. "Do you guys hear something?"

It was a mixture of a moaning hiss coupled with something scraping against rock. Then came a more metallic and artificial sound.

"Yeah actually." Five spoke up. "What is all that noise? That doesn't sound like droids."

"Don't forget about those giant e-" Hevy said when it was Echo who interrupted him.

"LOOK." Echo cried out pointing to something that was headed right for them at high speeds.

"What the hell is that?" Hevy yelled out, pulling out a pistol.

"Looks like…"

Cutup then cried out in terror and plea as the clones were snuck up on by a giant eel with their brother in its mouth.

"CUTUP." Echo shouted out to his brother when suddenly a metallic humanoid figure slammed itself into the side of the eel making it drop Cutup. It flew back into a hover and fired a missile from its shoulder into the eye of the eel, killing it.

"What the hell is that?!" Hevy said aloud, gun aimed right at him.

"It looks like a droid!" Echo said in trepidation.

The metallic figure then landed in front of them and its helmet flipped back to reveal a dark skinned human!

"Are you guys alright?" He asked.

The fours clones eyes widened with one or two jaws dropping beneath their helmets while they glanced at one another. Who the hell was this guy?

"Uh, yeah." Echo said slowly. "We're alright."

"Thanks for the save." Cutup said, panting a bit frantically while also patting himself on the chest upon realizing he narrowly escaped death.

"Who are you?" Fives asked.

"Colonel James Rhodes." Their savior stated formally. "I go by War Machine. I'm with the Avengers."

"The Avengers?" Echo repeated. "Who are they supposed to be?"

"You're a colonel?" Cutup said, standing up a bit straighter now.

"I don't think I'm your colonel." Rhodey said with a slight humorous tone regardless of the situation at hand. "Wait, please tell me, where exactly am I right now?"

The Clone Troopers looked to one another with Fives shrugging and turning to address Rhodey.

"You're on the Rishi Moon Outpost of the Republic, sir." Fives said respectfully.

"The what on the what?" Rhodey said in clear confusion.

"Uh sir, not to be disrespectful or anything but…" Echo went on when.

"Boys look." Hevy said, pointing above them.

"It's Commander Cody!" Echo said upon realization of the craft. "The inspection team."

"A flying ship that I don't recognize." Rhodey said to himself. "Alright, it's official I am not on Earth anymore."

A level of panic began to set in for Rhodes coming to the aforementioned conclusion.

"We've got to warn them." Cutup said hurriedly.

"Get on the Comm link." Hevy instructed Echo.

The Clone tried in several failing attempts. "It's no use, their comms frequencies are on a different scramble set."

"They're walking right into a trap." Hevy said grimly.

"I'll signal them with this flare" Fives said, holding up the flare.

Up on the landing platform was Commander Cody and Captain Rex conversing with a very unusual Clone Trooper. He had been very adamant in keeping both superior officers from entering the base so Rex had had enough, getting right in the Troopers face.

"Take us to the Sergeant in command." Rex ordered sternly.

"Roger, roger." The Clone replied making Rex and Cody share a look when a red light shot out from beneath the platform and high up into the air.

"A droid attack flare?" Cody said in befuddlement.

Without wasting a movement, Rex held up his rifle and promptly shot the Trooper in the head.

"Whoa Rex!" Cody said, freaked out at the action. "What the hell are you doing?"

"Relax." Rex said confidently, going over to the downed body and removed its helmet. "Just as I thought. Looks like one of those new Commando droids."

"That flare must've come from the survivors." Cody surmised.

Blaster fire then filled the area.

"Ambush!" Rex yelled out with both he and Cody now being surrounded by other Commando Droids all firing at them.

Both moved back towards the crates for cover, shooting back all the while. Cody landed a few shots upon one of the droids only for it to straighten back up and resume fire.

"Argh, Those Clankers have got some tough armor." Cody said in annoyance

Down below, the others heard the firefight.

"We've got to get up there and help them." Echo said.

"Yeah but none of us can without cables or being able to…fly!" Fives said in epiphany, looking to Rhodey. The others soon picked up on this.

"Colonel Rhodes sir." Fives said quickly. "I know this is sudden but…"

_**KABOOM** _

Fives was interrupted by the sound of Cody and Rex's ship being blown up above.

"NO!" Echo cried out.

"Dammit!" Hevy growled. "Now what do we do?"

"Don't panic just yet." Rhodey said, gesturing his head. "Looks like whoever was up there…"

The clone squad saw two figures descending on down from the platform via cables.

"Made it out just fine."

"Come on." Cutup said and all four ran forward.

Rhodey briefly contemplated on what to do next but right now, he really didn't have much options. So following these soldiers who all sounded exactly the same seemed to be his best course of action at this very moment.

Rex and Cody in the meantime touched down upon the ground.

"Well this sure complicates things, Commander." Rex wryly said, observing the wreckage of their ship. "No worse than that time we had on Tibrin."

"We had Jedi with us on Tibrin." Cody reminded. "They helped."

Both Rex and Cody then gave pause to four figures walking around the fire and towards them.

"Hands above your head." Rex commanded, leveling his rifle at them with Cody in tow. "Take your sun bonnets off."

"Uh Sir?" The one with a binocular attachment said in confusion.

"Now!" Rex barked out and the four troopers obliged, revealing familiar faces.

Rex and Cody relaxed only to snap up their weapons again at the sight of a hulking metallic figure when two of the clones jumped in their way.

"Whoa, Whoa, sirs." The clone with the tattoo number Five on the right side of his cranium said calmly. "Don't shoot the help, sirs."

"The help?" Rex asked.

"Yeah, Colonel Rhodes here saved my hide something good." Cutup stated.

Rex And Cody then saw a human head and lowered their weapons.

"Oh shit." Rhodey suddenly said aloud with his back minigun springing up.

From behind came yet another one of those giant eels only this time, Captain Rex was quick on the draw and shot it in the eye for an instant kill. Letting out a mournful moan, the predator fell down and did not move.

"Nice shot." Echo murmured.

The Clone Captain kneeled down to inspect his kill, taking his helmet off in the process. "The name's Rex, but you will call me Captain or Sir."

"Sir, yes Sir!" The Clone Troopers said in response.

"I'm Commander Cody." Said the yellow tinted Trooper, helmet also removed. "Your new boss."

"My designation is Trooper 27-5555, sir."

"We Call him Fives." Hevy said. "I'm Hevy. This is Echo and that's Cutup."

"And you are?" Rex inquired, eyeing War Machine who had been silent in all this while looking at all the Clones in bewilderment.

"Uh Colonel James Rhodes but who are all of you guys?" Rhodey found himself asking. "Are you guys brothers? Clones? Cause ya'll look way to alike."

"Both really." Rex responded with a slight smirk before growing serious. "You say you're a colonel?"

"US Air Force. I'm with the Avengers" Rhodey nodded with pride before murmuring bitterly. "Though that barely seems to matter right now."

Rex and Cody's heads snapped up to him with wide eyed shock.

"Avengers." Cody said slowly. "You said Avengers, Right?"

"Yeah." A sudden swell of hope entered Rhodey looking between the high ranking clone officers. "You know about them?"

"Do the names Capt…"

"Steve Rogers." Rhodey finished for Rex. "Yeah, Cap. Have you seen him? Have you seen the others?"

"Well this has certainly become interesting." Rex said in humored disbelief. "We find one of the lost Avengers and a batch of Shinnies, Commander."

"You know this person, Captain?" Echo asked.

"Shinnies?" Hevy said in slight confusion. "What's that?"

"Your armor." Rex said, walking up to Echo and placing his blue blood stained hand upon Echo's chest and leaving a hand print. "It's shiny and new. Like you."

"And if you wanna know, the Avengers are a bunch of new guys who can do crazy things that we can't even begin to dream of." Rex quickly explained.

"So then, what do we do now then?" Cutup questioned. "The base is still in the hands of the Droids."

"Sir." Hevy spoke up, addressing Rex directly. "Me and my Batchers are trained and ready. We'll take back the base, Shiny or not."

"There may be hope for you yet, rookie." Rex said approvingly.

"Uh, sirs, not to hold us back or anything but what about Colonel Rhodes here?" Fives inquired.

"We can't just leave him here after he saved us." Cutup argued.

"Captain Rex." Rhodey said. "You and Commander Cody know about the Avengers, right?"

Both Clone officers nodded.

"How exactly do you know them?"

"We met them after coming from the planet of Naboo." Cody quickly explained. "Captain Rogers, Lieutenant Wilson and Scott Lang assisted in repelling the Droid army before coming back with us to Coruscant and explaining their situation. We know you guys are from a planet not familiar with interstellar travel."

"Well that covers most of it then." Rhodey mused, nodding a moment after. "Alright, I'll help you guys out."

This surprised some of the Clones though Rex gave the Avenger a hard stare.

"Are you sure about this sir?" Rex asked respectfully. "You're involving yourself in a war that's not yours."

"If Cap is the first to throw himself into a conflict like this one, he has good reason too." Rhodey reasoned with conviction. "Helping you guys take this base back seems to also be my best bet with reuniting with my comrades."

"Much appreciated then." Rex said with a grateful nod.

"Let's move boys." Cody said to the other clones, all donning their helmets with Rhodey's coming on automatically.

"Ah, that's too cool." Hevy commented.

"I could fly up there to get a vantage point." Rhodey said to Captain Rex. "Make sure the platform is clear."

"Much appreciated." Rex said, watching War Machine take to the skies and kept a good distance away from the base for precaution.

"I want one." Fives said in slight awe at the suit.

Rex watched closely as after a few seconds, Rhodey gestured for them to start making their way up to the platform.

"Let's move." Rex ordered, the squadron beginning their ascent up the cliff.

As they got closer, Rhodey landed beside them with Rex handing off his blaster to Fives.

"Look sharp rookies." Rex instructed "As long as those tweezers occupy this base, our home world of Kamino is at risk."

"But there's so many." Cutup pointed out.

"Doesn't matter, kid." Rex waved off "We have to take back this base, so _we will_ take back this base."

"How do you propose we get through those blast doors, Rex old boy?" Cody asked with anticipation.

"I have a few ideas." Rex said, looking to the doors.

"I could blast my way through it." Rhodey said, getting everyone's attention. "This armor is a one-man army."

"Then save that firepower for when they send down reinforcements." Rex countered. "They always send it down so we gotta take these clankers down quick and fast so we have time to prepare for it."

"So what's the plan then?" Rhodey asked.

"We give them a taste of their own medicine." Rex stated.

What a taste of their own medicine, apparently, was Rex pretending to approach the blast doors in a similar fashion to the way the Commando droids had when they first met the two clone officers.

The rest of the squad was lined up against the blast doors out of sight from the camera that popped out to get a closer look at Rex.

" _Unit 2-6? Is that you?"_ Asked the Commando Droid on the opposite of the door.

"Roger, Roger." Rex responded as blandly and robotically as possible.

" _You sound strange."_ The Droid stated. _"Is something wrong with your vocabulator?"_

Rex reached up to his throat in a further effort to add to the act. "Roger, Roger."

" _Take off your helmet, let me see your faceplate_." The Droid ordered.

"Roger, Roger." Rex complied with a hint of amusement.

Rex ducked beneath the camera and held up a droid head. Up above, Rhodey couldn't fight the chortle that escaped him, watching Cody shake his head and palm his helmet.

"This is never gonna work." Cody murmured, slightly irked at the plan.

Then the blast doors open.

Then the Droids realized it was a trick.

Then Rex pulled the trigger.

"Roger, Roger." Rex said condescendingly, shooting down the middle droid while the others took out the other two.

"Right." Rex said approvingly. "Let's move."

Rhodey landed behind the Clones and ran past while holding out a hand for them to wait as they were at the foot of the stairs.

"Hang on, my suits picking up on how many are up there." Rhodey informed.

"It could do that?" Echo said in astonishment.

"Picking up…" Rhodey paused for a moment. "Nine Hostiles up there."

"Permission to take point, sir?" Hevy asked Rex.

" _I'm_ always first kid." Rex stated while giving Rhodey a pat on the shoulder for giving them a headcount of what they're up against.

The team rushed in with Rhodey flying in head first towards two of the four Commando droids stationed within the primary control area of the base. Grabbing one head in each of hands, War Machine's suit strength on top of his flying momentum essentially crushed the heads like an empty soda can.

The Clones rushed in, quickly scrapping the Droids as they were distracted by the abrupt arrival of War Machine.

"Alright." Cutup cheered. "That was easy."

"Don't say that just yet, rookie." Cody interjected, looking over one of the control consoles of the base. "Get to the window. Echo, your scopes."

Obliging the Commander, Echo went up to the window and looked through his scope attachment to see a large cluster of ships.

"Looks like a Separatist fleet." Echo stated.

"Now we know why they commandeered the base." Cody said with finality. "They're launching a full scale invasion of Kamino."

"We need to warn command now." Rex stated.

All the while in the capital ship of the Separatist fleet was the supreme commander of the Droid army and infamous Jedi killer, General Grievous. He was overseeing the entire mission at this moment.

"What is the status of the base below?" Grievous demanded of one of the droids.

"The all-clear signal is still transmitting but for some reason, our Commando Droids aren't responding." The Droid pilot said.

"That base cannot be allowed to alert the Jedi of our planned invasion." Grievous said quickly. "Send reinforcements down to investigate."

Back down below in the base, the Clones and Rhodey were considering their next course of action.

"They're gonna be sending down reinforcements at any given moment." Cody surmised, eyes still up at the stars where the enemy fleet currently resided.

"Sirs." Cutup spoke up. "We've run into a serious problem."

"The Clankers Hard-wired the all clear signal and cut off our transmitters." Echo said. "It will take time to repair."

"We don't have time for that." Rex said firmly. "We need to warn the Republic now."

"Guys." Rhodey said solemnly. "Looks like we've got incoming company."

True to his word, a ship was descending down to the platform.

"A Droid dropship/" Cutup murmured.

"Well Hevy, you always did want to fight on the front lines." Fives said, giving his brother a pointed look.

"We can't protect the base from an army of Clankers like that for long." Hevy admitted

"Then we'll destroy the base. ' Rex said with finality.

"But sir." Echo argued. "Our objective was to protect the base at any and all costs."

"Doesn't matter right now." Rex countered. "The Republic needs to know now. They'll take notice the moment the all-clear signal stops transmitting."

"That's right." Fives said in realization. "As soon as the signal is gone, the Republic will know that something's wrong."

"Whatever your plans are then, you've got to hurry up." War Machine said, pointing outside. "Cause they're marching towards us right now."

"I'll need every Thermal Detonator in the base." Rex said

"With all due respect sir, it'll take more than a couple of detonators to blow this base up." Hevy said.

"You guys do what you have to." Rhodey said, priming up his weapons. "I'll buy you guys some time."

"Alone?" Echo said in concern.

"Fives, Hevy." Rex said. "Go with Colonel Rhodes. Back him up while we figure out what to do here."

"Yes Sir." Fives and Hevy said in unison, rushing off to the armory while War Machine left the control room down to the blast door entrance.

Standing in front of the doors, Rhodey was joined by Fives and Hevy the former holding a D-17 rifles while the latter carried around his own Minigun.

Nodding to both of them, Rhodey heard the intercom of the other side of the door turn on with a nasally voice speaking.

"Reinforcements reporting." The voice said. "Open up."

The blast doors open with Hevy revving up his weapon.

"You didn't say please." Hevy chided.

Fives and Hevy opened fire upon the droids while War Machine flew out and above with all his weapons flaring out of his armor.

When he first stated that his armor made him a one-man army, he wasn't fooling as the high impact and high velocity rounds of his wrist guns, shoulder mounted Minigun and many other weapons effectively tore through the droid forces.

"Unbelievable." Hevy whooped out. "Leave some for the rest of us Colonel."

Rhodey landed down on the pad, crushing a super battle droid beneath him. Firing both his primary weapons and palm repulsors, War Machine wiped out the reinforcements until marching was heard from the droid ship. The tell-tale sign of more droids.

Five and Hevy had moved out further onto the platform in backing up War Machine.

The next wave of Droids came being met with led and lasers.

"This is too easy." Hevy exclaimed excitedly. "He really is a War Machine! Even with those slug-throwers."

Rhodey stood where on the platform, using both manual and automatic fire in absolutely decimating the clankers. Any that got close were punched off the landing pad or ripped into two pieces.

He then faced the entrance to the dropship and promptly fired off a dozen or so missiles into the interior of the ship. Explosions rocked the ship with the front of it completely blowing up.

Fives and Hevy let out wheezing gasps of awe at the pure destructive power War Machine displayed, utterly decimating the Droid ship.

"That was insane!" Fives exclaimed.

"Where could I get one." Hevy whispered.

"Hey everyone, the LT's are…What the hell happened out here?!" Cutup ran out of the base only to see the droid ship slump forward before falling back into the abyss.

"Now _this,_ is gonna be an awesome story to tell." Rhodey said a bit giddily, turning back to the still stunned clone troopers.

Meanwhile back up with separatist fleet, General Grievous had received some unfortunate news.

"What's going on down there?" Grievous demanded of the droids.

"It appears our reinforcements have been destroyed entirely." The Droid said.

"What?" Grievous growled. "How is that possible?"

"The Clones must have used high ordinance explosives." The Droid stated.

Grievous seethed internally but kept a leveled head. If he sent down Hyena bombers, that ran the risk of the base being destroyed or damaged enough wherein the all-clear signal ran the risk of being disabled. Thus, the Republic fleet would come rushing in.

"Send in another group of battalions." Grievous ordered. "We will not allow a few measly clones in notifying the Republic."

"Roger, Roger."

War Machine and the Clones were back in the base where a large set of Gonk Droids were huddled together.

On their way into the base, Cutup quickly explained that they were gonna utilize Liquid Tibanna to destroy the base.

"Highly explosive liquid, colonel." Fives added. "We usually use it to heat the base when the weather he gets below freezing."

"If only this damn detonator would work." Rex said as they entered the control room to see the Captain fiddling with a device in his hand.

"What's the problem?" Rhodes asked.

"The detonator won't connect." Rex stated in frustration.

"Guys." Echo said hurriedly at the window. "More droid reinforcements incoming."

Thinking fast, Rhodey looked to Rex. "This thing is explosive, right?"

Most of the clones nodded.

"So aside from a detonator, all it needs is an explosions to penetrate the liquid from within to entirely set it off?"

"More or less." Echo said with a shrug.

Without ushering a word, Rhodey held up his wrist and fired several disks that attacked themselves to the closest Gonk droid.

"There, that should be enough." Rhodey said with a satisfied nod.

"What's that?" Hevy asked.

"Explosives." Rhodey elaborated. "Hooked up to my suit. I can set it off once we're clear of the base."

"Great thinking colonel." Echo praised.

"Let's move then." Rex said, walking over to a ventilation shaft exit.

"Yeah, not gonna fit through there." War Machine mused.

"Then how are you gonna get out of here?" Cody asked. "We've got a lot of dropships coming in to retake the base."

"Leave that to me." Rhodey said confidently. "Get clear of the base gentlemen. And get ready to see the fireworks."

The Clones seemed to hesitate for a moment until Rex put his faith in the colonel and ordered the men out of the base.

War Machine all the while walked around the base, taking in the many control panels and other worldly tech that was both familiar and new to him.

"Huh, like the simplicity." Rhodey said, metal fingers gliding over the many panels and buttons.

He paused at the sound of metal footsteps marching up the stairs towards the entrance of the base. Casually strolling forth, he stood at the front of the center command panel looking right at the incoming battalion of droids that marched up the stairs.

"Base is secure." The Droids declared, until realizing they weren't alone. "Wait, who's that?"

"Is that a new droid?"

"Sure looks like one to me."

"Have fun guys." Rhodey said with a casual salute before firing up his thrusters at full blast and rocketing forth right through the lines of B1 and B2 battle droids.

His armor was a metallic batting ram, slamming and bashing away any and all droids in front of him until flying out from the base and high into the air. Using his scanners, Rhodey picked up on the Clone squadron down below back where they all first met and saw that they were safely out of range.

"Enjoy." War Machine sent out the command.

Within the base, the droids that weren't destroyed were trying to make sense as to what just happened.

"What was that?" A B1 droid asked clutching its head.

"That sure didn't act like a droid."

_**Beep beep beep** _

All heads swiveled to the center of the room, noticing the assembled Gonk Droids.

"What's making tha…"

_**BOOM** _

Outside the base, War Machine had reconvened with the others and watched as the base went up in a blaze of glory.

"Always hated that place." Hevy said a bit fondly.

Above the Rishi Moon base, Grievous had witnessed the whole thing from that figure that flew out from the base to the entire post blowing up seconds later.

"What happened?!" Grievous barked out. "Who blew up the base?!"

"But isn't it good that the base is destroyed?" A Droid asked

Grievous only called it one thing. "Idiot."

Suddenly an entire fleet of Republic fleets appeared before his own, outnumbering his fleet both in terms of numbers and firepower.

"The Republic fleet." Grievous said in anger. "We're outgunned! Get us out of here this instant."

Back down on the moon, Echo witnessed the whole separatist fleet fleeing the sector.

"We've got the tinnies on the run." Echo said with elation at the victory.

"All thanks to the five of you." Cody praised the four clones and Rhodey.

"Especially you, colonel Rhodes." Rex said directly to the Avenger. "Let's get you back with your comrades."

"Much appreciated Captain." Rhodey said earnestly.

"Look." Cutup pointed up. "Friendlies."

"Gunships." Rex said in relief.

The ragtag group stepped down from the shadows all waving their arms and guns in the air, getting the large ships to touchdown before them and open the doors for them.

"Come on boys." Rex gestured for them to get on. "Let's get our ass's off this rock."

Rhodey was then taken up to a large ship filled with more ships that made his air force blood stir and head spin.

He was in freaking outer space!

This was just crazy for the Iron clad hero. And apparently, Rex and Cody were aware of the Avengers and had made contact with three of his allies. At least, that's what it seemed considering those were the only names they divulged.

"So Commander Cody." A middle aged man with a full beard approached their recently landed gunship with another younger man by his side. "I take it the mission ran into… complications."

"Just a standard op, General Kenobi." Cody said.

"Who blew up the base then?" Anakin Skywalker inquired.

"That would be all of us sir." Captain Rex said, gesturing to himself, the rookie clone squadron and War Machine.

"And who is this?" Kenobi asked.

War Machine's helmet flipped back to reveal his face.

"You look… familiar." Skywalker said, squinting at the air force pilot.

"Sirs." Rex spoke up. "This is Colonel James Rhodes, otherwise known as War Machine."

"Of the Avengers." Kenobi said in realization. "Yes, you looked familiar. Your comrades gave us faces in identifying who all of you are."

"So you know about us then." Rhodey asked, his hopes getting affirmed knowing that his comrades were alright judging by their reaction to him.

"They gave us a rundown of your situation." Anakin said. "And it looks like we're gonna knowing a lot more about _all_ of you guys."

Rhodey tilted his head. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"In less than a few days now, you Avengers have willingly thrown yourselves into this war and have aided both the Republic people and our soldiers." Obi-wan said with a grateful tone.

"Don't what the generals are talking about colonel…" Hevy spoke up, stepping forward. "But because of you, my squad survived a lot more than we should have back on Rishi."

"Me especially." Cutup said knowingly.

"We owe you a lot, Colonel."

"And we can start by getting you back to Coruscant with the rest of your friends." Anakin stated. "It's the least we could do right now after you helped in getting the Republic here in time to fend off Grievous and his fleet."

"A lot of that went over my head to be honest." Rhodey sheepishly admitted. "But all I need to know is that my friends are fine and you guys can help me get to them."

"Of course." Anakin said with a chuckle, finding Rhodey's honesty funny.

Before they departed however, a small quick ceremony was held for Fives, Echo, Hevy and Cutup as Rex had decided to award them for their act of valor and reassigned them into the 501st legion.

Anakin and Obi-wan were present and thanked them graciously for their actions, stating he would be honored to fight alongside them at any battlefield. And the young general meant that with every word. As the two Jedi departed, one Clone couldn't help but voice a matter that had been nagging him all this time.

"With all due respect sirs, we don't truly deserve this honor." Echo said earnestly. "We failed our mission in protecting the base and lost a lot of our brothers."

"But you took initiative in your actions and were more than ready to fight." Cody stated.

"Even with the help of Colonel Rhodes, the four of you stood tall in the line of duty and showed me that you are the kind of soldiers that I need to fight beside us." Rex said with pride. "Domino Squad, welcome to the 501st. You're not rookies anymore."

The squad stood up straighter now with their heads held high and crisp salutes presented to Rex and Cody.

"SIR YES SIR!"

_Scene cut._

"So uh, why'd Anakin and Obi-wan just call us out here?" Scott Lang asked his two companions as the trio stood at the entrance of the Jedi temple with Yoda and Windu being present as well.

"They said something about a surprise for us." Sam said, looking up to the sky watching the many flying vehicles fly on by.

"Important this be." Yoda said.

"Did this… Force tell you?" Steve asked, picking his words carefully.

Yoda nodded.

Sam, who had been looking up at the skies the entire time widened his eyes and had his jaw drop upon spotting something flying towards them.

"Cap!" Sam said aloud, gesturing up rapidly. "Is that…?!"

Steve and Scott both looked up and their reactions were the same to Sam's.

War Machine, James Rhodes landed before them in a heroic pose before standing at full height before the armor opened up and out stepped their friend.

"Man, it is so good to see you guys." Rhodey said with a genuine smile.

Sharing quick hand claps and hugs all around, Rhodey glanced behind him to see the LAAT Gunship that had been transporting him hover down to them.

Out jumped Anakin and Obi-wan.

"Way to kill the surprise, Colonel Rhodes." Skywalker said wryly.

"How'd you guys find him?" Steve asked.

"By accident really." Kenobi admitted. "Almost a similar situation to yours really in hindsight."

Everyone looked to Rhodey only to see him staring at Mace Windu in bewilderment.

An expected reaction to say the least.

"Rhodey."

Sam's voice broke through to the Air Force Pilot, the fellow flyer giving him a wry grin.

"We've got a lot to catch you up on."

**Whew, another one down.**

**So busy week but hey updated faster than I originally thought it would take.**

**And during that time, The trailer for Star Wars episode 9 came out and not gonna lie… well it was underwhelming in my eyes and a lot of Star Wars sadly is gonna underwhelm me more than not until it proves me wrong cause after the last few carpet bombings, expectations are non-existent. Surprise me Abrams and Disney, I'm willing to give it a chance.**

**Other than that, the Avengers are now up to 4 in number.**

**And bit by bit, the avalanche of change the Avengers bring about will begin to be felt.**

**Rate Read and Review and as Always Have Nice Day.**


	6. Underlying Malevolence

**Let's keep the ball rolling as we've gotten the Avengers roster up to 4 right now.**

**To avoid confusion, here's the current Avengers Roster.**

**Captain America, Falcon, Black Widow, War Machine, Wasp, Ant-Man, Scarlet Witch, Quicksilver and Vision.**

**Others like Tony and Clint are back on Earth.**

**But Anywho, let's not beat around the bush and just get right into it.**

**Rate read and Review and as Always Have Nice Day**

Avengers: Infinite Wars Chapter 6: Underlying Malevolence

Chancellor Palpatine stood at the large curving windows of his personal office, looking out at the busy skyline of the planet of Coruscant.

Not a day goes by where the skies remain cluttered and busy with commuters, civilians, workers and so on going about their day and night.

It was quite a sight really.

A sinister smile made its way onto the Chancellors face, counting down the days where at long last the Republic would fall. In its place, the Sith empire that had been hiding in the shadows for a millennia will rise once again and rule the Galaxy.

"…"

And yet, a great shockwave within the Force signaled the start of something different. Something that will change the very way the galaxy works. He could feel it. Every force-sensitive could feel.

" _Chancellor Palpatine, Captain Steve Rogers is here to speak with you as requested."_

And it all starts with this man.

"Thank you." Palpatine put up his generally pleasant façade. "Please send him in."

The entrance to the Chancellors office opened, revealing the star spangled leader of the Avengers walk in with his trademark shield on his back.

"Chancellor Palpatine." Steve Rogers said respectfully. "You wanted to see me?"

"Yes, yes, please my good sir." Palpatine said kindly, gesturing to the chairs in front of his desk. "Please have a seat Captain, no need to stand there uncomfortably."

Obliging to the Chancellors request, Steve placed his shield on the side of his chair whilst sitting down before the Chancellor who took his own seat.

"I hope your time here in Coruscant has been pleasant." Palpatine said, making small talk.

"The temple and the Jedi have been very accommodating." Steve said with a nod.

"As they should be." Palpatine said expectantly. "What you and your team has done in such a short amount of time is truly to be commended."

"We didn't do as much as many would expect." Steve stated plainly. "Two planets in an overall galactic war seems minimal at best, sir."

"As humble as you may state your actions to be, the defense of Naboo as well as notifying the Republic of an impending invasion of the Clones home world of Kamino are no small matters, Captain Rogers." Palpatine said, crossing his fingers together. "You may look at it as 'small' actions of grander war but many would find themselves inclined to disagree. Especially the people of my home of Naboo. I've even heard rumblings within the Clone army of the actions of your recent reunion with the one called Colonel Rhodes who was instrumental in notifying the Republic of the Separatists plans of invasion."

"If I were to be honest with you, Chancellor, everything you listed off was happen stance and knee jerk reactions." Steve admitted. "I along with Sam and Scott did not wish to see the loss of innocent lives. Rhodey himself said that siding with the Clone troopers on the moon called Rishi was the only viable means of reuniting with us."

"My, oh my." Palpatine chuckled good naturedly. "I have met a rare few who displayed an exceptional level humility save the Jedi order but you truly are a man unto yourself."

"I try, Chancellor." Steve said with a small humored smirk, though it had yet to reach his eyes. This went unnoticed at the moment by the secret Dark Lord of the Sith.

"Doesn't seem like you try at all." Palpatine went on before furrowing his brows. "Still… I feel underwhelmed right now."

"Sir?"

"You have done a great deal for the Republic and yet, the Jedi order and Republic have yet to truly reward you with something greater than some meager living quarters for your stay here." Palpatine said with a shake of his head.

"Chancellor Palpatine, we don't mean to impose…"

Palpatine only cut him off. "I will hear none of it, Captain Rogers. I cannot, in good consciousness, leave you and your allies with nothing more than a room to reside in. No, this will not do. On this, I impose my will of assisting you and your allies in finding the rest of your lost comrades. Whatever you ask of me, I shall do so within a heartbeat."

Steve couldn't help but widen his eyes in slight disbelief at the offer of the Chancellor for him and his friends. This kind of deal coming from the head of a centralized _galactic government_ was too good to be true.

And therein was the silver lining.

_It was too good to be true._

Say what you will about politics, people, hell living sentient beings, one thing remained the same. Governments of any shapes and sizes are run with agendas in mind that can be changed and twisted in time.

And from what he had been reading about the galactic history of this galaxy, it may prove to be true to a much greater degree than his own revelations back home on Earth.

The Chancellor appeared to be a kind and benevolent man, though with a strength to him and a charisma to match.

And yet, there was something familiar to this display. This act. He had seen it before and to many times in a short amount of it since the years of him waking up in a new world he did not recognize.

But there was still the prospect of using Palpatines offer to a degree.

Steve can't deny that they are by all technicalities stuck here. So using anything he could at his disposal in order to find the other Avengers and get back home to Earth.

Then there was the galactic war they had already inadvertently participated in on the side of the Galactic Republic. Twice now and with how news spread like wildfire in any forms of news media, their actions had already been broadcasted across the galaxy no doubt earning a bit of the ire of the Separatist faction.

If he were to be honest with himself, after learning a great deal about this whole war he did not exactly view the CIS in a positive light. That's not to say that the Republic was at fault with the way they've conducted themselves.

He should thank Nat when he finds her in teaching him how to be _extremely thorough_ when researching two sides to an argument.

Both sides were at great fault as one instigated war while the other quite literally did nothing until they had no choice _but_ to fight in the war.

Steve couldn't help the biting remark that came out his mouth upon reading that portion of recent galactic history. There was a disagreement back on a farm he recalled at the time but he decided not to dwell on it.

Returning to the current moment at hand, Steve stood from his seat and gave the Chancellor a hard but respectful stare.

"I'll consider this offer very seriously Chancellor." Steve said truthfully. "I will speak with my comrades on this regard. We're not gonna dismiss it so lightly."

"Take all the time you need, Captain Rogers." Palpatine said understandingly though with a joking tone added. "But please do hurry, there is a war still going on after all."

"Right." Steve frowned, eyes glancing down. "The War."

Palpatine observed the superheroes reaction momentarily.

"What do you make of this war, if I may ask, Captain Rogers?" Palpatine found himself asking. "A man of your rank and clear talent must have his own opinion of war."

Steve regarded the aged man momentarily, silently contemplating the question. His eyes drifted over his shoulder at the sight of several LAAT gunships whizzing by with their hatch doors open to reveal squadrons of clones from various corps and legions.

"There's a lot one could say about this war." Steve said slowly. "Moreover the necessary means and actions that could have been done to prevent such a galactic scale conflict."

"Something the Republic and the Jedi worked strenuously in doing so."

"And yet, it still happened as it would have." Steve said with a stoic visage.

"Pardon?" Palpatine was confused by such a rebuttal."

"I'm sorry." Steve waved off, rubbing his chin in thought. "Just a stray thought from the past."

"Of course." Palpatine said in a pardoning manner. "Though, you are correct in a way. As much as the Republic tried, and tried it did, the war and all of this madness truly felt inevitable. All that could be done is put off the inevitable when I look back on all of our actions."

"War is a universal concept that is always inevitable." Steve said with a sense of aged wisdom in his words. "It's one of the many things that are doomed to repeat itself throughout history."

"I never took you for a philosophical and scholarly individual, Captain Rogers." Palpatine joked with a friendly chortle.

"A good soldier is only as effective as his mind is then his sword." Steve said a faux sage-like tone.

"Oh? And who said that?"

"Someone back on my planet said something similar to that." Steve explained. "I think at least. Might have missed that lesson back at boot camp."

Palpatine chuckled lightly, leaning back into his chair to get more comfortable.

"You are truly a marvel, Captain Rogers, if you don't mind me saying." The Chancellor said light heartedly. "From what I've seen your companions pull off to your own feats on Naboo and your most recent friend, Colonel Rhodes. And you say that there are still others like you somewhere perhaps in this galaxy?"

"Yeah, five others." Steve said, longingly thinking about his lost friends.

"I do hope they're doing well enough for themselves."

"They can take care of themselves." Steve said, confident in his teammates. "All of them can adapt to their situations and do what they need to do in order to survive."

"Such confidence." Palpatine said, showing a sense of awe.

False awe. "I wish I held the belief you had in the people you trust, Captain Rogers. I have only a small handful."

"Gotta trust in the friends you do have." Steve said. "At the end of the day, they're all you have sometimes."

Palpatine only shook his head, calm smile in place. "You hold greater wisdom then even I can fathom, Captain. And I thought I have my fair share of knowledge."

Steve only smile once more, yet it still didn't reach his eyes. He couldn't help but feel a growing level of discomfort around him. Maybe it was the air, maybe just homesickness but something was really starting to bug him about being here and it felt all too familiar in his mind.

Sighing, Steve stood from his seat. "I gotta head back to the temple. Don't wanna leave my friends for too long."

"Of course, Captain Rogers." Palpatine said understandingly, standing up out of his seat as well and offered his hand. "Just remember, my offer to assist you and your comrades still stands even if you deny it the first time around."

Steve only nodded his head in turn as show of respect and goodbye, shaking the man's hand before grabbing his shield and placing it on his back whilst exiting the office.

As soon as he departed, Palpatines facial expression morphed into one of a scowling frown whilst seating himself again.

For some reason, things did not go as expected. He could feel it.

This Captain Rogers was not one to be so easily swayed as he first expected. It seems that there is more to this man than he least expected. Sure he appeared to be a kind of run of the mill soldier, yet the force and the man's own presence spoke a very different tone in front of Sidious.

He was a man not easily fooled, he could admit that much.

But it mattered not. For Sidious, it wouldn't be long until he would either sway the support of the Avengers to his side or simply remove them entirely from the field.

Both of these could be accomplished in time.

"…"

And yet…

Sidious felt his nose and eye twitch in unison momentarily, a sense of irritation washing over him. Teeth clenched, the Sith lord willed himself to calm down and retain a calm demeanor. Why was so much bothering him right now?

What in the name of the Force was _happening_?

He had never felt such a suffocating feeling of frustration before.

Was it truly because of the arrival of these Avengers?

Then that means he'd have to proceed with a cautious quickening of his plans.

The Force wills it.

However…

Palpatines seat slowly swiveled around to face the window, eyes set on one structure specifically. The Jedi temple, seat to the Sith's ancient age old enemy lay there before him. A temple that in good time will fall under the control of the Sith, once again as it did so many centuries ago.

Though he couldn't see him, Palpatine could feel him. Stretching his connection and feeling in the Force, through some difficulty, Sidious "located" the Jedi Grandmaster Yoda.

The little green imp was sitting within a personal meditation chamber with Force surrounding the Jedi as it did him.

In fact, the whole Force has been on the fritz and high alert since the initial shockwave and it didn't seem to be calming down anytime soon.

The more Sidious thought on the matter, the more the underlying anxiety seemed to grow. What does this mean? What could it cause? He knew that something like this was not so easily ignored and since it has yet to "calm down" so to speak, this in turn could lead to unforeseen consequences.

Sidious needed to start looking into contingencies sooner than later, it appears.

Meanwhile, at the Jedi temple was the aforementioned Grandmaster Yoda who was levitating above his seat in a deep trance as he allowed the Force to entirely encompass his very being.

The door opened and Yoda exhaled, slowly lowering himself down.

"Master Windu." Yoda said expectantly. "Troubled you are, I sense."

"Was it that easy to tell?" Mace dryly asked, seating himself in front of the Grandmaster.

"Easy for all to tell." Yoda said in light humor. "All are troubled, no need to fret Master Windu. Alone in this case, you are not."

Mace Windu let out a tired sigh, crossing his legs yet slumped forward.

"What is happening, Grandmaster?" Windu inquired intently. "Throughout the temple and the galaxy, the Jedi and perhaps other Force Sensitives, they've all been on edge and hyper aware of everything. It's a typhoon in the force."

"Spoken to Fisto, you have."

"He's always had a strange way with words."

Yoda only hummed, opening his eyes since Windu entered the chamber and faced his fellow master.

"Much on your mind, you have, Master Windu. As do I." Yoda said, face in deep concentration. "The Force… a constant state of Flux it has been."

"Since the arrival of these Avengers." Windu stated knowingly.

"Blame them, do you?"

"Not necessarily _blame_ them." Windu said, furrowing his brows in thought. "More like… set something in motion that we have yet to understand."

"Hmmm? A vision you have seen? Perhaps, premonition?"

"Maybe." Windu only nodded to himself. "But the Force, the way it's been acting so to speak. It's not like the Dark Side or even the Light."

"Just the Force, you feel." Yoda nodded knowingly. "In a state of flux, the Force is. A greater change to come, there is. Worry not Master Windu. All is, as the Force wills it."

"But these Four men and even the other five missing are not like anything we've seen in the galaxy." Windu said, rubbing his chin. "They are devoid of the Force, nothing within them whatsoever. How can they be a part of the Force's will?"

"Unclear of that, I am." Yoda admitted. "Accidental they say their arrival was. Perhaps it was indeed such an event. Nothing to do with the Force, perhaps they did. Though the Force knows the magnitude to which they bring."

"So what does that mean for us?" Windu questioned. "What does it mean for the Jedi? The Republic? Maybe even the whole galaxy?"

Yoda only closed his eyes, reaching out to the Force once more and feeling the rapid state of perpetual vibrancy it continued to give off.

"Whether or not a connection to the Force the have, responding to them it is." Yoda confirmed. "We must watch these Avengers. What they do, the Force in turn responds."

"And if it could be something negative?" Windu asked with a hard stare.

"Do what we must, as will the Force." Yoda could only say.

During all this, Steve Rogers had exited the Republics executive building and was face to face with the bustling world city metropolis.

Letting out an exhausted breath, Steve's enhanced eyes could barely keep up with all the darting skyways above. Vehicles flying left, right, up, down and all manner of directions to get to their destinations.

And he thought waking up in the 21st century was jarring.

Looking around, Steve suddenly felt overwhelmed as he realized that he was not next to the docking bays of the Executive Building.

"Great." Steve muttered to himself.

He felt extremely out of place right now, more so then ever before.

"What have you gotten yourself into Rogers?" Steve said, trying to figure out where to go. It appeared that the Coruscant guard that had assisted in bringing him here must have either left him here or forgotten about him entirely. Not that the latter was impossible considering how hectic everything seemed to be on this planet. At least from Cap's point of view.

He was about to approach a random passerby when…

"Captain Rogers?"

Whirling around he saw two distinctly familiar faces.

"Senators Amidala." Steve said respectfully. "And you're Senator…Chuyi?"

"Chuchi." The Blue skinned alien corrected politely.

"Right." Steve said.

"Are you alright, Captain?" Padme asked. "You seem a bit…"

"Lost?" Chuchi guessed getting a sheepish look out of Cap.

"More or less." Steve admitted with no shame. "I need to get back to the docking bay and get back to the Jedi temple."

"Oh, well we could give you a ride if you would like." Chuchi offered.

"I wouldn't want to impose." Steve said when Padme cut him off.

"Nonsense." Amidala waved for him to follow with a friendly smile. "Please, this is nothing in comparison for what you did for me and the people of Naboo."

"You did help in saving us after all." Chuchi cheerfully reminded.

"The people of my planet have seen what you have done and you saved my sister and niece." Padme reminded with a praising smile. "I owe you a debt of gratitude I can never truly repay."

Steve blinked before smirking slightly in amusement. "Well you would be the second person today that would say that to me."

Padme and Chuchi tilted their heads at that statement.

"The second?" Padme said. "Who was the first?"

"Chancellor Palpatine." Steve answered. "He called me in earlier to his office to have a small conversation."

Now both senators were curious.

"What was it about?" Chuchi asked while the three of them began walking towards the docking bay, Padme gesturing them to do so.

"Just a few things here and there." Steve idly said. "He said he wanted to thank me personally and all about what Scott, Sam and I did on Naboo."

"Well that makes sense." Chuchi mused. "You are after responsible in playing a large part in repelling the Separatist invasion."

"He said the same thing." Steve said, eyes furrowed in thought.

Padme noticed his expression. "What's wrong, Captain?"

Steve's lip twitched upwards slightly. "Please, Senators. There's no need to call me Captain all the time. You could just call me Steve Rogers."

"Ah, then I insist on you simply calling me Padme."

"And that's Chuchi for you and your comrades."

"Appreciated, ladies." Steve tipped his head forward. "And as for what's wrong… It isn't what's wrong per say, it's what he offered me and my allies for the duration of our time here."

"What is it?" Chuchi asked.

"He offered us the chance to use whatever resources he can give in finding our allies that may be scattered across the galaxy." Steve said.

Both ladies' eyes widened at Palpatine's apparent offer.

"That's quite the proposition." Padme remarked.

"It seems a bit much to be honest." Steve stated. "My team and I only helped out twice in total in comparison to the galactic wide war where many had already been fighting in for months now. Feels a little too familiar honestly."

"What do you mean?" Chuchi inquired.

"I'll tell you ladies about it some other time." Steve said kind heartedly.

"Well…" Padme hummed in thought. "I have thought about what you and your allies had done for me and my home. I can't ever thank you enough truthfully."

"Say what you will to make yourself modest, Steve, but your actions will be remembered far more at times then your words." Chuchi said cheerfully. "You have a friend in me."

"And me as well." Padme said with a kind smile. "So I also extend the offer of aid."

"I don't know what I am able to offer but if I can help in anyway, I can do my part." Chuchi added.

"Ladies, I really appreciate the offer, I do." Steve said earnestly. "But I would feel like I would be taking advantage of a something with you guys and I'd rather not do such a thing."

"Humble and modest." Padme said with approval. "You sound like a Jedi."

"I wouldn't know much about that." Steve said with a shrug.

Padme only smirked at him. "Well, I'll keep my offer open then. A favor or two, how about that then?"

"That seems like a fair compromise." Chuchi said, jokingly professional.

Steve opened his mouth to respond until he momentarily contemplated the help she had extended towards him and his friends. Senator Amidala did not have the same overbearing vibe that the Chancellor had. There was no ulterior motive in her eyes or gestures, displaying a show genuine character and want to assist and help others.

The young Riyo Chuchi seemed to share these actions, hoping to emulate her older colleague.

"Thank you." Steve said humbly. "This means a lot to me and my friends will appreciate it as well."

_Scene cut_

Steve had been dropped off by the temple thanks to Senators Amidala and Chuchi and headed to the guest rooms of the temple.

He passed by some Jedi here and there, getting more and more familiar with the area he resided as it did not take him that long in finding his room.

As he approached the corridor with the Avengers room lined up side by side, he heard the tell-tale signs of machines whirring, welding with accompanying laughter and conversation.

Quirking a brow, Steve moved past his room and towards a room up ahead where the source of all the noise was coming from.

Entering the room, he found Sam, Scott and Rhodey all in new clothing, their suits splayed about in front of them with a few Jedi younglings. Some were in their early teens while the rest were all still kids. And amongst them was also the head librarian of the Jedi archives, Jocasta Nu.

She was conversing with Scott in a very patient and amused manner as he seemed to rambling every now and then whilst she pointed out various tools for him to use, explaining how to use each one.

Sam had his own set of tools, yet these were ones from the Avengers base back on earth in upstate New York, same as Rhodey.

The former aviator noticed Steve entering the room. "Hey Cap."

All attention turned towards him, with many of the younglings looking up at Cap in slight wonder.

"Hey guys." Steve greeted, looking around the room. "I see you guys are keeping yourselves busy."

"Might as well do something." Rhodey remarked, tapping on his helmet. "Figured it would be a good time to fix up my suit."

"Where'd you get all these tools?" Steve asked, picking up one of them that was currently unused. "These are all from Earth."

"You could thanks Scott for that." Rhodey said, head nodding over to Lang who was fiddling with his optics on his helmet.

Scott heard Rhodey's statement, glancing up to see Cap facing him.

"Hope and I have been working on a few new advancements with Hank." Scott elaborated. "The suits we already had come with the basic tools needed in repairing our suits and equipment to keep it functioning."

Sliding an optic in place over its eyehole with a satisfied nod, Scott went on.

"So we've made a few upgrades here and there to carry more on us and a few for the rest of the team as well." Scott said, resting his helmet on his lap whilst resting his arm on it. "I got a lot of tools with me in my belt but not everything. Really, I only have half of our stuff. What we could carry at least."

"Who has the other half? Hope?"

"Yup." Scott confirmed with an discomforted expression. "….Hope they're all ok."

"We'll find them." Steve promised until he felt a tug on his leg and he looked down to see a young Jedi youngling looking up at him curiously. He had almost forgotten they were all surrounded by these youngsters.

This Jedi youngling was Togrutan boy, if memory served him correctly in regards to the near thousands of different species that populated the galaxy. He had a brownish-orange tint to his skin with grey Lekku horn and green horizontal stripes.

"Hey there." Steve greeted kindly. "What can I do for ya little guy?"

The kids face scrunched up in focus, trying to figure out the right words to say.

"I-Is it true that you guys are heroes on your world?" The little Jedi asked.

This in turn made Steve blink while a few of the other children looked over to the super-soldier.

"And where'd you hear that?" Steve asked, a glint of amusement in his eyes.

Wordlessly, the little Jedi turned and pointed to Scott who was polishing his helmet a bit to intensely. Steve only gave the ex-convict a dry look of clear amusement.

"Really Scott? You do realize you're part of the team, right?" Steve stated. "For two months now."

"Ah, don't mind him." Sam waved off. "Tic-tac is still a man child at heart."

"Man child?" Several of the Jedi younglings repeated in confusion. "What's that?"

"That's when a dude as old as Scotty here still acts like he's 12." Rhodey quipped making said man slump his head with a groan.

"You guys suck sometimes, you know that?" Scott said dejectedly.

"So are you guys all heroes then?" Another Youngling asked, this one being a young Twi'lek.

"In a manner of speaking." Steve said with an air of mystery to him, making some of the kids look up at him excitedly.

"Really?" The Togrutan kid asked.

"Oh yeah." Sam said brashly, making Steve deadpan at his friend. "See where we come from, we're called Earth's _Mightiest Heroes_. We take the hero life very seriously."

"How?" A little Jedi girl asked now.

"By helping anyone and everyone in any way we can." Rhodey explained.

"And if we can't do it, don't worry." Scott said with a dramatic flair. "Because there are other heroes out there that can and will."

The kids looked at one another with awe and excitement.

"Can we be heroes like you?" Another Twi'lek youngling asked, this one being a girl.

"Well from what we've heard, the Jedi are called the protectors of the galaxy." Scott said with a sly wink, patting the young girls head. "Which means it's not a matter of _If_ but _When_ you kids become heroes in your own right."

The little girl only smiled bashfully, blushing a bit at the compliment. The rest of the kids chattered about animatedly until Jocasta spoke up, stating that it was time for them to get something to eat. They couldn't hide the groan of disappointment but nonetheless acquiesced upon seeing Jocasta's stern gaze.

Jocasta began shepherding the children out while giving the Avengers an appreciative thank you for entertaining the younglings.

As they were at long last left alone, the three Avengers who were here before Steve's return resumed their work upon their equipment.

"So Cap…" It was Sam who spoke first. "How'd your meeting with the Chancellor go?"

Steve frowned, crossing his arms as he recalled the entirety of his exchange with the elderly individual.

"It was more of a serenade session if you could call it that." Steve said.

"What? So your typical, Cap is awesome meeting?" Sam said in humor. "Did ya get a medal for your troubles?"

"Not necessarily." Steve answered with a disgruntled expression. "The Chancellor offered up to help us while we're here."

"Really?" Scott looked up from his work. "What kind of help?"

"The blank check kind." Steve said knowingly towards the other two military men within the room.

"Yeah but uh, Cap?" Rhodey raised his hand with an inquisitive brow raised. "The way you phrased it didn't make it seem like a good thing."

"What's up, Cap?' Sam inquired. "Chancellor giving you some weird vibe or something like that?"

"Like this whole Force stuff?" Scott asked aloud, garnering looks from the trio making him shrug. "Heard all that mystic talk from the kids and the other Jedi."

Steve smirked slightly at Scott's comment, finding some merit to it. But he knew better.

"No, not exactly the Force so to speak." Steve murmured. "Just something a bit to familiar for our tastes."

He finished that last statement by making eye contact with Sam, conveying a silent message of 'you know what I'm talking about'.

Sam's eyes narrowed and nodded in understanding.

Rhodey let out a tired sigh. "Alright then, so now what do we do?"

"He wasn't only one though." Steve said, eyes down now. "Senators Amidala and Chuchi also offered to help us out."

"That didn't sound as bad." Rhodey said.

"No, they aren't." Steve mused.

"So then what do we do Cap?" Rhodey asked the question on everyone's mind.

Steve was silent, trying hard to figure out their next step in this galaxy. His friends had already taken some initiative of their own in learning about the galaxy as well as how some of the technology here works. Case and point, Scott Lang had a few new gadgets and gizmos that were clearly not of Earth.

There was also the topic of the war going on right now and how it is clearly a galactic threat to every and all denizens in the galaxy. Even planets that are Republic strongholds like Naboo proved to be reachable within the confines of this conflict.

Innocent civilians across the cosmos are under the constant threat of imminent war knocking at their doorsteps.

Though he did not know them fully, the Jedi seemed to be one of the few willingly going out into the stars and stand guard for those who cannot fight for themselves as detached these protectors seem to be.

His thoughts ended at the sounds of light footsteps being accompanied by a wooden object tapping upon the floors in the corridors of the temple.

In walked Grandmaster Yoda all by himself.

"Found you at an opportune time I did." Yoda said in greeting. "All four of the Avengers gathered here they are."

"Master Yoda." Steve said in respect. "What can we do for you?"

"A question many have asked today." Yoda stated, hand raised as he used the force to move some chairs over for himself and Rogers. "Come, sit. Much to talk I feel we do."

Obliging the elderly master, Steve sat before Yoda while the imp-like Jedi master gauged the leader of the Avengers with a critical eye. Yoda grunted a moment later, closing his eyes.

Grandmaster?" Steve said in slight concern.

"Apologies, Captain Rogers." Yoda said, waving his hand down in calming manner. "Much on my mind there is, a sentiment I feel you share."

"Was I that easy to read?" Steve asked in good humor.

"Quite." Yoda said with a knowing smile. "Though understandable, your mindset is. Not your world, galaxy, nor your conflict this is."

Steve nodded, eyes becoming distant at the thought of the Clone Wars raging on out there.

"Change is coming." Yoda announced. "Your arrival into the galaxy, truly unexpected it is. The Force warned nothing of your coming."

"What is the Force you guys keep talking about?" Scott abruptly asked aloud. "It's all we hear in this temple."

"Can't fault Tic-tac for asking." Sam agreed with the Ex-con. "This Force thing sounds like some kind of religion or whatever."

"You mentioned something about it not telling you about our arrival." Steve noted. "What does that even mean? Does the Force speak to you?"

Yoda blinked, an oddly fond expression finding its way onto his face.

"The Force." Yoda spoke in his sage-like manner. "That which binds all that live and breath. The Force is that which gives all Jedi the powers we all share. It binds us, guides us and enables us the ability to carry out its will."

"That sounds like a broad statement really." Rhodey couldn't help but point out. "How do you know what this 'Force' wants?"

"Unclear and mistaken we can be." Yoda admitted, giving each Avenger a hard look. "The Force, a mystery that all Jedi have long pursued in learning and teaching. Countless millennia, we have lived to serve and understand." Yoda recited, something he has done to many Padawans within the temple. "A Jedi does not use the Force for personal gain. Only for defense and knowledge is our way. But even then… At times, even we fail."

"The War?" Steve said, already knowing the answer with a confirming nod from the Jedi master.

"Prevent it, we could not." Yoda admitted, getting a strange look from Steve. "Many lives lost in the conflict. The Force, shrouded in darkness it has become. Much fear, permeating the galaxy."

"I don't think even the Force can prevent something like that." Sam said with a dry deadpan.

"War is a universal language." Steve said somberly. "The more people do in trying to prevent such a thing, the more inevitable it becomes."

Yoda stared at the super soldier with a tired but hearty gaze.

"Wisdom suits you well, Captain Rogers." Yoda praised. "Much wisdom you have to share, I feel you have."

"I don't think it measures up much to the 800 years you have from what we've heard, Master Yoda." Steve said good naturedly.

Yoda chuckled at that remark, a warm smile on his aged face. "At times, the old needs to learn from the young it does. Come the end of the war, those that survive must show the galaxy a better path."

"That's all some could really hope for." Steve said.

"Your intentions." Yoda said, now more serious. "What is it you wish to do?"

The Avengers exchanged glances with one another, unsure of how to answer exactly. The only thing they could really agree on is…

"We need to find the rest of the team." Steve firmly stated. "They're out there somewhere, lost in the galaxy with no real idea as to where we all are."

"We honestly got lucky with finding each other so quickly." Sam said, gesturing to the current team. "But the others might not be so."

"What to do then?" Yoda asked again.

"Well…" Steve momentarily contemplated on whether or not he should say this but… "Before I came back to the temple, I was brought before the Chancellor of the Republic."

This got a sharp look from Yoda as he was unaware of such a thing transpiring.

"Go on…"

Steve complied as he told the Grandmaster what went on in Palpatine's office. As he did, the ancient Jedi hummed in thought. Processing what was conversed.

"And what do you make of this, Captain Rogers?" Yoda inquired. "Conflict I sense in you."

"Even if this sounds too good to be true with us getting untold resources in finding the rest of our friends, there's something quite off about this whole deal he's giving us. You can say experience has _enlightened_ me in such things."

Sam snorted at the jibe, shaking his head at their past adventures back on Earth.

"Oh if you think that's bad, let me tell you how most of my past jobs went before I even remotely joined you guys." Scott jokingly said, hoping to lighten up the mood a little. "I've got _quite_ the load."

"No doubt, Tic-Tac."

Yoda rubbed his chin in thought, slightly disturbed at what the Chancellor was doing behind the backs of the Jedi. The Avengers are guest of the temple and yet here the Chancellor is, swooping in and seemingly courting the Avengers over to his side.

Now that he really thought about it, this felt a bit _too_ familiar to this scenario. Palpatine has done something like this before, in fact… he's even doing it right now.

With a brash, headstrong Jedi Knight seemingly called "The Chosen One".

"A response, this offer you have?" Yoda asked.

Steve scratched the back of his head, mulling over the offer from Palpatine. "I kinda said I'll think about it. Though not really sure about it. Really… Feels like I'm just gonna reject him straight out."

This garnered a surprised brow raise from Yoda.

"Wise, you sure?"

"I don't trust him." Steve blatantly stated. "There's something really off about the Chancellor and I can't really put my finger on it, I can't explain it but I could feel it in my gut."

Yoda hummed. "Do what you must, Captain Rogers. But be on your guard."

"I always have been, Master Yoda."

A silence hung in the air for several moments, until Yoda finally asked.

"What shall you do now?"

"Now isn't that the million dollar question." Sam lightly said. "Stuck in the middle of a galaxy in an all out war."

"Is it weird that I don't feel as out of place as I thought?" Rhodey asked, raising his hand.

"Kinda… For me I guess." Scott shrugged. "You guys are the War heroes here, I'm just a dude who could shrink myself and other stuff."

"Like breaking and entering and doing several Mission Impossible type scenarios with Hank and Hope?"

"Haha, do you hear me laughing about it Sam, so funny." Scott deadpanned.

"What do we do, Cap?" Rhodey asked, ignoring the other two bickering right now.

Steve gave Rhodey a brief glance before facing Yoda.

"I'm not so sure about this." Steve said earnestly. "I feel bad about throwing ourselves into this, but the more I think about it… The more I know, in my gut, we can't just sit here all cozy in the temple while there's a war raging out there in the stars with our friends possibly being caught in the thick of it. We need to be out there and we need to be out there now."

"In other words, consider us drafted." Rhodey stated.

Yoda sat up straighter now, facing the Avengers with a hardened stare.

"Sure of this, you all are?" Yoda asked, giving each Avenger a look for confirmation.

"Beats sitting around here, twiddling our thumbs all day long." Scott said.

"I just do what Cap does.' Sam remarked. "Only a lot slower."

Yoda nodded, turning to face Cap once more.

Wordlessly, both raised their hands and shook on an unspoken and binding agreement between them both.

The Avengers are now officially a part of the Clone Wars.

Suddenly, Yoda's communicator went off with several soft beeps.

Pulling out his device, he answered. "Yes?"

"Master Yoda, we require your presence. Master Plo Koon and Skywalker wishes to speak with the Council. It's quite urgent." The voice of one Obi-wan Kenobi could be heard coming from the other end.

Yoda said that he is on his way, looking back at the Avengers.

"Join me, will you not?"

Looking amongst each other, Steve spoke with a small smile. "Do you even have to ask?"

**Rate Read and Review and as Always Have Nice Day.**


	7. Hunting Malevolence

**Rate Read and Review and as Always Have Nice Day**

Avengers Infinite Wars Chapter 7: Hunting Malevolence

Colonel James Rhodes was many things.

Soldier. Air force pilot. Best friends with a headache and a half by the name of one Tony Stark.

But above all else now he was a hero and more importantly, The Avenger known as War Machine.

So when Rhodey found himself standing in the interior of a Venator-Class Star destroyer, he couldn't deny the overwhelming feeling of how tiny he felt staring out into the vast cosmos of space. Decked out in his War Machine armor MK IV(I chose this armor for the time being) he and the rest of the team were all suited up for the upcoming mission they had been chosen to go along with. From behind, Rhodey could hear the bustling and movement of the Clone Troopers of the GAR going about their duties and responsibilities on the ship.

He briefly glanced back to them, spotting Sam amongst the pilots who were showing him how to fly the star fighters of the Republic.

Turning back to the endless expanse of the stars, some other Venators floated by with star fighters flying around the fleet.

"You alright there, Rhodey?"

"As much as I can be, Cap." Rhodey idly said, eyes wandering about the blackness of space with the dotted light stars in the distance.

"Looks like you've got a lot on your mind." Steve said, standing beside the air-force pilot with his arms crossed.

Rhodey snorted, shaking his head while another squadron of V-19 Torrent Starfighters zipped on by.

"Wonder what was on Tony's mind when he went through that wormhole above New York." Rhodey murmured.

Quirking a brow, Steve looked to his fellow soldier. He saw a face going through a litany of emotions from wonder, hesitation, fear and confliction.

"When he saw what was out here…" Rhodey said in a low voice. "It completely changed him. He tried to hide it all he could, but it always weighed on him for years."

Rhodey looked at Steve directly in the eye. "It's what led to Ultron. What led to the changing of the guard with the Avengers."

Steve silently regarded War Machine who gave him a bit of a piercing gaze.

"How is this war gonna change us, Steve?" Rhodey asked, not sugar coating his question.

This was a rather sudden question but from one veteran of war to another, it felt quite justifiable in hindsight. Both men had lost a considerable amount in the many battles they have fought over the years and understand how throwing one's self could shape and change an individual to their own fundamental values and principles.

"I'm not sure." Steve admitted in complete honesty. "The only real reason we're doing this is to find the rest of our friends."

"And I'm completely on board with that." Rhodey said in response. "But what about what comes after? What do we do when we find all our friends? Cause I'm pretty damn sure we're not gonna be as lucky as we got with us four."

"I know, Rhodey, I know." Steve said, frustrated more at himself rather than anyone else due to not knowing what to do in this situation. "I'm going with my gut here and even I know it could lead us into something worse. We're shorthanded with some of our heaviest hitters either lost, back on earth or somewhere else in the cosmos."

Rhodey could only sigh, looking back out into space.

"I didn't mean to harp on you like that Cap." Rhodey said apologetically. "But I just wanna know if this is the right path for us."

"Right now, I think it's our only plan." Steve begrudgingly admitted. "We're gonna have to improvise and learn as we go."

"And when we learn enough?" Rhodey asked with an underlying question.

"We'll branch out on our own." Steve said. "But not to attract suspicion. We left Earth severely unprotected so aside from finding our friends, returning home is priority number one."

Rhodey nodded in agreement before looking back to Sam who was now joined by Scott as the two conversed with Clone Pilots on the functions of the Y-wing bombers.

"Seems like they're getting along with the clones just fine." Steve idly stated, watching Sam crack a joke that actually got a laugh out of the Clones.

"They're efficient." Rhodey noted, observing other Clone troopers and pilots go about their duties in preparing for the upcoming mission under Generals Skywalker and Plo Koon. "Like a well oiled machine."

"They said that they were bred for this." Steve murmured with a disgruntled face making Rhodey look at him in slight shock.

"Wait, Wha…"

War Machine was unable to finish his question as Anakin Skywalker had called forth the meeting of Shadow Squadron for the briefing of the mission.

Rhodey and Steve shared eye contact with one another, both deciding to pick up their prior topic of discussion at a later date.

The four Avengers stood on the side whilst General Skywalker and Admiral Yularen addressed the Shadow squadron on their target, the Astromech R2-D2 beaming up a projection of the ship.

"This strike force has been commissioned by the senate to hunt down the enemies new battleship." Yularen said straight away. "As the bulk of our fleets are engaged on the frontlines, we'll be on our own. General Skywalker has devised our attack strategy."

"Thank you Admiral." Skywalker said respectfully, stepping forward. "While our capital ships are vulnerable to attack due to the enemies ion cannon disabling their systems, I believe a small squadron of bombers can outmaneuver their weapon to target the main objective of the bridge and General Grievous."

"What do you guys think?" Steve asked Sam and Rhodey in a whisper.

"Not entirely sure really." Sam noted, squinting at the projection of the ship. "From the way their phrasing this _Ion Cannon_ that disables their ship systems, sounds like a kind of EMP to me."

"Targeting the bridge seems like a good idea." Rhodey said. "But there's still that weapon of theirs."

"Wouldn't it be smarter to take out the cannon then?" Scott asked, scratching his head in confusion of all this.

"As simple as that sounds, it won't be easy." Steve said, stroking his chin as he continued to observe Anakin's battle strategy.

"Pilots, prepare your bombers." Anakin instructed the Clones who all promptly stood up and walked away to attend to their ships. It was at this point that Jedi Master Plo and Padawan Tano came up to speak with Anakin.

"Your plan is very aggressive, Skywalker." Plo Koon pointed out in his deep baritone voice. "Are you certain of your squadron can complete this mission?"

"Let's ask them." Anakin said, looking to his pilots. "Matchstick."

A bald clone looked to his general.

"You think our boys can pull it off?" Anakin asked with confidence.

"Yes Sir." Matchstick responded in kind. "There hasn't been a mission Shadow Squadron couldn't complete."

"That's right." A clone to Matchsticks left spoke up. "Minimal casualties, maximum effectiveness. That's us."

"Least they're confident." Sam said with a shrug.

"But it could be suicidal." Rhodey commented. "I've seen missions like these a bit too often."

Not waiting for an incentive to do so, Rhodey walked up to the Jedi Knight.

"General Skywalker." Rhodey greeted.

"Colonel Rhodes." Skywalker nodded in turn. "Are you guys ready for your first mission with the Republic?"

"Well, it's more of tag along if anything but still I feel we could do more to help on the mission." Rhodey said with the rest of the Avengers now standing beside him.

"How so?" Anakin asked with intrigue.

"Think little bowl head can bring back that little projection of the ship we're targeting?" Rhodey asked getting an affronted set of beeps and whistles from R2.

Anakin chortled at the comment, giving the Astromech a small smirk. "He's got ya there R2-ey. Come on, bring it back up."

The projection of Grievous' ship was displayed once more.

"So from what we know, this ship fires an ion pulse right?" Rhodey asked Anakin. "Not like missiles or blasters, but a super circle of doom."

Again, Anakin laughed at the commentary of the Colonel finding the way these Earthers speak more and more amusing.

"Yeah, just one large circle of Ion energy that disables all working systems." Anakin said.

"So it is like an EMP." Sam murmured.

"Does it increase in size as it goes?" Rhodey inquired.

"Yes." Anakin confirmed. "It's how it's able to take ships like the Venators."

"What about your attack formation then?" Steve brought up. "Your squadron does run the risk of facing fire from this ship, not just from its primary cannons."

"That is something I have considered." Anakin said, eyeing the target. "You have something you want to say about the formation then?"

Rhodey nodded, holding his hand out straight, palm facing the floor.

"Hey Dome head."

" _BEEP BWOOP"_

"Right, right, R2, can you display those bombers at my finger-tips?"

R2's head swiveled to face Anakin who shrugged and rolled his hand as a go-ahead.

Acquiescing to James' request, four holographic Y-wings were now displayed running along his fingertips.

"Alright, now can you do a set running across diagonally and another in the formation of the letter V?" Rhodey asked R2.

R2 let out a series of what appeared to be confused hums and whistles.

"Go on R2, this seems important." Anakin urged on.

The projection of three sets of y-wing bombers were now showcased within the positions that Colonel Rhodes had asked upon.

"Do any of these formations look familiar to you?" Rhodey asked Anakin directly.

"That V shaped one does." Anakin said, pointing to said formation and went down. "Same with that diagonal one. Why?"

"Well this…" Rhodey gestured to the first one. "Is called the Finger-Four Formation. Used back in the second world war of Earth and where a lot of our aviation formations come from."

"I take it you have a lot of experience with aviation and piloting." Anakin surmised. "Air-force was the branch of the military you come from, right?"

"Yeah, me and Sam here." Rhodey gesturing his head at the bird-based hero. "Specialize in flying."

"Yeah, saw that on Naboo." Anakin said.

"Hey, I could fly to." Scott raised his hand.

"I don't think flying atop an ant counts, Scott." Rhodey shot down.

"Least you never crashed down into the ocean, right Capsicle?" Sam stated with a grin making his leader roll his eyes, though humor was present in the gesture.

Rhodey smirked slightly at the pun, before facing Anakin again who was awaiting for him to elaborate further on his little display here.

"Any way, from what we've been told, this Ion Cannon of theirs can disable ships in an instant when firing off whatever that pulsing purple circle." Rhodey went on. "So rather than the circular formation you guys are using for this mission, I'd suggest using one of these instead. Make yourselves a combat box for maximum maneuverability and firepower. I know the enemy ships won't allow us to easily zip by and let us land the killing blow."

Anakin watched Rhodey intently, taking note of the experience behind the man's tone. He was a clear veteran and very much knew what he was talking about.

And apparently, Sam Wilson also held expertise in this regard as well.

Nodding, Anakin looked back up to Shadow Squadron.

"Shadow Squadron." Anakin called out to them loudly. "Front and center, this is important."

Without wasting any time, the Clone pilots dropped what they were doing and were now standing at attention and were assembled around Anakin and Rhodes.

"SIR!" The Squadron said collectively aloud.

"Alright boys, aside from this target you know we're being accompanied by four other individuals." Anakin said. "Shadow Squadron, this is Colonel James Rhodes, Lieutenant Sam Wilson, Captain Steve Rogers and… Scott Lang. Colonel Rhodes here along with Lieutenant Wilson are pilot experts to considerable degree. Colonel Rhodes himself here has flown over…"

Anakin left the question hanging as to allow Rhodes to answer.

"Ah, a hundred and thirty-eight combat missions." He said professionally.

Some of the Clones eyes widened at the number with a few looking at each in slightly stunned surprise.

"There, all the more reason for you all to heed Colonel Rhodes's instructions along with the rest of the Avengers." Anakin said, stepping away and leaving to speak with Plo Koon and Ahsoka before… "Captain Rogers? Can I have a word with you?"

Blinking at the sudden request, Steve nodded and walked after him leaving Scott, Sam and Rhodey with Shadow Squadron.

Rhodey felt momentarily awkward at all the exact same pair of eyes directed at him by the Clone Pilots but cleared his throat quickly.

"Alright Pilots." Rhodey began in a casual manner. "I along with my friends aren't here to takeover or throw ourselves around here. We're here to help first and foremost."

"So don't mind us for the most part." Sam said with a shrug.

"Sir." Broadside spoke up. "What exactly are these formations here? We know about the two on the bottom but not the one on the top."

"That's what we're gonna discuss." Rhodey said. "See, you know most of these flight formations, correct?"

He got nods out of all the clones.

"Then we at least got that part out of the way." Rhodey said in relief, now prepping to delve down deep into his explanation of these formations as well as his own spin on them.

Meanwhile, Steve and Anakin were conversing along with Plo Koon and Ahsoka standing by them.

"Are you sure you want to be out on the frontlines like this already Captain?" Anakin asked. "I would understand if you had wanted more time to remain back on Coruscant at the temple and rested more."

"I appreciate the concern, General, but I'd rather we not take advantage of your hospitality." Steve said straight away. "Besides, I'm not one to sit around and twirl my thumbs around waiting for things to get done. My friends and teammates are out there on their own and I'm not gonna let luck dictate whether or not we find them. We have to be out here now then later."

Anakin smirked in approval whilst Plo nodded in understanding.

"I feel you shall get along grandly with Skywalker here then, Captain." Plo said casually.

"That felt like a backhanded compliment, Master Plo." Anakin wryly remarked with Ahsoka giggling at the comment.

Steve grinned slightly at the exchange, turning his attention to Admiral Yularen who approached them with a grave message.

"Skywalker." Yularen gained the generals attention. "The enemy warship has just attacked our convoy of medical transport ships near Ryndellia."

"Medical transports?" Ahsoka said in disbelief and anger. "Only Grievous would get so low in attacking injured soldiers."

Steve frowned at this information, finding great discomfort at the thought of defenseless clones being so easily killed. Whoever this Grievous was clearly had a low standard of morality within this war.

"Ryndellia…" Anakin murmured in thought. "The Ryndellia system near Naboo. Where our medical station just so happens to be stationed."

"His next target then." Plo Koon grimly stated.

"There are many star clusters within that area." Yularen recalled his knowledge of navigation. "Even with a ship like Grievous', he cannot navigate such an area and chart a course that's less than ten parsecs."

"Looks like we're gonna need a shortcut." Steve noted getting a grin out of Anakin.

"You read my mind Captain Rogers." Anakin stated. "And it just so happens we are nearby the perfect one I have in mind. Admiral, get a warning out to the medical station. Tell them what's coming."

"Right away General." Yularen walked off at a brisk pace.

"This Journey may prove to be more dangerous than anticipated." Plo said cautiously. "If you lose anyone before we reach the ship…"

"We won't lose anybody." Anakin said determinedly, moving to check up on his own Y-wing.

Plo and Steve shared a look before the Kel Dor Jedi returned his attention to Anakin.

"I will come along as well then." Plo announced. "Provide fighter escort."

"Any help is welcomed, Master Plo." Anakin said atop the ladder leading up to the pilot's seat of his fighter. "Just try to keep up."

"I had a feeling you'd be coming along." Ahsoka said with a knowing grin. "You're ship has already been prepped."

She moved to join her Jedi master in the Y-wing, leaving Steve and Plo where they stood.

"This mission may prove to be exceptionally difficult." Plo murmured, looking to Steve. "Captain Rogers. You are a man of war, are you not? What say you regarding this situation?"

Rogers blinked at the question, crossing his arms in deep contemplation.

"I'm not exactly sure." Steve admitted. "Galactic warfare feels a bit above my paygrade."

Plo Koon tilted his head but remained silent, allowing Steve to finish.

"But right now, this need to get done." Steve said determinedly. "Every minute we waste in discussing how to get things done, this Grievous adds to his body count and kills off more men for your army while he could just build up more of those droids in a heartbeat."

"Do you have some kind of personal vendetta against droids, Captain?" Plo asked suddenly, surprising Steve somewhat.

"You could say something like that." Steve murmured. "Had a recent run in with a veritable army of Droids being led by its head honcho. His goal was to cause an extinction level event for all life on my planet."

Steve left the Jedi master to rejoin his friends whilst Plo balked at the thought of facing such an enemy. This enemy droid wished to bring about extinction on his planet?

Being a Jedi Master, Plo was very well versed in the force and in utilizing it for short moment he had in speaking with Captain Rogers he found that Steve wasn't exaggerating. Frowning behind his helmet(Or whatever classifies as a frown for a Kel Dor), Plo wished to inquire about such a threat but knew that the story would have to wait.

Right now, there was another more pressing matter at hand.

Steve came back up to his friends who were still discussing and showing the clone pilots on the various flight formations Rhodey and Sam have undergone. The pilots seemed to soak up the information with great gusto and intrigue, their eyes showing clear signs of thought going into these new tactics on display.

Rhodey's little presentation was cut off via Admiral Yularen's voice over the loudspeaker within the hangar bay.

" _Attention Shadow Squadron. Man your star fighters and prep for departure."_

"You heard 'im boys." Anakin said aloud, voice echoing throughout the hangar. "Let's get this done."

A resounding 'Yes Sir!' from Shadow Squadron was Skywalkers reply with each pilot heading off to their ship.

The Avengers followed their pilots to their assigned bombers, climbing into the gunner back seat.

"You guys ready for this?" Anakin's voice chimed in through the Avengers personal Comms.

"We'll get this done Skywalker." Steve promised.

"Alright then. Watch your six."

A few moments later, Shadow squadron exited their Venators hangar bay flying past the rest of the assembled fleet.

"I hope you know what you're doing Anakin." Obi-wans concerned voice said through the comms.

"Well if I don't, then at least I won't be around to hear _I told you so."_ Anakin quipped.

Obi-wan only rolled his eyes, amused. "That's reassuring. Well, take your shortcut and I'll take the long way. But you'd better be there before I arrive."

"I will." Anakin assured. "Shadow Squadron, tighten formations. Let's test out Colonel Rhodes's… what did you call it again?"

"Combat box, Finger Four formation."

"Right, that. You heard him gentlemen.

Behind Anakin, 16 Y-wing bombers created a formation that resembled two sets of 'finger tips' so to speak with Master Plo Koon's ship backing them up in the rear.

"Call in." Anakin instructed his team.

"Shadow 2, standing by."

"Shadow 3, standing by."

"Shadow 4, standing by."

As Shadow squadron called in to notify that they are ready for battle, R2 let out a few nervous whistles at Ahsoka.

"I know Artooie, this is gonna be a tough one." Ahsoka bemoaned.

"Wonder how they understand each other." Scott murmured through the private comms between him and the other Avengers.

"Probably some techno jargin or them growing up around it." Sam mused with a shrug.

"Shadow 16, standing by." The last Clone Pilot said followed by Plo Koon's affirmation that he was ready as well.

"This is Admiral Yularen." The Admiral's voice was heard by all. "You are cleared for Hyperspace jump. Happy Hunting sir."

"Thanks Admiral."

"Hey Broadside." Shadow 3 called out to his brother. "If we make it through this one, drinks are on me."

"I can already taste it." Broadside stated with anticipation.

"Alright boys, let's go." Anakin announced.

All eighteen fighters zipped away out of sight into the endless abyss of space, leaving behind Kenobi's fleet.

The good general watched them all depart, stroking his beard in thought.

"May the force be with you." Obi-wan muttered.

Meanwhile, in an undisclosed location within the galaxy, one Count Dooku currently resided in a meditation chamber. He sat in the center of the room with his legs crossed and wrists resting upon his knees while allowing the flow of the dark side of the course to run through his being.

The Force has been in a constant state of motion, erratic and unpredictable. He was having a hard time as to pinpointing the why this is still happening but the how is easy enough to deduce.

That earlier shockwave he along with undoubtedly every Force-user in the galaxy felt had left quite the mark in the Force. Since then, it had yet to subside.

Dooku's eyes snapped open suddenly and changed his position to that of resting on one knee. Upon doing so a holo-transmission of his Sith Master, Darth Sidious, appeared before him.

"Master." Dooku inclined his body forward in respect.

"Rise, my apprentice." Sidious spoke in his usual sinister tone. "We have much to discuss."

"What of, my Master?"

Before Sidious appeared a set of several screens, each displaying four individuals in particular.

Brow raised, Dooku recognized three out of the four men being shown to him right now.

"These are those 'Avengers' you spoke of who had appeared on Naboo." Dooku noted, eyeing each man intently before landing on the newest addition. "I do not recognize this one."

"He is a recent find for this team of unique individuals." Sidious explained. "This Colonel James Rhodes -I believe his name was- is the man responsible in aiding the Republic forces stationed on the Rishi Moon base and notifying the Republic of the _intended_ invasion of Kamino."

He silently regarded the armored individual, facing his master afterwards.

"These Avengers." Dooku spoke slowly. "I take it you have already met with them, Master."

"Indeed I have, Lord Tyrannus." Sidious confirmed. "And I have even spoken with their leader, the one called Steve Rogers; otherwise known as Captain America."

"He who bears the shield?"

"The very same." Confirmed Sidious.

"What do you make of him, my Master?"

Sidious frowned, hands disappearing into his sleeves. "He is… a difficult man to discern. I, for once, found my abilities in the Force and perception lacking to a degree. Captain Rogers wasn't exactly the most forthcoming as to who he was and what he was planning to do."

"What can you tell me, Master?" Dooku inquired.

"They come from a primitive world apparently." Sidious recalled the general meeting the Superhero team had with him, The Jedi, Clones and senators when they first met. "Not yet fully space-worthy. Yet they boasted technology that even we have not fathomed."

"Such as?"

Sidious simply directed his hand towards a recording of the one called Ant-man in action.

What Dooku saw truly bewildered and astonished. This Ant-man was shrinking and growing on a whim, taking down battle droids left and right with ease. What truly shocked him was the small disk the Ant-man threw at a AAT tank which shrank it down to the size of a toy.

"How in the-"

"I wish I knew as well, Tyrannus. Even I am baffled with what this man can do." Admitted the Sith Lord. "And that's just _one_ of them."

"How many of them are there?" Dooku asked intensely.

"Nine on this apparent _current_ roster of these Avengers." Sidious explained. "They assume, and I am inclined to believe them, that there are five others scattered throughout the Galaxy. Each with their own set of talents and capabilities that are well beyond anything we understand."

"And what must I do if I come across one of these… stragglers?"

"Capture them and do what you must to bring them onto _our_ side. I have the utmost feeling that whoever controls them -much less a few of the whole- will _greatly_ turn the tide of the galaxy."

Dooku rose a brow and voiced his concern. "Forgive my bluntness, Master, but are you merely over-exaggerating?"

The Sith Apprentice soon felt a small tightness around his throat, making him realize on how serious his Master was on the matter.

"I do not tell you this to get your opinion, my Apprentice." Sidious said in a deadly tone. "I tell you this for that is what you _must do."_

Feeling the pain being released from him, Dooku coughed and massaged his throat. "I understand, my Master. I will do as you demand of me."

"Good." Sidious nodded in approval. The Dark Lord was ready to disconnect when Dooku stopped him. "What is it now?"

"What can you at least tell me about these Avengers?" Dooku asked. "Have you met with any of them personally?"

"In a manner of speaking…"

Dooku silently waited for Sidious to elaborate further and seeing that his Apprentice wouldn't budge on the matter, he decided on telling him a shortened, summarized version of his past meeting.

"I told you that I had spoken with their leader, Captain Rogers, yes?" Dooku nodded. "He is a man of conviction, that much I was able to tell. Experienced and a battle-hardened soldier though do not allow that mere title to deceive you. There is an underlying intelligence and perception to him. He is not one to be underestimated."

Dooku suddenly remembered an important little detail involving a recent attack on a Republic world.

"My apprentice, Ventress, spoke of an encounter with these Avengers." Dooku said. "She told me that here lightsabers were unable to slice through Captain Rogers' shield."

"...I'd like to speak with her more thoroughly on the matter."

The Sith Apprentice nodded, knowing that this recent bit of information peaked his Master's interests more than before. "I'll inform her so she'll give you the full report."

"Good. See that you do."

With that last order, Sidious disconnected, leaving Dooku alone in his thoughts. He held a deep frown, not liking his masters actions and decisions in regards to these sudden newcomers. In a short amount of time, they seemed to have completely caught the attention of his master and has now deemed them necessary in aligning them within his plans.

A stray thought then entered his mind.

These Avengers appeared suddenly and randomly, with three of them on Naboo on the day of the surprise attack by the Confederacy. The day that just so happened to be where the Force shockwave originated from. And has since made the Force eccentric and erratic.

Could it be that these Avengers are the source of this Force upheaval?

His master perhaps knew more than he let on. Then again, that always seemed to be the case with Sidious.

'I'll need to look further more into this when possible.' He thought, stroking his beard. 'With my new task, this might give me the opportunity to do so and find out more of these Avengers and what they are _truly_ capable of.'

However, that had to wait for the time being as he had other matters to attend to.

Speaking of…

Grievous, General the Droid Army of the Confederacy of Independent Systems stood within the bridge of the new warship of the CIS appropriately named the Malevolence.

The Droid General had recently taken out several Republic ships with the Malevolence main weapon. With them out of commission, they were truly vulnerable to their own demise.

He was already on route to his next target, but Dooku had once more decided to drop in on Grievous to check up on his progress.

Seeing Grievous smack the head off yet another battle droid, Dooku voiced his displeasure. "Those are not cheap, you know. Neither the Jedi nor the Republic treat their Clones as such."

Hearing the Count's voice, Grievous whirled around and composed himself in order to address his superior through the holo-coms.

"Count Dooku." Grievous bowed. "We are already on our way to the Republic medical station in the Ryndellia system. Has something changed?"

"No. Keep going on with your mission, General." Dooku waved off. "However, there may be an added variable in the coming conflict."

"Such as…"

"Asides from the Republic launching a small strike force to attack your ship -which Skywalker is leading- there is a select number of individuals you should be weary of."

Dooku then spoke of the new addition to the Republic's ranks: the Avengers.

Not much information was given about them, causing the Kaleesh cyborg to scoff. "What does it matter, Dooku. I'll slay them, much like I have against many other Republic forces I've come across."

"I advice greater caution." Dooku warned. "Master Sidious himself has spoken of these Avengers and it appears they are not so easily underestimated."

"Lord Sidious told you this?" Grievous asked, tone now changing to a more respectful one.

Dooku nodded. "And be most weary against the one shield-bearer, for his shield is able to block lightsaber blades with no signs of penetration, yet alone slash marks."

This tidbit surprised Grievous. After several moments of processing this information, he let out a chuckle. "Oh~ Such a challenge…"

Dooku only regarded the Droid general silently before cutting off communications.

Back with Shadow squadron, the team of bombers had just exited Hyperspace and were now approaching a large cloudy nebula.

"We're going into that?" Scott asked, nervously eyeing the large space matter.

"We'll get through it just fine, Lang." Anakin assured. "Once we get on the other end, we're on the home stretch."

"That Nebula looks like a hurricane really." Sam commented, not exactly liking the look of the place.

"Navigating through a nebula can be dangerous and unpredictable." Plo Koon said warily. "I advise caution."

"Don't worry about us, Master Jedi." Shadow 2 reassured. "We can hold our own. Right Shadow squadron?"

"Copy that Shadow 2."

"Does anyone care what the Padawan thinks?" Ahsoka questioned from her seat in the Y-Wing.

"Of course we care, snips, but we're still going through that nebula." Anakin said with a smug smirk.

Ahsoka smiled when hearing the Astromech giving her a vote of confidence through a series of bleeps and beeps. "Thanks, R2-ey."

"Hope you know what you're getting into, General." Steve chimed in, not at all liking the look of their path.

"Ah come on, Captain Rogers. Where's your sense of adventure?" Anakin asked jokingly.

"Back on Earth." Steve dryly remarked earning a snort out of his friends.

"Just keep a tight formation everyone and follow my lead." Anakin instructed. "We'll make it through this place just fine."

As the squadron ventured deeper and deeper into the nebula, many of the clone pilots started getting weary.

"This soup is thick." Voiced Shadow 2. "Can you see anything?"

"Just keep your eyes on my thruster, Shadow 2." Spoke Anakin.

"This just like Afghan back with Riley." Sam said, squinting his eyes in hopes of possibly seeing clearer through the Nebula.

"Lieutenant Wilson, Sir." Shadow 13, his pilot for the Y-wing spoke up. "General Skywalker said you and Colonel Rhodes are experienced pilots, right?"

Tilting his head at the Clone, Sam shrugged. "More or less. Why?"

"Got any good stories between the two of you to pass the time, sir?"

Sam blinked and looked over to his side, catching sight of Rhodey who was looking in his direction as well. Grinning, Sam glanced back to Shadow 13.

"As a matter of fact, we do." Sam said. "Rhodey, tell them about that time over Iraq with Tony."

"I don't think that counts." Rhodey wryly stated, though he relented in telling the tale. "Alright settle in boys, this is a bit of a doozy."

Rhodey cleared his throat. "Alright, so it's been a few weeks since I found my best friend wandering around in the desert after he was kidnapped and held captive for three months…"

Meanwhile Ahsoka was fiddling with her console, smacking it several times before groaning out in defeat. "Ugh, I hate this place. The scanners are useless."

"This is old-fashioned flying." Anakin chuckled out. "You have to feel your way through to stay on course."

"Anakin is right, Ahsoka." Plo Koon spoke, getting her attention. "Clear your mind, young one, and you will see the path."

"For the benefit of those who can't, how exactly are we supposed to see anything." Scott couldn't help but speak up on that matter.

He was met with silence momentarily, with even Rhodey stopping his tale on his best friend encountering the air force.

"Trust your gut Scott." Steve answered for him. "And in your pilot. They'll get us through this place."

"Spoken like a true Jedi." Anakin teased.

"Well right now, I can't see anything at all." Ahsoka pointed out, making Anakin smirk at her comment.

"I always know where I'm going." Broadside said determinedly.

"Yeah, where's that, Broadside?"

"I'm gonna blow up that battleship".

"A clear path if ever there was one." Plo idly agreed with.

In the meantime, the rest of Shadow squadron was paying rapt attention to Rhodey's tale.

"So I'm standing in command, talking with my friend all the while looking at a humanoid on the underbelly of the je… fighter." Rhodey said with mirthful fondness. "All the while they're trying to get a lock on him and shoot him down."

"That must've been one of crazier moments that I've heard of." Shadow 14, Rhodey's pilot said with a laugh.

"You don't know the half of it." Rhodey let out a frustrated sigh at the memory. "Afterwards, I needed to clean up the whole mess Tony made in order to save his ass."

"How?"

"Saying it was a training exercise that went wrong." Rhodey said flatly, making those who were listening burst out in laughter.

"So, Anakin, what do you know about this shortcut?" Questioned the Star Spangled Avenger. "How'd you hear about it?"

"It's an old smuggler's route. The pilots used to talk about it on Tatooine."

Ahsoka felt her confidence drop even further. "Smuggler's route? That makes me feel better."

"They call it the Balmorra run."

Plo Koon froze when hearing Anakin say this. "Balmorra run?"

Suddenly something binged across Ahsoka's radar. "I think I'm picking up a contact."

"Skywalker, listen to me." Plo urgently spoke out. "We need to turn around."

"We can't, not if we're gonna catch Grievous." Anakin brushed off.

"Another contact." Ahsoka said nervously." This one's _much_ larger."

"Skywalker, Balmorra's the nesting ground of the giant Nebray mantis." Plo frantically stated.

"Another. _Another!"_ Ahsoka gasped, whirling around in time to see a gigantic creature coming right towards them.

It let out a groaning growl.

"Evasive Maneuvers, now!" Anakin ordered.

Luckily, due to the design of their flight formation Shadow squadron evaded the giant Nebray Mantis -as Plo apparently called them- flying around the creature until they encountered more all circling around what appeared to be the center point of the Nebula.

"Those gas-gulpers are huge!" Ahsoka exclaimed.

"Oh man, and I thought giant ants were terrifying." Scott said, paling a bit at seeing the literal heard of these behemoths.

"Don't shoot, or they'll panic." Plo warned.

"They'll panic? I'm about to panic." Ahsoka said incredulously.

"Ugh, this is too much." Scott said, rubbing his head. "Was this in the contract when Hope and I joined the team, Cap?"

"No… no I don't think so." Steve evenly said though even he couldn't deny that nervous feeling at flying so close to something that could swat them aside or eat them with no problem.

"There are so many of them!" Matchstick said, flying below one of the mantis.

"Watch your left, Matchstick." Sam abruptly chimed in, making the pilot pull a sharp right turn away from an appendage of a mantis.

"You alright, Matchstick?" Anakin asked flying by him.

"I'm okay." Matchstick promised. "Thanks for the assist Lieutenant."

"No problem."

"These things are gonna make a meal out of us." Bellowed out the Tortuga padawan.

Seeing their current problem, Anakin quickly got an idea. "All wings, line up behind me."

"Roger that, boss." Responded one of the clones with the others following suit.

A single file line of Y-wing bombers plus Plo Koon's fighter all followed after Anakin who expertly weaved around the Nebray with his squadron close behind him.

During their evasive maneuvers, the Astromech droid of Scott's Y-wing got its domed head smacked clean off. The Ex-convict could only stare with a blank expression whilst watching the dome head of the unfortunate Astromech droid float away into the Nebula.

"Uh… Guys." Scott said with a slightly higher tone. "I think the situations gonna get worse."

"We need to get out of the Nebula." Plo said hurriedly. "They will not follow us out of here."

Their thrusters all flared up, accelerating their progress through the flying heard of Nebray. Anakin flew by one that was particularly large.

"That one looks hungry." Ahsoka said nervously.

"Nah, he's just smiling at you." Anakin quipped, keeping a calm and leveled head.

After several more tense moments of flight, Anakin lead the squadron out of the nebula with a relieved sigh being shared by all.

"Anakin." Steve said. "I know we've only known each other for a short time. But let's try keeping that to a minimum, please?"

Anakin chortled at Cap's exasperated comment. "I'll try my hardest."

"Now I know how ants really feel." Scott said haggardly, rubbing his chest.

"Let's just hope this shortcut of yours paid off."

In the hyperspace lane, General Kenobi was having a video chat with Admiral Yularen.

"The medical station reports that 50% has been evacuated."

This didn't please Obi-wan in the slightest. "That's not good enough." He said, stroking his beard. "They'll never be finished before the enemy arrives."

Yularen nodded in agreement. "Shadow Squadron still has a chance to catch Grievous."

"If they do, we have to be ready… for all our sakes."

Back with said squadron, they flew forward in the emptiness of space until up ahead…

The squadron flew forward in the emptiness of space until up ahead…

"There's the medical station!" Ahsoka said aloud.

"Looks like we made it here before Grievous." Plo noted with relief.

"How far behind do you think he is then?" Sam asked aloud.

"Sir." Broadside spoke up. "We've got a new contact on our radar."

"Did one of those Mantis's follow us?" Ahsoka inquired.

"Negative commander." Broadside checked his reading once more. "This one's coming out of Hyperspace. And it's not one of ours. It's the Malevolence."

"Grievous." Anakin said determinedly.

Lo and behold, the target that was entire objective of mission zipped into view for all to see.

"Alright boys, this is it." Anakin instructed, gripping his controls tighter now. "Get into combat box formation, stick together and watch one another's backs."

On the targeted ship, Grievous had his eyes on the medical station when one of his droids reported a republic Starfighter force coming in from behind.

"Skywalker." Grievous growled out. He also noticed republic medical convoys detaching themselves from the medical station and making a break for it.

"Target those medical frigates." Grievous ordered. "We will not allow any of the republics wounded a chance to escape."

"Sir, what about the Republic Starfighter Squadron." A pilot droid asked.

"Idiot, send out our own fighters in counterattack." Grievous said as if it were the most obvious thing. "Now charge up the cannon."

With Shadow squadron, Steve's eyes narrowed at the build up of energy coming from the side of the Malevolence.

"What are they doing?"

"They're prepping the Ion Cannon." Plo Koon said gravely. "They're targeting the medical convoys!"

"We gotta move." Ahsoka cried out. "Our wounded are gonna get destroyed."

"We've got problems of our own, Commander." Broadside stated, glaring ahead at the incoming Hyena and Vulture droids.

"Shadow Squadron." Rhodey spoke up. "Remember that new trick I showed you?"

He got confirmations from all of them.

"Well now's the time to try it out." Rhodey stated.

4 sets of Finger-four fighters prepared themselves while Anakin lead the charge with Plo flying alongside him now.

As the droid fighters drew closer, Rhodey waited for the right moment until…

"Now!"

A series of displacement roles were performed by the bombers, making a kind of tsunami-esque wave as they arched over the droid fighters and shot them down with a barrage of blaster fire.

"Nice shooting, Shadow Squadron." Anakin praised, seeing the effectiveness of maneuver.

"Don't relax just yet.' Sam said. "We've still got more incoming."

"Break off into your squads." Anakin ordered.

All the while, the Malevolence had succeeded in depowering the group of medical ships that were fleeing. His ship was firing upon the disabled vessels while also turning around to aim the Ion cannon at Skywalkers fighter squadron.

"Prepare to fire the Ion Cannon." Grievous ordered.

"But sir, our own fighters will be caught in the crossfire."

"Just do as I say." Grievous all but cut off.

In space, a dogfight had ensued with the Republic squadron flying rings around the separatist fighters.

"Woo." Sam yelled out, shooting down another Hyena fighter. "Man, these guys are too easy."

"You're really good at that sir." Shadow 13 stated, grinning beneath his helmet.

"Years of practice, my man." Sam said, targeting another fighter.

"They're lining up the cannon on us." Ahsoka shouted, desperately firing at any and all enemy fighters in her sights. "Jeez Sky Guy, can you ever fly a ship straight?"

"Now where's the fun in that." Anakin grunted with a grin, pivoting sharply around a fighter and destroying it with several well placed shots.

Grievous observed the dogfight with narrow eyed anticipation as the Ion cannon fired again.

"Incoming!" Steve shouted.

"Make for the edge of the rays, now!" Anakin shouted, accelerating his ship with five Y-wings flying after him. "Give it everything you've got."

Shadow Squadron scattered about sticking to either to groups of four or five.

Once the Ion Ray sphere passed by, Shadow Squadron reformed its Combat box though some were clearly missing.

"Shadow Squadron, call in." Anakin instructed.

It was quick series of each pilot announcing their survival save for 4, 6, 7 and 10.

"We lost four fighters." Ahsoka said dejectedly.

"They're alive though." Rhodey pointed out with his helmet snapping on quickly to confirm this statement. His scanners indicated this to be true. "Their ships are just out of power, so life support just prolong the inevitable."

"Good to know." Anakin nodded, now gripping the throttle. "We get this done and bring them back home. Shadow 3 promised the first round was on him."

"Damn right, General."

"Tighten formation everyone, we're going in." Anakin said, leading Shadow Squadron straight at the Malevolence.

Onboard the enemy ship, Grievous let out a chuckle.

"Those fools." Grievous said with gleeful sadism. "Skywalker doesn't realize his failure after losing a good number of his ships." He then turned over to one of the droids. "How much longer until our Ion Cannon is charged once more?"

"A few more minutes, General." A pilot Droid stated.

Shadow Squadron was currently bobbing and weaving around the Malevolence, trying their damndest to not get shot down by the enemy's defense turrets.

"We need to stay on course."

"Easy for you to say. This flak is heavy."

"Cut the chatter boys." Steve spoke up. "We're still in this."

"You heard 'im, Shadow Squadron." Scott said as he fired several shots at an incoming Droid fighter.

"Tag." Ahsoka called out to the pilot. "You're breaking off."

"My Stabilizers been hit CommanDAARGH"

"Fighter down." Plo called out, watch in sorrow at the loss of one of the Clones.

"All deflectors double front." Anakin ordered.

"Master, we need a new plan." Ahsoka argued.

Anakin didn't relent, flying as fast as his ship allowed it so. "We can make it, Ahsoka. Just hang in there."

One of the Droids on the bridge of the Malevolence noticed the Republic Squadron not breaking off even under so much fire. "Sir, the enemy fighters are closing."

"Let them come. Prepare the ion cannon." Grievous bellowed out arrogantly. "First we will destroy the medical station. Then we will finish off Skywalker."

One of the droids turned towards the other and spoke. "I have a bad feeling about this."

"Watch those towers, boys." Sam warned, aiming down his cannon at some stray Vulture droids.

"We're too close! Loosen up!" Yelled one of the clone pilots before getting shot down, crashing onto the hull of the Malevolence.

"Shadow 9 is down!"

Gritting her teeth, Ahsoka spoke to Anakin and addressed the present issue. "Master, you can make it, but everyone else is getting shot down." She didn't get a response back from him, causing her to yell out. "Master!"

Back aboard the Malevolence, one of the droids reported the Ion Cannon's status. "Station has been targeted, General."

"Start the ion cannon acceleration." Grievous ordered.

After blasting through several more Droid Fighters, Plo Koon came up with a solution to their problem. "If we can do enough damage, the weapon may overload when Grievous tries to fire."

Hearing this, Anakin racked his mind to the fullest capabilities in order to come up with a way to make this happen. Soon enough, one came through.

"Shadow squadron, new target. We're taking out the starboard ion cannon."

Both the present Avengers and rest of Shadow Squadron smiled soon after, whirling their ships around with their new destination in mind.

"Ion cannon 75% charged." Voiced a Separatist droid.

Zooming closer and closer, the Squadron made it behind the Ion Cannon.

"Target those support beams." Rhodey said, helmet still on with his systems aiding in choosing the best areas to do damage.

"Torpedoes away!"

Shadow Squadron unleashed every single Torpedo each remaining Y-wing bomber had, landing successive strike after successive strike. The Torpedo explosions rocked the Malevolence ship to a great degree.

On the Malevolence's bridge, Grievous saw their primary weapon finally reached its full capacity. Without any further notice, he ignored some of the droids' cries and bellowed out the order. "Fire!"

What the droid general did not anticipate however was the immediate backlash of the Ion Cannons damage overloading and damaging the Malevolence further. If one were to look from the outside hull, they'd see that both sides of the Separatist ship exploded. This caused the entire ship to quake, sending Grievous sprawling to the ground.

"Good work, Shadow Squadron." Plo Koon praised.

"Nice job, Ahsoka." Anakin also complimented. "Good back seat piloting."

"I would've done better had you flown in a straight line, master." Ahsoka said cheekily.

Grievous was back on his feet on the bridge of the Malevolence. "Damage report!"

"We've lost both primary weapons, sir." Voiced a droid.

"The hyperdrive has been disabled." Spoke another.

"What?!" Grievous yelled. "Impossible!"

"General." This droid only had more bad news for Grievous "We are picking up Republic warships entering the system."

"Anakin, do you copy?"

Skywalker smiled when hearing Obi-wans voice over the comms, which he responded soon after. "I'm here, Obi-wan."

"Congratulations. It looks like your mission was a success."

"Partially, but Grievous is still alive." Anakin said in mild-disappointment. "The battle was pretty rough on my men. We're heading for the medical station."

Back on his ship, General Kenobi nodded. "We'll take it from here, but don't worry. We'll call when we need you."

"I'll be waiting, Obi-Wan."

Ending the call, Kenobi addressed his crew. "All right, let's finish what Shadow Squadron started. Ahead full and fire everything we've got."

Soon enough, the present Republic Star Destroyers opened fired on the Malevolence as it made a full retreat; no doubt hoping in making it back to Separatist space.

On the Republic Medical Station, Shadow Squadron docked in the landing bay. Each of them made it out of their respective ships in order to properly fuel their transports and get a bit of rest. They needed it, just in case if they'll need to be deployed at a moment's notice.

Climbing down the ladder, Anakin heard Master Plo Koon speaking to him. "Great job, Master Skywalker. Your leadership skills are most impressive."

"You didn't do so bad yourself." Anakin responded back.

"Excuse me? I believe it was my suggestion to change the plan." Said the Tortugan Padawan.

"That's kind of true, Snips. From a certain point of view."

"Hey, don't forget Rhodey's flight formations." Scott added in. "Without them, then we might've lost more out there."

This got the other Avengers and the other Jedi present to nod.

"He's right you know, Anakin."

"Yeah, yeah. I know, Sam." Anakin then turned over to War Machine and gave him a smile. "I should ask more on those formations you have in your arsenal, Colonel. They'll no doubt be essential for later fights."

"I'll do all that I can, General."

As the assembled people went onward to talk to the nearby elevator, Steve spoke to the human Jedi master. "Even though we did a good job on this mission, we can't take the lives we saved lightly."

Anakin nodded as he let out a sigh. "I know I won't. But I also can't take the lives I lost lightly."

"It's something we must bare in our times of leadership. Something that'll linger on for our very lives."

"Speaking from experience?" Anakin questioned.

Steve merely gave the Jedi master a firm nod as he and the others on his team knew all too well on the fact.

"I see." Anakin stopped walking as he addressed the others. "If you'll excuse me, I gotta prepare myself for the upcoming fight."

Captain America nodded. "Don't let us stop you."

General Skywalker nodded as he walked off elsewhere in order to find a quiet place before heading back out to all of the action.

Seeing him off, Rhodey voiced his shared thoughts with Scott and Sam. "Quite the interesting man you've got for a teacher, Ahsoka."

The Padawan merely shook her head with a small grin. "He's one of a kind, Rhodey. I-I mean, Colonel, Colonel. Sorry sir."

"It's alright Tano." Rhodey placed a comforting hand on her shoulder. "After this wild flight, you could drop the formalities."

Ahsoka smiled up at Rhodey.

"Just don't let it get to your head, kiddo." Sam said suddenly. "Pretty sure Anakin has that part covered."

Ahsoka only gaped before puffing her cheeks out. "I do not have a big head, that's master Skywalker."

"I know, that's what I just said, kiddo."

"And don't call me Kiddo."

"Would you prefer Snips?"

"WILSON!"

Meanwhile, Steve watched the arrival of more Medical transports and to his relief, the recovery of the several Y-wing bomber ships that had been earlier caught in the Ion cannon.

A strained smile made its way onto Steve's face, glad to see that the Clone pilots and gunners alive and well enough considering the circumstances.

Letting out a shaky sigh, Steve looked forward once more eyes on the Republic fleet in pursuit of a damaged Separatist warship.

Steve narrowed his eyes at the ship, the same one that had intended on attacking the medical facility he currently stood within.

Now Steve had long since wizened up to the great world at large, now universe really. No two sides of a war are completely in the wrong as rarely is that ever the case.

But the fact that this Confederacy of Independent Systems targeted first a world that isn't known for warfare on top of attacking a medical station with no defenses didn't exactly paint the CIS in a positive light thus far from Caps point of view.

Whatever the case may be, Steve knew that he had thrown himself into another war.

And this was only the first of many battles.

**Alrighty then, let's leave it off here and pick up immediately in the next chapter.**

**BIG UPS to ma BOI Jebest who was a gigantic help to this, can't sing his praises enough.**

**Rate Read and Review and as Always Have Nice Day**


	8. Destroy Malevolence

**Rate Read and Review and as Always Have Nice Day.**

Avengers Infinite Wars Chapter 8: Destroy Malevolence.

Grievious, general of the droid army of the separatists was seething.

He paced about the bridge of the damaged and fleeing Malevolence, at a complete state of fury at coming so close to their objective only to be halted at the very last second.

The droid general had no true way of venting his anger, with a few unfortunate B1 droids suffering their end under his fists.

All that he could do right now is focus on his retreat from the Republic fleet currently pursuing his fleeing vehicle while reigning down heavy fire upon his ship.

"What is the status of the Ships engines?" Grievious barked out to the droids.

"Operating at 60 percent capacity sir." One of the Pilot Droids stated. "But the Republic fleet keeps hitting us making repairs difficult."

Grievous growled. "What of our reinforcements?"

"They are under fire from another Republic fleet." Said another Pilot Droid.

"RAGH." Grievous simply decapitated the Droid with his fist. "Get us out of here and get our Hyper drive ready IMMEDIATELY!"

"Roger Roger."

The Malevolence slowly floated ahead of the Republic fleet being led by Jedi Masters Plo Koon and Obi-wan Kenobi.

Their weapons were utilized in full force, a constant bombardment on the enemy ship with no intention of relenting.

Behind the two Jedi stood Admiral Yularen as the trio of high ranking men observed the damaged ship.

"Commander." Obi-wan glanced down to a Clone Commander below. "What is the damage level to the enemy ship?"

"She's lost primary shielding and stabilizers." The Clone Commander stated. "But the ship is so massive, it's taking all of our ships firepower. We can't take her down with what we have."

Plo Koon nodded at this. "We must summon reinforcements."

"That's why we're here, Master Plo."

Kenobi and Plo looked behind them to see Anakin and Ahsoka enter the bridge accompanied by Captain Rogers and Ant-man.

"Anakin." Obi-wan greeted. "Glad to see you've made it. Captain Rogers, Mr. Lang."

"Obi-wan." Steve greeted.

"Hey there." Scott simply said before his eyes were quickly drawn towards the one sided fight in front of them. "Wonder how long that'll last."

"Hopefully not long." Ahsoka commented.

"Master Skywalker, have you made contact with Luminara?" Plo Koon inquired.

"Yes, Master." Anakin responded with a clicked tongue. "She's currently busy with a fleet of Separatist reinforcements nearby. She won't be able to give us support until she's turned them away."

Hearing this made the two Jedi Masters nod slightly bitter as they wanted to take care of the enemy ship post haste.

"Then we'll have to make do with what we have."

The Republic fleet continued with its attack on the Malevolence while the Droid General on the enemy bridge clung on for support as his ship was rocked back and forth.

Upon a recent, massive quake, Grievous spoke. "Status report!"

"Hyperdrive is still inactive and forward engines are losing power." A Droid pilot informed. "Our primary weapon is destroyed."

If he still had teeth, the cyborg would be grinding them into dust at this point.

Grievous glanced over to several droids that seemed to be just standing there doing nothing. "What are you still doing here?! Get down to the Hyperdrive and start making repairs."

As if snapping out of a daze, the droids all ran out of the bridge to their new destination.

Placing his metallic hand onto his face, he tried relieving the headache that was building up now.

*Bleep* *Bleep* *Bleep*

His communicator was going off, prompting Grievous to answer knowing who it was on the other end.

"General Grievous." Said the familiar baritone voice of Count Dooku.

"Lord Dooku." Grievious inclined his head in a bow.

" _What is the status of the Malevolence?"_ Dooku inquired calmly.

"...It has not sustained crucial damage… as of late."

All Grievous was met was a dry look in return, knowing full well his lie wasn't going to cut it.

"General, with what is happening now, I have arranged a trap which will give you an advantage over the Jedi."

"That is unnecessary, Count Dooku. I assure you the Jedi and Republic will fail in capturing myself and this ship." Grievous said confidently.

" _Do not compound your failure this day by allowing our prize warship to fall, all because of your wounded pride."_ Ignoring Grievous' current mood, Dooku continued. _"Heading towards you is a very important galactic senator. With her as your hostage, they will call off their attack."_

Begrudgingly, General Grievous had no choice other than to comply. "As you wish my lord."

Back on the Republic ship with the Jedi Generals and Avengers, they remained on course with their trail behind the Malevolence.

"Admiral, status report."

"They're not attempting to jump to hyperspace, sir."

Hearing this, Scott pondered with Anakin mirroring his action.

"So that means they can't get away, right?"

Skywalker nodded his head in confirmation. "They're Hyperdrive is definitely damaged then."

"This is the chance we need then." Obi-wan said determinedly. "All ships target the bridge. Maximum fire power with everything they have."

Meanwhile, unknown to the Republic forces, a lone sleek ship was traveling through Hyperspace right towards the battle.

Aboard the ship was none other than Senator Padme Amidala with her husband's personally created protocol droid, C-3PO.

"My lady, are you sure the information from Chancellor Palpatine is reliable?" C-3PO questioned with utmost worry.

Padme nodded with a sideways glance. "Yes, it was secretly given to him by the supreme executive of the Banking Clan himself." A small smile soon formed from her lips. "If they leave the separatist alliance, it will go a long way to shortening this war." The onboard computer beeped several times, signaling the pilot. "Oh, good. We're approaching the system now."

The Naboo senator expected the vastness of empty space, with one ship carrying the Banking Clan executive-

"My goodness!" 3PO cried out in apt alarm.

-What she got was, however, was anything but empty with her ship almost crashing into a flaming wreck of a ship.

"This- This isn't right!" Padme stammered out in equal shock. "That's a droid warship! We're in the middle of a battle!"

On the Malevolence, Padme's arrival was detected. "Sir, we're scanning a small ship off our bow."

"Good." Grievous said with sinister satisfaction. "Our hostage has arrived."

Padme banked sharply, narrowly avoiding the large ship before her while sending out an immediate distress call.

"Mayday, mayday." Padme spoke frantically. "This is Senator Amidala, I've flown directly into the line of an enemy Droid Ship, are there any Republic forces nearby?"

On the Republic side of things, Ahsoka, who had been monitoring the situation had picked up on the call.

"Masters." Ahsoka spoke up. "I'm picking up a signal near the enemy vessel. One that came out from Hyperspace just now."

"Enemy Reinforcements?" Anakin asked.

The Tortuga Padawan shook her head. "No. It looks like a… Naboo ship from its design."

Assuming the worst, Anakin gave a quick order. "Gunners stand down."

"Naboo?" Steve murmured to himself. "Isn't that Senator… what was her name, Amidala? Isn't she from Naboo?"

"What in the blazes are they doing out there?" Obi-wan asked aloud.

"We're getting a distress call from them." Ahsoka said.

With the clones picking up the signal, the bridge's crew was able to hear the message.

" _Mayday, Mayday this is Senator Amidala requesting any nearby Republic forces for assistance!"_

Feeling his blood run cold, Anakin bolted from his spot and typed away into the nearby console in order to speak with his secret wife. And it didn't take long for her to respond.

"Padme? What are you doing out here?" Anakin asked in alarm

" _I was sent here on a mission."_ His wife replied, the sound of exerting her control of the ship clear to hear. _"The Senate told me that the banking clan -dang it- Wanted to negotiate a treaty."_

"Get out of there as fast as you can." Anakin nearly shouted

Before Padme could make the attempt, her ship violently shook.

Looking over, she asked the protocol droid. _"Have we been hit?"_

" _I'm… I'm afraid it's much worse than that."_

"Padme, what's happening?" Anakin asked with everyone else behind him becoming quite worried now.

" _I'm being pulled inside the droid cruiser by a tractor beam."_ She answered. _"Looks like they were aware of me coming here. I_ will not _be made a Separatist bargaining chip. Continue your attack. You must destroy this monstrous ship!"_

Anakin however was hearing none of that. "Admiral, order our ships to stop firing."

Yularen only nodded, bitterly, while the others looked on in concern.

"What do we do now?" Cap asked Anakin who silently clenched his fists in frustration not finding an answer for a brief moment.

Onboard the Naboo cruiser, C-3PO voiced the obvious. "It does not look safe out there, my lady."

"This whole thing was a trap, and I'm afraid I walked the two of us right into it." She said, slamming her fists onto her console."

In the Malevolence Bridge, Grievous heard some welcomed news. "Sir, the Republic cruisers have halted their attack."

The cyborg chuckled. "Jedi are so predictable." Turning his attention back towards his crew, he gave an order. "Get the repair team up here. Continue working on the Hyperdrive."

"And what will you do, sir?"

"I'm going down to the main hangar." Grievous answered. "This ship must be returned to Count Dooku intact. There is no room for failure."

Grievous made his way down to the Rail Jets within the Malevolence as it was made to transport equipment and personnel around the ship due to its size.

Stepping onto an arriving Rail Jet, Grievous was sent off on his way towards the main hangar. And in the end of his vision did he see his prize.

Approaching the Naboo cruiser, the Separatist General ordered a pair of droids to follow him inside so he may confront his hostage.

He expected to see Senator Amidala sitting at the pilot chair, wearing a visage that carried much bravado in order to hide her cowardness. He expected her to no doubt fight back as she struggled to free herself from her soon to be captor.

Only… Only none of that happened… as she was not there!

"Where is she?"

One of the droids looked at the console and voiced what it was reading. "Looks like the engines are set to destroy themselves."

This got quite the reaction from the Kaleesh cyborg, causing him to quickly turn and shove the droids out of his way.

"Hey, that's just rude-!"

_**KABOOOOM** _

From their hiding spot in the Malevolence's hangar, Padme had to suppress a chuckle in seeing the droids running around in crazed madness with what she just pulled with her now destroyed ship.

'Sometimes overloading the power system does wonders in causing mass confusion.' Thought the Naboo Senator as she and the protocol droid moved elsewhere. 'Gonna need to find a way off this ship with 3PO.'

Anakin in the meantime huffed in slight annoyance, turning to leave the bridge.

"And where do you think you're going?" Kenobi asked expectantly.

"Someone has to save her skin."

"I thought you might say that."

"Well, I'm coming to then." Captain America spoke up.

"Captain Rogers, there is no need for such assistance." Obi-wan said. "You and your team have done more than enough for us this day."

"I'm going to have to apologize and refuse, Kenobi." Rogers countered. "Let's just say I owe her a bit of a favor to Senator Amidala. Besides, she's a civilian; an important one at that. We need to get her out of here as soon as possible."

Anakin only grinned with approval and appreciation. "Thanks for the support, Cap."

PLO only sighed expectantly, amusedly stating. "I can't decide which one is worse or better. The Super Soldier or the Maverick Jedi."

"Well, I think he's awesome." Scott said with a bit of a fan-boyish grin quickly following after his idol and leader.

"You get used to it." Was all Ahsoka could say.

Down below in the hangar bay of the Republic ship, Sam Wilson and James Rhodey stood by some Clone Pilots who were explaining to them the basic fundamentals of piloting a Star Ship.

"It's all about which button to push and the rhythm you use when you're flying." Matchstick of Shadow squadron explained. "This is your basic controls here and here. Firing primary weapons over the handle."

Sam and Rhodey nodded, their suits on in order to record everything that they had been listening to for the past hour while the battle in space raged on.

A few times, the Clone Pilot had asked them to repeat what he had said and was happily surprised to see them memorize everything down to detail, allowing him to go into the further mechanics of ship flying.

Well they knew how to properly fly the ships back on their home world, but these ones before them were another story.

While there was a familiarity to them, both flyers knew they would need to forcibly start from level one before working their way up and incorporating their own flying methods into these new ones. Still, they were making good headway in the eyes of Matchstick.

Before the clone pilot could continue his lecture, Sam saw a familiar bunch coming from the corner of his eye. Falcon nudged Rhodey in the side, getting his attention as the others soon noticed.

"Hey Sam, Rhodey." Anakin called out. "Can I borrow you two for a while?"

The Flying pair looked at each other before the Colonel spoke.

"What's up?"

"We're going on a rescue Op." Said the voice of Captain Rogers who walked out from behind the Jedi along with Obi-wan and Scott. "Senator Amidala is on the Malevolence and we need to get her out of here."

"Amidala?" Sam asked, falling in step with his team leader and friend. "The one who offered her our help after Naboo."

"The same."

"How'd she get on the enemy ship?" Rhodey asked in slight bewilderment.

"It was most likely a trap." Anakin stated as he ushered the group to follow him towards the _Twilight_. "Don't know how it was pulled so quickly, but that doesn't matter now."

"I trust you've already formulated a brilliant plan to rescue the senator." Kenobi said inquisitively.

"As a matter of fact, I have." Anakin stated confidently as they boarded the _Twilight_.

"But do we have a plan "B"? Every operation needs a backup, Anakin." Kenobi insisted.

"Is there even a plan "C"?" Scott asked. "Can't hurt if multiple ones."

"I don't have a backup… yet" Anakin admitted. "But I do have a plan for getting on that ship."

"Really?" Sam asked as the assembled group of men sat themselves in the _Twilight._

"The enemy sensors are obviously damaged, so we'll sneak in behind them and dock at the emergency airlock." Anakin said simply.

"Wait, what? That's your plan?" Rhodey asked in slight disbelief. "Just fly there, land, hope they don't spot us, and walk in through the front door?"

""Er… yeah, Basically." Anakin said sheepishly.

"Oh, Brilliant." Drolled out the Jedi Master.

"Meh~ not the worst I've heard." Scott remarked earning an eye roll from Sam; something the ex-con caught. "Hey it fooled you."

"Oh, that's how it's going to be?"

Ignoring Falcon and Ant-man argue and banter, Anakin quickly got into his seat and started turning on the ship's engines. "Let's get going."

Back aboard the Malevolence, Padme continued to sneak her way around the ship with a very paranoid 3PO right behind her. She soon stopped at a control panel, trying to get through its security defenses.

"Pardon me My lady, but might I suggest we keep moving to another location?" C-3PO chimed in. "I think I hear battle droids approaching."

"I know, 3PO, but we also need to contact the fleet." Padme said in frustration. "If I can just get this comm panel working."

3PO merely looked over the corner. "My lady, I'm afraid I was right."

General Grievous walked at the head of a small Droid unit down the hallway towards Padme's direction. Thinking fast, Padme grabbed a large metal panel that had fallen from the wall that it had been a part of and hid herself behind it with 3PO.

Grievous approached the control panel, when a droid contacted him through his communicator.

" _General?"_

"What?"

" _The damage to the Hyperdrive was not as bad as we first thought."_ The Droid stated. " _We should be able to get under way again shortly."_

This pleased the Kaleesh cyborg quite well. "I must inform Count Dooku." He turned towards most of his unit and gave an order. "Stay here. Continue the search. Find the stowaway and bring them to me."

"Roger, roger."

Grievous walked away, leaving Padme to contemplate her next move while the droid units left her area making it safe for the moment.

Outside the Malevolence, Anakin kept a steady course towards the enemy ship making sure not to make any sudden action that would alert the Droids to their presence.

"If they spot us, we'll be pulverized." Obi-wan said knowingly.

"They're too busy repairing the ship." Anakin casually brushed off. "They don't have time to notice us."

Obi-wan sighed exasperatedly. "Subtlety has never been one of your strong points, Anakin."

"Everything I know I learned from you, Master." Anakin countered with a wry grin.

"If only that were true."

"If you guys are done being a married couple, we're getting close to the Hangar Bay." Sam said with a dry tone.

"We're not a married couple."

"Sheesh, take a joke why don't ya." Scott said, checking his gear one last time. "Need to brighten up that dank life of yours."

"Yeah, Obi-wan." Anakin grinned at his master. "Take a joke."

"Is everyone against me today?" Kenobi remarked.

"Scott, for the love of god in all that is holy, never do that joke again." Sam said, massaging the bridge of his nose.

"No promises."

"Docking the ship now." Anakin announced, finding the right spot to enter the Malevolence.

Attaching the _Twilight_ to the ship caused two droids nearby to stumble.

"Did you hear that?"

"What?"

"That noise. It sounded like a ship docking at one of the emergency airlocks."

"You're circuits are loose. Nobody would be crazy enough to do that."

Flying ahead of the others, Falcon and War Machine landed in front of the door leading out of the airlock with Scott, Steve, Anakin, Obi-wan and R2-D2 joining them via platform.

"Anakin, you're crazy." Obi-wan stated firmly. "Spinning is not flying."

"Really?" Sam said. "We do that all the time."

"I think it applies differently for the two of you." Kenobi retorted, pointing towards Sam and Rhodey.

"Tony did say it's a good trick." Rhodey said with a shrug.

"See Master." Anakin said with a triumphant grin. "These two guys get it. Thanks guys. Nice to know you have my back

Obi-wan merely rolled his eyes as they approached the door. "We do not want to get spotted."

As soon as Obi-wan finished that statement, the doors opened to reveal the two droids who were nearby.

"...You were saying?"

"It's them! I knew it was-"

Several rounds were blasted into the droids' heads, rendering them useless as their bodies collapsed onto the ground.

The small band of men looked down at the scraps.

"Whelp, there goes our element of surprise." Sam said.

"Did you have to destroy their heads?" Scott said with an uncomfortable cringe.

"Why are you complaining about that?"

"Asides from the usual, I wanted to see if I could hack into their servers and see what makes them tick. Maybe even compromise most of their systems as a whole." Scott kicked the head off as it soared across the hallway.

"...Since when could you do that?" Sam asked in surprise.

"I've been busy these past few months before coming here." Scott said. "Figured I should try new things. Try it out on these guys."

Anakin adopted a curious look with Obi-wan soon following.

"Hmmm, save that thought for later." Anakin encouraged. "That could be really useful later on."

"Will do."

Pulling off his shield from his back, Steve adjusted the strap once slipped onto his arm.

"It's better if we split up into 2 teams." Steve said. "Cover more ground that way."

"Sounds like a plan." Anakin agreed. "Cap, Sam, mind coming with me?"

"Sure thing."

"I don't mind."

"Mister Lang, Colonel Rhodes, if you would." Kenobi gestured to the opposite direction that Anakin, Steve and Sam ran off to.

"Got it." Scott said, shrinking down to ride atop Kenobi's shoulder while the Jedi and Rhodey ran together.

"Will you be fine there?" Obi-wan asked as his eyes trained on the miniature figure on his person.

"Oh yeah, totally." Scott waved off. "I've done this _a lot_."

Whilst the separate groups ran through the halls of the ship, they had all received a call from Ahsoka back from the Republic fleet.

" _Master, we've gotten into contact with the Senator."_ Ahsoka said through their comms. _"Patching you through to her right now."_

"Padme?"

" _Anakin."_ Padme's relieved voice was heard through the Comms.

"Are you alright? Where are you?" Anakin asked somewhat worriedly.

" _On the lower levels."_ Padme answered. _"I'm fine, but I don't know for how long. Droids are everywhere."_

"I'm on board with a rescue party." Anakin said.

" _What?"_ Padme exclaimed. _"What are you doing here?"_

"Key words were rescue party their ma'am." Sam cut in.

" _Huh? Who was… wait, that voice sounds familiar."_

"We're here to get you off this ship, Senator." Steve now spoke.

" _Captain Rogers! I wasn't aware that The Avengers were here."_

Not wasting any more time, Anakin interrupted their little conversation. "Ahsoka, how can we get to the senator?"

" _According to our scans, there seems to be a larger open area in the center of the ship It should be halfway between the two of you."_ Ahsoka said from her end of the Comms.

"Did you hear that, Padme? I'll be there." Anakin said excitedly.

"Hold on." Steve interjected. "We're still on an enemy ship. And that means that there's a lot of Droids patrolling around the plans and orders on getting this ship up and running again."

"So…?" Scott asked the silent question.

"We're gonna need to cause a lot of noise here." Steve said. "One that can keep attention off both the Senators location and the attempts being made to repair the ship."

"I'll handle that, Cap." Rhodey confidently spoke out. "I got the firepower."

"I'll get more on the inside." Scott added on. "See what I could do."

"See now Anakin, _this_ is a plan." Obi-wan said with his usual wit.

"I don't hear any good ones coming out of you, Obi-wan." Anakin wryly shot back.

With objectives and goals clearly defined, both separate parties now knew what to do.

On the bridge of the Malevolence, Grievious had returned.

"General." A pilot Droid spoke up. "We just detected an unauthorized communication - coming from within the ship."

"What did it say?"

"Well… We don't know." The Droid admitted. "We didn't catch it in time."

"Monitor all internal communications." Grievious barked out. "I want that senator on this bri-"

The General was abruptly cut off by the ship violently shaking with warning sounds blaring all around.

"What was that?" Grievious growled out.

"It's Hangar Bay 2 sir." The same Pilot droid from before answered. "It has sustained heavy damage from bombings."

"What?!" Grievious roared out. "How is this possible? The Republic wouldn't dare to authorize an attack when a senator is on board. Bring up security Cams now!"

One of the screens switched over to Hangar Bay 2 of the Malevolence, displaying the clear level of destruction that area had suffered.

A greyish-silver blue flew by before hover in mid-air with its arms out. It was a humanoid droid, blasting away at anything and everything in sight before unleashing several rockets onto the hangar bay destroying the camera in the process.

Luckily –Or unluckily, really- another perspective from the hangar replaced the previous one, now displaying Obi-wan Kenobi in action. Azure lightsaber ignited, the Jedi slashed and cleaved his way through one droid after another whilst deflecting blaster bolts sent in his direction. All the while, an unseen force was covering the Jedi's blind spots with droids jolting about before pieces of them were violently cracked off.

Seething internally, Grievious silently stalked out the room giving out one last order to locate the senator and bring her to the bridge.

Meanwhile, Cap, Sam and Anakin arrived at one of the many railways of the Malevolence taking a moment to look around.

"Where do you think she is?" Steve asked Anakin.

"I think the better question is where in the are we?" Sam inquired aloud.

Without needing an incentive, Sam jumped forward with his wings popping out as he took to the skies.

Anakin couldn't help but let out a small whistle. "Wish I had something like that."

Suddenly, the familiar sounds of blaster fire was heard at one of the lower levels.

"Found her." Sam said, descending down to her.

Anakin ignited his lightsaber and with Cap began their jumps down to the senator.

Sam flew down right in front of her and fired at the Droids.

"Cavalries arrived, Senator."

"Lieutenant Wilson." Padme said in relief. "That's twice now you've saved my life."

"Don't forget to thank them." Wilson said, gesturing his head up to Steve and Skywalker as both were getting closer.

"Anakin." Padme whispered under her breath.

"Ok, that's a lot of bots." Sam stated aloud. "Time to go."

Without getting any prompt from the aviator, Sam grabbed both Padme and 3PO and held on tightly as he set his thrusters to max. Flying at top speeds, Sam felt his muscles strain themselves to hold the much heavier protocol droid until finally reaching his allies.

"Whew." Sam exhaled, letting both individuals go.

"Anakin." Padme couldn't help but run up to her secret husband, hugging him fiercely.

"Well that part of the mission is done." Steve mused aloud. "Glad to see you're alive and well, Senator."

"I can't thank you and your team enough, Captain Rogers." Padme said graciously. "They have saved my life twice in such a short amount of time. If you keep this up, you'll catch up to Anakin's record in no time."

Anakin only grinned bashfully before contacting Obi-wan.

"Obi-wan, we got Padme safe and secure. What's your status?"

On Obi-wans end, he slashed a Super Battle Droid. He turned to face the raging fires of the hangar bay he, Scott and Rhodes had just finished demolishing. Beside him, Rhodey landed though Scott was nowhere to be found.

"Great to hear Anakin." Obi-wan replied. "Colonel Rhodes and I are finished up around here though we did get separated from Scott unfortunately."

"I'm Ok Cap." Scott chimed in. "Just a little off course. I could still see Kenobi and Rhodey."

"Really?" Obi-wan said, looking around. "But we can't see you."

"Hold on a sec."

Though it was small, a tiny hole seemingly popped out amongst the flames and from it grew Ant-man.

"Was caught up on the other side of the flames." Scott explained straight away, patting down to get some ash off of him.

"Alright, so what do we do now?" Rhodey asked.

"Anakin, Rogers and Wilson have Senator Amidala secure." Obi-wan said.

"But that doesn't mean we're clear to go." Padme's voice rang out through Kenobi's link. "Master Obi-wan, I overheard that the Hyperdrive isn't as damaged as they initially believed. They'll be able to repair it in a short amount of time."

"Didn't you say that the Hyperdrive was nearby?" Rhodey asked Kenobi to which he nodded.

Obi-wan then held up his wrist link. "Anakin, You and the others head for the Twilight. The three of us will handle the Hyperdrive."

"Copy that, Obi-wan, we'll see you back at the ship." Anakin said. "Let's go guys, we're wasting time standing around."

Both parties were on the move once more, each with a destination in mind.

Kenobi's group had to go through several small units of Droids before at last arriving at the Hyperdrive, finding two droids at the controls.

However, their arrival was met with a large contingent of droids surrounding the three of them from all the walkways.

"Oh boy." Scott murmured, getting back to back with the others as the trio faced the separatist forces when they heard a mechanical laugh.

Turning in the direction where they came, a larger droid fell from above with its slick yellow eyes boring right into them.

"Hello there." It said tauntingly.

"General Grievious." Obi-wan said coyly.

"Wait." Rhodey held up his thumb to the Droid hybrid. " _That's_ General Grievious?"

"Ah, you must be thrilled to meet someone of my stature." Grievious said arrogantly.

"How does a robot look like they need serious rehab?" Scott questioned aloud. "Seriously, are you ok? Cause you look like you're on drugs."

Grievious felt his neck twitch at the jibe.

"And you two are one of these _Avengers_ that have been interfering in a war that is not your own." Grievious seethed. "Do you wish for an early death?"

"Huh, generic villain speech up the wazoo." Rhodey quipped. "Geez, and I thought you were something special."

"I will enjoy ripping you apart myself, Droid." Grievious growled out.

"Not a droid, bolt head."

Grievious simply had enough.

"Kill them all."

"Yikes." Scott immediately shrunk down whilst Obi-wan began deflecting blaster bolts with Rhodey flying up.

War Machine unleashed his firepower with both arms firing at the other two pathways while his shoulder gun fired primarily at the General.

Letting out a guttural sound akin to an animal, Grievious dodged the gunfire and whipped out two of his lightsabers.

His hands began spinning in a rapid fashion, managing to deflect the bullets and the melted metal that had come about as a result of lead meeting saber. Some however did manage to go past Grievious's defenses and stain his body.

This further enraged the Droid general making him recall his sabers and crawl around on all fours under the bridge he stood upon.

"Ok, that wasn't creepy at all." Rhodey remarked with a shiver.

"Come on." Scott yelled out, jumping from Droid to Droid on the left hand pathway to clear the way. "We gotta get out of here."

Obi-wan took a moment to see that while the initial contingent of droids were destroyed, more were on their way with a larger squadron of Droidekas and the Jedi didn't want to deal with them at this moment.

"Right, let's go."

Rhodey and Kenobi ran down the path Scott had cleared with Grievious coming back up from beneath the pathways and running after them in pursuit.

War Machine contacted Steve in the middle of his retreat. "Hey Cap, we ran into a snag. Too many enemy forces at the Hyperdrive. We're gonna need another way to take down the ship."

Back on their end, having gotten the news the group ground to a halt.

"We'll figure something out then, Rhodey." Steve replied. "Head back to the ship."

" _Copy that, Cap."_

"Ok, so change of plans then, what now?" Sam commented.

"We make our way to the bridge." Anakin declared.

"Why there?" Steve inquired.

They broke into a run while Anakin explained. "I know you guys are still new to all this so I'll make it brief. There's two ways to fix the Hyperdrive depending on the ship size. A small Starfighter requires for you to directly repair the Drive. A ship like this size? You could repair it or make it function from the bridge."

"So what does that mean?" Sam asked.

"Means we could set a little trap for Grievious and send this ship crashing into the Rishi moon and not waste a single ounce of our firepower." Anakin grinned roguishly.

Steve got a weird sense of Deja-vu, shaking it off as they rounded a corner to face two battle droids.

"Look, Jedi!" The one on the right cried out, raising its blaster.

"No wait." The one on the left cried out in vain as his partner fired only for his blaster bolt to be deflected by Anakin right to sender.

"I knew that wasn't going to work." The remaining droid said dejectedly before being bashed down by a flying Vibranium shield.

"Uh gentlemen." Padme called from behind and the group turned to see a group of Super Battle Droids.

"Oh boy." Steve didn't hesitate. Reeling back his throwing arm, Steve flung his shield at the wall with a specific diagonal acute angle. The shield rapidly ricocheted against the walls until it reached the oncoming supers, shredding them to pieces with clean slices that left scraps on the ground.

"How in the Forces name do you do that?" Anakin said in complete awe.

"All in the wrist." Steve casually said, catching the returning shield.

"Right, the wrist he says." Sam said with a faux unimpressed voice, the group resuming their run to the bridge.

Back with Kenobi, he and his two companions were now evading a very incensed and furious Grievious who was now wielding four lightsabers all at once.

During their little battle, Rhodey had learned that he could deflect repulsor beams though at the cost of stumbling back.

Normally this would be an advantage but the General proved to be very agile and nimble, utilizing the area around to quickly rebound from these attacks in order to keep them on their toes.

"We're getting nowhere with this." Rhodey said to Kenobi and Scott.

"You fools." Grievious snarled boastfully. "I have been trained by Count Dooku and installed with the strongest metal the Separatists have to offer. I have cut down dozens of Jedi and hundreds of Clones since the inception of the war."

"And yet, can't seem to take us down." War Machine countered, switching to his electrified 'Hammer'.

"It is only a matter of time."

"The amount of _times_ I have heard that since the beginning." Kenobi drolled out.

Grievious only moved to engage, with Rhodey's hammer thankfully being able to repel the lightsabers while Kenobi blocked his own.

Scott instead shrank out of sight though Grievious managed to keep his eye on him.

This proved to be a mistake as Grievious was abruptly decked in the face from a left hook by Rhodey.

Letting out a pained grunt, Grievious retaliated with powerful boot to the colonels chest. Taking a swipe at Kenobi, Obi-wan jumped away to dodge the saber.

The Droid General made a step to move forward when suddenly one of his sabers shut down.

"What?"

Then, without warning, a metal plating on the same arm that held the saber violently shot off from the body.

Eyes widening in alarm, Grievious began to shake about erratically.

His arm spasmed like crazy before his robotic limb went limp.

"What is happening to me!?"

"Oh~ man. You-You gonna take this to the shop, buddy." Scott stressed out, pulling out yet another major circuit inside of the cyborg.

"Who's speaking!?"

"Oh, this is your conscious." Replied the Ant-Man, jumping to another wire. "We don't talk a lot these days."

"What is the meaning of this?!"

"My word." Obi-wan murmured, completely astounded. "You've actually done it, Mr. Lang."

"Done what?" Rhodey asked, confused by the Jedi masters reaction.

"I always assumed I was the only one who was capable of getting under the generals skin." Obi-wan stated. "But Scott has literally done so with exceptional efficiency."

Rhodey blinked in silence for several seconds until breaking down into a fit of laughter, unable to hold himself back at the sheer absurdity of Obi-wans comment.

"Alright, I needed that." Rhodey said with mirth.

"So glad that I could entertain you fools." Grievious roared, stepping forward only for his leg to wobble and forced him to collapse.

Obi-wan moved forward to strike down the General once and for all but the telltale sounds of a large group of droids coming up from behind their general to support him made him pause.

Grievious saw this momentary pause and with his other limbs quickly attacked the two regular sized humans, knocking them bac and making a hasty retreat.

"Guys." Scott regrew to full size, moving over to help them both up. "Are you alright?"

"We'll live." Obi-wan grunted, massaging his stomach. Giving the ex-con an appreciative nod, Kenobi saw the hallway from which they ran from now filled with a long line of droids.

"We gotta get out of here." Rhodey declared.

"Yes, lets." Kenobi nodded in agreement, the three men running off with the Droid battalion now in pursuit.

Elsewhere, Anakin, Steve, Sam, Padme and 3PO had arrived on the bridge of the Malevolence.

Upon their arrival, it took a sum total of three seconds for the three men to make quick work of the droids in the bridge.

"Ok, that takes care of them." Sam remarked.

"Yup and now, time for my surprise." Anakin said mischievously, cracking his fingers in anticipation while getting to work.

"I guess that leaves us with the house cleaning." Padme plainly shrugged.

It didn't take long for the droid remains to get piled into the elevator they had used in getting to the bridge nor Anakin for leaving his coded trap within the separatists system.

"Alright, that's all done." Anakin announced. "Let's get out of here. R2, prep the ship for departure."

The two teams were now full on sprinting back to the Twilight.

Swatting aside Droids along the way, others Droids were soon in hot pursuit of the rag tag group of intruders.

Soon enough, both groups reconvened at the entrance to the airlock with the Twilight waiting for them on the other side.

Quickly piling into the ship, Anakin hastily detached himself from the Malevolence and gunned it back towards friendly space.

However, it was not to be so simple as that.

General Grievious was now in pursuit despite one of his arms not functioning properly with a squadron of Vulture droids backing him.

"We have guns, anybody care to use them?" Anakin asked aloud as the Vulture droids fired repeatedly at them.

Steve was already on his feet grabbing hold of the primary cannon. "Uh…"

"Press here Captain Rogers." Padme instructed.

"Thank you, Senator." Steve said, taking aim. Pressing down the trigger, Steve blew a Vulture droid out of from its course.

As the Twilight drew closer, Plo Koon saw the enemy fighters on its tail ordering the ships to open fire to defend the Twilight.

While the Twilight weaved in between friendly fire, Grievious wasn't letting up on his course piloting his fighter as best as he could to gain on the fleeing ship.

" _General Grievious."_ A projection of a Droid appeared on the Kaleesh's controls.

"What is it?"

" _The Hyperdrive has been completely repaired."_ The Droid informed _. "Should we retreat to friendly space?"_

"Activate the Hyperdrive." Grievious ordered. "I'll meet you back at our secret base in sector four."

Grievious returned his focus onto the Twilight which had successfully shot down two of the other Vulture Droids. Narrowing his eyes, Grievious increased his speed and fired a shot right on one of the engines of the Twilight.

On said ship, R2-D2 made a series of whirring noises.

"Gentlemen, Milady, R2 has just notified me that the enemy ship is powering up its Hyperdrive."

"Let's hope this trap of yours works, Anakin." Sam said.

"Trap?" Obi-wan inquired curiously. "What trap?"

"Don't wanna spoil the surprise." Anakin said knowingly.

Grievious was gaining on them when abruptly, the Malevolence bridge made contact with him again.

" _Sir, we appear to experiencing problems with the Hyperdrive."_

"I thought you said the Hyperdrive was fixed?" Grievious barked out in annoyance.

" _There seems to be something wrong with Navi-computer."_ The Droid rambled on _. "It's setting us right at the moon."_

"Fools." Grievious admonished angrily. "Reset the Navi-computer, _now!"_

On the bridge of the Malevolence, the droids desperately tried to get the ship under control as it began to plummet down to the nearby moon's surface.

In less than a few seconds, the Malevolence met its end in a fiery crash for all to see from their ships.

Grievious had rejected a transmission from Dooku, choosing instead to escape the area.

The Republic forces on the Venator ships all cheered and celebrated to a successful end to a long mission whilst the Avengers and Jedi on the Twilight all laid back with relief.

After a beat of silence, Anakin twisted in his seat to face the Avengers.

"So, how was your first mission?" Anakin asked with a wry grin.

Steve exhaled, leaning on the wall with a shrug.

"Well, a giant enemy ship crashed and for once I wasn't on it."

The galaxy natives gave the super soldier bewildered looks whilst his friends couldn't help but laugh aloud at the comment, knowing all too well on Steve's past.

"Alright then." Obi-wan said with an amused shrug. "Let's head home."

.

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_***GASP*** _

_***COUGH COUGH*.** _

A young man rose himself onto all fours, hacking and coughing violently thumping his chest to get out the air mixed with dust he had inadvertently inhaled.

Getting into a sitting position, the individual rubbed his eyes which were blurry. Letting out a few more coughs, he managed to steady his breathing and open his eyes to find himself…

… In some barren wasteland.

"What the hell?" The man asked aloud, looking around to find the same environment on all sides seemingly stretching off into the distance.

Steadily getting to his feet, he held up his hand to his ear and spoke.

"Hello?" He asked no one in particular. "Guys? Cap? Sam?... Wanda? Is their anyone nearby or on comms?"

He only got static as a response.

Scratching his silver hair, Pietro Maximoff was at a momentary loss as to where he was and what he should do.

Normally, this would be the point where he'd be brash and impatient running off into any random direction in hopes of figuring out where and what was going on.

But his time under Captain Rogers and the rest of the Avengers has tempered his usual impulsive nature.

Somewhat.

Trying to get into contact with the others once more, especially his sister, Pietro failed to get any answers.

Gritting his teeth, Pietro stomped on the ground in aggravation.

Sighing to himself, Pietro squinted at the horizon on all sides until he saw something that vaguely resembled a village far off in the distance.

Throwing his hands up in the air, Pietro loosened himself up.

Jumping from one foot to another while shaking his hands, Pietro inclined his upper body forward while positioning his legs when he burst forward at full speed leaving behind a blurry after image and a streak of bluish silver following in his wake.

A small cloud of dust was thrown up into the air.

It covered the area for a small moment until the dust settled down, revealing a humanoid with orange skin standing where the speedster once stood.

The humanoid was what was known as a Twi'lek and it had attempted to sneak up on the speedy Avenger only to be left stunned at what he had just witnessed.

He had been around the galaxy several times before, had seen Jedi, warlords, bounty hunters and now the galactic war that plagued his planet.

But a man who can run faster than the eye could see?

That was certainly a new one for Cham Syndulla.

**Whew, glad to be back after such a long break.**

**So before I close this out, I present to you all, a first for me and this story.**

_Omake, co-written by Jebest4781 and free man writer_

The Droid General made a step to move forward towards his foes when suddenly one of his sabers shut down.

"What?"

Then, without warning, a metal plating on the same arm that held the saber violently shot off from the body.

Eyes widening in alarm, Grievous began to shake about erratically.

His arm spasmed like crazy before his robotic limb went limp.

"What is happening to me!?"

" _Oh~ man. You-You gonna take this to the shop, buddy."_ Scott stressed out, pulling out yet another major circuit inside of the cyborg.

"Who's speaking!?"

" _Oh, this is your conscious."_ Replied the Ant-Man, jumping to another wire. _"We don't talk a lot these days."_

"What is the meaning of this?!"

As War Machine and Obi-wan Kenobi eventually went into a laughing fit, Grievous quickly stood up straight with his functioning arm hanging out a bit.

"W-Wait. Wait… Shut up!" Bellowed out the Kellesh cyborg, which somewhat didn't stop his two opponents in their current fit of humor. Ignoring them, he spoke. "I'm sorry, but my _conscious_?"

Inside of the droid general, Scott halted his assault and spoke in a bewildered tone. _"...Yeah~"_ 'Is there something going on here?'

Still laughing their guts out at this, Obi-wan and Rhodey were losing some of their focus.

"Everyone BE QUIET. Just SHUT UP! I'm trying to focus here!" Grievous stomped his foot down, effectively silencing both men who now looked at the Droid general bizarrely. "I need a major time-out here!"

Without any further notice, Grievous shut off his lightsabers and walked… more like limped away from them.

Obi-wan and Rhodey looked on, glancing at one another as if trying to figure out what just happened. Even the droids that were nearby were left utterly bewildered as to what just happened.

"Uh…" Rhodey said. "What just happened?"

Obi-wan stammered to find the right words. "I-I… I don't- Wait, where's Scott?"

In the medical station of Malevolence, which was hardly even used in the first place, Grievous was lying down on a metal lab table with a medical droid standing off to the side.

"I don't know what to say, Doctor." Grievous said in serious contemplation. "For the longest time I thought my consciousness long abandoned me after my transformation into _this._ " Emphasising the point, his hands swept towards his body. "But now it's back."

Inside of Grievous' armor, Scott was wondering how the fight transitioned into _this_ exactly.

'I soooo need to get outta here. Think my joke went a bit _too_ far this time.' Thought the ex-convict as he silently made his way out of the cyborg's shell… before bolting for the medical bay's entrance.

"So when did your "Consciousness" begin to speak with you, General?" The Therapist Droid asked in its nasally voice.

"Just a few minutes ago." Grievous recounted, his one good arm over his eyes. "My other arm stopped functioning and reason as to why was my Consciousness."

The Droid general let out a choked sob. "I thought I was more machine than man, but… I never lost who I truly was after all these years."

"You've made surprisingly great progress, General." The Droid Therapist praised.

"Now tell me how you feel."

"Conflicted for one."

"Why?"

"Haven't felt such conflict since the Huk War as that was probably when I last heard from my conscious."

"Perhaps this may help in alleviating your confliction." The Therapist Droid stated, holding out a small folded note.

Tilting his head, Grievous grabbed the note out of his therapists hand and opened to read its contents.

Grievous suddenly laughed heartily. "Ah Ziggy. You always know what to say."

"So, have you tried communicating with your Conscious general?"

"Hmmm, I have not. Let me try." Grievous cleared his throat. "Consciousness, are you there?"

…..

"Hello?"

…..

"Are you there?"

…..

"There is no need to be shy, you are my inner most thoughts after all."

"Is something the-"

"Shut up. I'm trying to focus."

…..

"Listen, I understand it has been some time but I wish to make amends."

…..

"Consciousness, please."

…..

"Please…"

"Sir?"

…

…

The General fell to the ground on his knees, throwing his only functioning arm up in misery and self-pity.

"WHY HAVE YOU FORSAKEN MEEEHEHEHEHEEEE!"

Grievous smashed the ground with his hand repeatedly, denting it further and further.

Acting out of fear now, with the medical droid might be destroyed soon by Grievous' hands with his present erratic emotions, it quickly pulled out another Ziggy card and handed it towards it's patient.

"Wha- Ah Ziggy, always with what I need to feel better."

**And Done**

**Rate Read and Review and As Always Have Nice day.**


	9. Runner of Ryloth

**Rate Read and Review and as Always Have Nice Day.**

Avengers Infinite Wars: Chapter 9: Runner of Ryloth.

"Tch, nothing."

Tossing aside some pebbles, Pietro Maximoff remained crouched down to the ground while in the center of a strange village of some kind.

The houses certainly were one's he had never seen before and he had been around Earth on several occasions now during his small fight with the Avengers and after joining their ranks.

But this was certainly a new one for him.

By design, they seemed a bit earthy almost as if whoever lived here used the ground itself to mold box like dome structures that functioned as their homes. There were some recognizable traits to these homes such as homemade awnings and windows.

Still, the whole place overall felt alien to him.

Taking his time to inspect the strange place, Pietro cautiously entered one of these strange houses and found it to be rather spacious.

Not much inside other than what appeared to be a cupboard of sorts.

A raided one.

The wooden doors appeared to have been torn off in a hurry, leaving next to nothing inside.

Nothing other than a few strange berries of some kind. None that Pietro had ever seen before.

Curious, Pietro picked on up and casually tossed one in his mouth only to spit it out a second later after the taste of a worn fruit hit his taste buds.

Spitting out the taste some more, Pietro grimaced as he realized there was probably nothing here that he could eat or use for that matter.

Exiting the house, Quicksilver investigated several more of these houses in rapid succession though coming with the same results as the first.

Grunting with impatience, Pietro walked through the streets of this small town until he came across a highly unusual contraption.

Tilting his head in confusion at what he was looking at, Pietro approached the rather long and strange object.

One segment of it was of a boxy ovular design with two long pieces that appeared to be handle bars, controls possibly, signifying to the speedster that this must be a vehicle of some kind. Two metal rods stretched out to the with what Pietro could describe the appearance to be as some kind of gun perhaps.

Unclear as to what it was, the Sokovian noticed a downward curve on the larger segment of the machine looking to be a seat.

Walking over, Pietro swung over his leg and seated himself on the brown metal finding it similarly designed to how he would sit on a motorcycle. Testing it out, Pietro rocked his body and saw it moved with him before stopping as he did.

Well, it was stable…

Still didn't explain why it was floating.

Looking at the two handles, Pietro couldn't help himself as he grasped them. He found that he could rotate a segment of them, inadvertently turning it on.

What must have been its back engine whirred to life as Pietro found himself floating a bit higher off the ground.

Unable to hide his intrigued and excited grin now, Pietro leaned forward more and revved up the vehicle. It let out several bursts of sounds akin to a motorcycle.

"Cool." Pietro whispered to himself.

Checking around himself, Pietro found some kind of lever of some kind on the left side of the vehicle. Squinting at it momentarily, Pietro took a wild guess and figured that was the accelerator.

His hunch was proven correct as he felt the vehicle lurch forward.

"OH SHIT!"

Everything abruptly slowed down from the silver haired Avengers perspective.

He managed to jump up off the odd vehicle in time, with the machine still flying forward even without a driver.

Pietro landed clumsily, tripping over himself several times before landing on his ass and looking up in time to see his newest discovery unceremoniously crash right into the side of a house.

Throwing his fists up, Pietro experienced a full body cringe as he clenched his teeth while his body tensed up at what he had just done. Jumping up to his feet, Maximoff carefully went up to the fiery remains of the contraption.

Slumping his shoulders in self-disappointment, Pietro palmed the side of his head while internally admonishing himself.

That was then cut off by a distinctly strange sound echoing over the village. Slowly looking behind him, Pietro strained his ears.

Tuning out the small fire going on behind him, Pietro could distinctly hear the sounds what seemed to be marching of some kind.

Quirking a brow, Pietro dashed to the direction of the new sounds though making sure he wouldn't be seen.

Halting in an alleyway between two houses, Maximoff slowly peaked out from his little hiding spot to a bewildering sight that caused Pietro to seize up for a second.

Robots. And lots of them, aligned in a military marching position.

Though not like any he had seen before.

These were certainly not anything he had seen Ultron or Tony Stark make. There was a sense of uniformity and variety to them.

There were skinny, lanky robots holding what seemed to be guns with several having distinct green accents on them.

Then there were the larger, bulkier bots with their right arms positioned up to the sky with distinctly visible gun-like barrels on their wrists.

They all definitely moved like an infantry unit.

A couple dozen up front, what Pietro could only describe as a super tank of some kind, another dozen behind it followed by one more tank.

They continued their march, until the lead bot with Yellow accents this time raised its hand to call for a halt.

"There's smoke coming from that direction."

Pietro couldn't help but do a double take at the nasally, one could even describe it as dorky voice that came out of that lanky robot.

That was not at all what he thought they would sound like.

"You three." The yellow accented bot gestured to the three closest to him. "Go check it out."

"Roger, Roger."

Bewildered, Pietro stuck to the alleyways and shadows using his speed to stay out of sight from the lanky bots as they went over to the wrecked vehicle.

"What caused this?" The center bot asked, voice as nasally as the apparent leader.

"The rebels?" The right one asked.

"Why would one of the rebels crash a speeder bike?" The left one inquired.

"They're tail-headed." The middle one said like it were obvious.

"What does that mean?"

"I always thought their brain distribution is cause of their head shape."

"Your circuits are crossed, that's not how anatomy works."

"What's going on here?"

The three plain looking bots were interrupted by the arrival of the rest of the retinue.

"We found this crashed speeder bike." The middle bot explained. "It seems to be recent, though there's no body."

"Hmmm, could this be a trap?"

"Most of the reports said that the Twi'lek forces are holed up with the Jedi and Clones."

"Fan out. Check the houses and alleyways for any survivors here."

"Uh, what do we do if we find someone?"

"What do you think?"

"I don't know."

The yellow accented bot palmed its face. "Take them prisoner."

"Oh, right! Of course!"

"You idiot."

Tensing up, Pietro cautiously backed away while keeping his eyes on the bots that began to go about into separate groups with some entering houses.

Suddenly, Pietro heard a sound that he had never heard before that echoed across the village and the surrounding Mesa. Looking up to the skies, Maximoffs eyes widened dramatically at the sight of a gigantic ship descending on down from the heavens above.

It looked unlike anything Pietro had seen before and after spending a few months with the Avengers, he had seen a lot. But this was different.

Was this that alien race his older teammates had faced three years ago?!

Whatever it was, Pietro honestly did not want to stick around to find out. Running out of the alleyway at full speed, Quicksilver ran past many droids, some of which didn't even notice the silverfish-blue blur that rushed past them all.

"What was that?"

"What?"

"That weird silver blue thingy that just ran past us."

"I didn't see anything."

"Well I did."

"Me too!"

"So what was it then."

"I don't know. It was too fast to see."

"Oh forget it. We can't stay here. Reinforcements have arrived. We must be ready to press our attack on the Republic."

"Roger, Roger."

Pietro ran at break neck speeds getting as far away as he possibly can from that village. He skidded to a halt after seeing the large ship way off in the distance.

Taking a moment to catch his breath, Pietro looked around and now saw he was in some kind of forest.

There were large shrubs and bushes completely new to the speedster as he took the time to inspect just where he was now.

"Now what?" Pietro asked himself, having no clue what to do now.

The more time he spent here, the less he started to believe that he was in Europe anymore. Communication between the others has been non-existent and he just saw a gigantic warship that was clearly alien so the answers to his many questions could be infinite by this point in time.

Looking back one final time to the giant ship, Pietro faced the daunting task ahead of him knowing in his gut that as of this moment he was alone.

Beginning his trek through the forest, Pietro casually picked up a stick on the way, idly poking and prodding random things that could reach with it.

The dirt on the ground, above ground roots, tree barks, branches, rocks.

As if perhaps trying to find something he wasn't looking for.

Pulling out his phone that he still had on him, Maximoff was grateful for the fact that it still had power left. A lot actually.

Leave it to Tony Stark to go big or go home. Seriously, all of their tech may as well never shut down really. All they apparently need is a little light.

Checking his other pockets, he was glad to find the pocket containing his jumbled up headphones.

Placing the buds in his ears, Pietro pressed mix on his phone and began listening to some calming paced tunes to pass the time.

_~If I had time in a bottle~_

Pietro casually hummed the tune, making a few dashes here and there upon seeing small strips of straight land.

He continued on for a half hour seeing that summed up that up to the amount of songs he listened to until stepping out of the forest to stand before a canyon valley way before him. And in between the mountainous walls, a village.

With a bunch of humanoids with rather colorful skin.

Some of whom stopped what they were doing to stare at Pietro who stood frozen with his mouth slightly agape and hands up at waste level.

What followed was a long several moments of awkward and tense silence as what felt like the rest of the village taking notice of the quiet villagers closest to Pietro also grow silent.

"Hey, what's going on over here?" Yelled out an accented voice. "You're all supposed to be packing and getting a move on. We need to get you all to safety."

From behind the colorfully skinned humanoids came a handful of other individuals, these one's being decked out in full white armor with brown shadings and colorings. They carried large rifles that Pietro could not identify.

"What's going on here?" One of the White-brown armored men asked.

Wordlessly, a humanoid with orange skin gestured his head in Pietro's direction.

All eyes were back on the speedy Avengers who just stood there opening and closing his mouth as he tried to make heads or tails… or tails on heads really of the situation he had literally walked himself into.

"Uh… hi?"

"Hands where I could see them." One of the armored individuals said authoritatively. "Get down on the ground now."

"Hey, hey." Pietro said calmly, though his eyes were challenging. "I don't want any trouble, I'm just passing through."

"Just passing through?" Repeated another of the armored soldiers a bit incredulously. "You are _just passing through_ on a planet that's essentially an active warzone."

"Wait, what?" Pietro did a double take. "What did you just say?"

"Huh?"

"You said "A Planet that's an active Warzone", that's what you just said, right?" Pietro said loudly.

"Yeah, Ryloth." The same soldier that repeated his words said. "It's been under Separatist attack for a few weeks now. The Planet you're on right now. Where have you been, under a rock?"

"Planet." Pietro murmured to himself in disbelief. "I'm on another fucking planet?!"

"Hey, hold still." The first Soldier that spoke to him said sharply.

"Easier said than done pal, I'm kinda in the middle of a dilemma here." Pietro shot back, somewhat frantically.

This threw all those present off balance at such a curt response from someone they had never seen before.

Pietro was no muttering to himself rapidly, at such rates that none of them could even begin to make out what he was saying.

Finally, one of the men in armor got a bit fed up.

"Eh, Shiny hair." The soldier got Pietro's attention.

"Listen, we are in the middle of a war right now with the clankers about to reign down fire on this and every other village that hasn't been bombed by the Seps." This gave Pietro pause. "And then some random nobody shows up with some strange getup right as we're evacuating."

"Clankers?" Pietro repeated.

"Droids, Supers, the Separatists."

"And… Warzone?"

_**VWWWWWRRRRR** _

All activity and conversation froze within the area upon hearing that sound.

What soon followed were panicked and frightened screams along with similarly accented men barking and shouting orders.

Then came blaster fire.

"VULTURES."

"WE'VE GOT DROIDS! CLANKER COMIN IN FROM THE EAST."

"AAT TANKS INCOMING!"

Then came the explosions.

Then came cries of children calling out for their parents.

Everything from Pietro's perspective slowed to a crawl. His heart rate spiked, his breathing erratic. He felt sweat begin to accumulate on his brow while his palms became wet.

He felt Wanda's presence next to him as he watched his parents disappear into a hole from a missile.

Pietro saw the frightened children.

Hitching his breath, he returned to the present and moved.

A family of four were cowering in fear with a pinkish-purple sphere falling down right on them.

They jolted.

They remained huddled together with their eyes closed when the youngest opened her eyes to see them standing outside their village on the west side.

Along with several other villagers with their families.

And another group just appeared.

Followed by another.

And another.

All being surrounded by some kind of blur that quickly rushed back into the village to bring back more villagers.

The sounds of blaster fire and bombs were heard all around.

"Move men, on the double." An armored soldier commanded. "Use the alleyways and rubble for cover. Sixer, get up on that building there and provide cover fire."

The brown and white armored men got into position and began to return fire upon the oncoming army of robots that fired back at them in full force.

Flying ships continued to harass the village though two got shot down from missiles launched by ground soldiers.

"We're sitting ducks here with their tanks and air support."

"We've got the firepower to take down the tanks."

"But not the men. They'll just get shot down."

"Just keep firing. We need to buy the tail heads time to retreat."

"Uh, Sarge. The Tail heads have already evacuated the entire village."

"… What?"

Taking the chance to glance behind him, the sergeant of this unit was stunned to see all the Twi'leks that inhabited this village seemingly vanish completely save for a literal handful who display bewildered expressions.

Suddenly, without warning, a silvery blue blur whisked an unsuspecting Twi'lek away followed by another and another until every Twi'lek within the vicinity was gone. All of this transpiring within a few seconds.

"What the Kriff was that?!" Asked a nearby soldier.

His answer came in the form of the same blur returning to utterly decimate and plow through several lines of battle droids in front of them. All the soldiers could here were the sound of metal getting struck hard and bursting apart into pieces.

Skidding to a halt in front of them, Quicksilver was an impressive sight to behold as he casually tossed aside a Super Battle Droids arm to the ground.

Looking to the soldiers in armor, Pietro quirked an expectant brow. "Well, are you going to fight back or not?"

Not waiting for an answer, Pietro rushed forth slamming into the nearest bot. The speed and momentum of his run sent the B1 battle droid careening and crashing into several more droids.

He didn't stop there, continuing to decimate and run through most of these robots that were unlucky enough to be caught in his field of view.

Back over with the soldiers, they all could only stare with eyes wide and jaws dropped with some even taking off their helmets to make sure what they were seeing wasn't some kind of illusion.

None could keep up with this man who seemed to defy everything they knew about the galaxy. All that they were able to see were brief after images of where he momentarily slowed down and concentrated an attack on before zipping away once more.

The Sergeant at long last shook his head out of his own stupor and raised his rifle once more.

"Come on brothers." He shouted out, unleashing laser on the clankers. "This crazy guy's giving us a chance and he's taking all the fun. Concentrate your fire, NOW!"

After several more seconds of trying to gather their wits about them, the rest of his men got back into it and returned to firing at the bots attacking them.

Though by this point, the enemy was in a bit of a chaotic mess as they were now trying to figure out as to what in the hell was going on.

"Um, what happened to the rest of the uni _ **CRACK"**_

Quicksilver was relentless in his assault on the robots, a serious case of Deja-vu coming over him.

Taking a moment to halt and catch his breath, Pietro noticed blue bolts fly by him taking a moment to look back and see the armored soldiers renewed their defensive offense against the attacking bots.

Grinning, Pietro resumed his own attack, dispatching droids left and right.

"He's gotten their attention. Concentrate your fire on the nearest tanks."

Following the sergeants instructions, many of the armored soldiers who didn't have rocket launchers pulled out magnetic thermal detonators. Working in unison, each tank received 3 to 6 grenades primarily around the hatch and cannon area.

Destroying a multitude of the tanks, the armored soldiers divvied up their forces.

Half remained here to continue to hold off the Droid contingent while the other half split off to find the Twi'lek villagers and get them away from here and on route to their rendezvous.

"Sixer." The sergeant said through his helmet comm link. "What's the location on those villagers."

"West side border sir." Sixer responded. "They're all huddled together, none missing it seems."

The sergeant looked back up to see Pietro deliver a powerful high speed knee to a grayish bulky droid with the power destroying its domed head.

Grinning beneath his helmet in awe and astonishment, the Sergeant gave off the order to fall back.

"EH. EH SPEEDY."

Pietro was busy grabbing a droid and bashing its head into the wall of a house when he heard someone shouting.

Turning his head, he saw that armored guy waving at him to come over. Taking a moment to inspect the area, Pietro saw that it was relatively cleared so he appeared before the soldier in the blink of an eye.

"Whoa." The sergeant whispered. "That's insane."

"Yes, what is it?" Pietro said somewhat impatiently.

"Er, listen, I saw you when you first showed up and I know that we got off on the wrong foot it seems but you just saved the lives of all those villagers back there."

Pietro's guarded expression softened a bit at that little tidbit, shrugging it off. "It's part of the job. Civilian safety comes first."

The sergeant found himself nodding with approval. "Look, I know this may seem sudden, but you save a lot of lives just now. My brothers and I could really use your help in getting the civvies to the rendezvous with the rest of the Republic forces and General Di. Come with us, we need all the help we can get."

Pietro eyed the man momentarily, glancing back to the wreckage of the village and then to the robots that were apparently responsible for this attack.

What he did in response was really a gut reflex and he honestly could still hear the echoes of the past.

As fast as Pietro is, right now even he could tell his option were limited at this very moment.

He wasn't on Earth for starters, instead being on this planet called Ryloth.

And judging by the scale of the attack he had just witnessed, this somewhat confirms the earlier comments about this entire planet being a warzone. He recalled that earlier robot patrol he saw at the first village he arrived in.

Chewing the inside of his cheek, Pietro remembered Natasha and Steve's training about gauging and situation and learning what you can to adapt accordingly.

Sighing to himself, Pietro looked at the visor of the sergeants helmet. "Alright, I'll come with you for now. But I've gotta a lot of questions to ask so I hope you're ready to answer them."

_Scene cut_

"Hold the line men." Jedi General Ima-Gun Di yelled out valiantly standing with his personally assigned Clone corps as they fought against the oncoming wave of Separatist battle droids.

Beside Jedi Di was his trusted comrade and second in command, Captain Keeli.

Both stood shoulder to shoulder as they fought with all their might against the droid army.

All around them were the 71st Clone legion mixed in with the Twi'lek freedom fighters under the leadership of Cham Syndulla. Scout walkers ran about firing at the CIS forces and several AT-TE's created a perimeter of sorts for the Republic troops.

Every last one of them fought with unrivaled ferocity as they had been since the start of the CIS invasion of Ryloth but the losses were beginning to mount up.

To many strategic areas for the Republic had fallen and been taken by the Separatist. Even the capital city of the planet, Lessu, was under the control of the Confederacy.

Yet they remained vigilant and unwavering in the defense of this planet.

Cham rallied as many willing and able bodied Twi'leks as possible in their efforts to keep the CIS from fully controlling and oppressing their people.

A sentiment General Di shared as they repelled yet another Droid wave that was for the time being retreating after sustaining heavy losses.

Using this moment to regroup, Di, Keeli and Cham met with each other going over battle strategies and casualties.

"What's our losses, Captain?" Cham addressed the Clone who had removed his helmet.

Keeli held a hard stare as he rattle off the numbers. "28 Clones dead, 62 injured. 23 Freedom Fighters dead, 45 injured."

"That's a rather steep increase from last time." Cham noted grimly.

"The Separatists have gained a strong foothold upon the planet." Di said dejectedly. "They will be able to continuously funnel in more ground and air support even with the ongoing battle with the Republic fleet above."

"What can we even do now, Jedi Di?" Cham inquired. "Simply wait for our inevitable and watch my people perish?"

"It will not come to that." Di stated with steely eyed determination. "Keeli, begin rounding up the troops. It is time we depart from this sector and hold up at our operating base."

"Yes sir." Keeli responded, placing his helmet back on and moving to address the troops.

"We're abandoning this base?" Cham asked with a skewed eye.

"It is a dangerous risk to remain here at such open land." Di calmly stated. "We barely held out with the forces we have. Your freedom fighters are spread throughout the planet but my men are dwindling just as fast as yours. I would rather not haphazardly toss away their lives for a small fortress. That is not the Jedi way."

"Are you certain this is a wise choice?" Cham inquired. "To move about at such a vulnerable capacity even with our terrain walker and scouters? I know every secret passage away the planet over but there are none that could be used here, General. If we move to retreat, we are open to attack."

"If we stay, even in a fortified position, we are open to attack." Di countered. "Right now we have given ourselves a brief reprieve. And we shall not let it go to waste. Our forward operating base has the remainder of our AT-TE walkers and Scout walkers as well as LAAT Gunships. We can hold out there until the Republic come with reinforcements."

Cham wished to retort but was presented as Keeli returned.

"Sir, I just received news from Sergeant Grit and his scout team. The Twi'lek village from sector 2284 has been accounted for and completely evacuated with minimal casualties."

"Some good news." Di said with a bittersweet tone. "Tell Sergeant Grit to meet us at our forward operating base. Send out word to all units. It's better to have strength in numbers than simply waiting around for our turn with the Separatists."

Keeli nodded, sending out the order to any and all units that haven't been lost to the separatists.

"How many men will we have if all units return, Keeli?" Di asked softly.

Keeli sighed, rubbing his chin in thought. "If we're lucky sir, possibly six to seven hundred. But I sent out 200 of our men on those search and rescue missions to get the Twi'leks to safety. And only one of them has an AT-TE as support. The rest are either on scout walkers, speeder bikes or just on foot. And that's also if we make it back with the rest of the boys back at ground base. We'll have a strong total of eight hundred. And again, that's…"

"A big if, depending on how many units return." Di finished for his second in command.

Keeli could only frown in concern, observing Di's expression morph into a momentary trance-like state.

"General?" Keeli placed his hand upon Di's shoulder and shook him slightly. "Are you alright?"

Blinking, Di shook his head while massaging his forehead. "Apologies my friend. I have been getting these unusual… shifts if you could call them that within the force."

"Like earlier?" Keeli recalled, giving an anxious look. "I don't mean to bring that up again, General but that was no ordinary reaction I ever saw. And from transmissions from other Jedi generals, they seemed to have experienced the same phenomena."

"I'm sorry for making you worry, Captain." Di said earnestly. "But I, like many others undoubtedly have felt a great change within the force. Something is coming to this galaxy, to this war. And it will change the very trajectory of everything we know."

Keeli could hardly contain the disturbed expression he now held at the thought of something that could change the very way the galaxy they all inhabit works.

General Di was always known as a straight laced, professional but loyal Jedi. When he first got assigned the 71st legion, Di took great time in getting acquainted and truly knowing his unit. In his own words when he first spoke to Keeli and his men, _"I will not lead an army of numbers. I will fight alongside an army of men"._

That along with Di's undying faithfulness to his legion and willingness to fight alongside them had earned the undying loyalty of the 71st.

So much so that the entire legion had decorated their armors with brown accents to better reflect their allegiance to their Jedi general.

And now, after all that, hearing the clearly troubled words of the an oncoming change to the galaxy that all force-users felt did little in alleviating Keeli's tension on the whole situation right now.

But he had to compartmentalize that away right now as Di began instructing the retreat of the Republic forces back to their main base.

A perimeter was to be made with the wounded in the center while the rest.

Cham and Di lead from the front with the AT-TE's providing extra cover. Scout walkers were in frequent motion, a sense of constant surveillance.

They were moving fast, taking only several momentary stops before moving on again.

Up above, they heard the telltale signs of galactic warfare above with the occasional batch of Republic Starfighters moving in to engage the CIS fighters.

Thankfully, so far, they encountered no enemy forces when.

"We're ten minutes out from the operating base, sirs." Keeli informed Cham and Di. "Just around the hills there."

"Null."

Immediately, all clones with several of the Twi'leks whipped their guns out in the direction of a nearby forest.

"ARC." One of the Clone troopers within the defensive line shouted back.

Out from behind the trees and thickets came the familiar faces of more Twi'leks and Clone Troopers.

Di and Keeli exchanged relieved smiles.

"Sergeant Grit." Di walked over to greet one of his officers. "I thank the force that you've returned with so many alive and unharmed."

"General, Captain." Grit quickly saluted the both of his superior officers. "You're a sight for sore eyes sirs. It's been a bit of a hassle getting here."

"I could imagine it so." Di said knowingly. "How was your mission?"

"A bit all of over the place honestly." Grit admitted. "Got sidetracked by frequent droid patrols, air and ground. When we got to the designated coordinates, it took a while to rouse everyone out from their homes and move to evacuate."

"Any casualties?" Di asked, somewhat dreading the answer.

"7 Dead sir." Grit stated. "22 injured."

"That's fewer than I expected." Keeli couldn't help but blurt out, pleasantly surprised by this news.

"You could thank him for that." Grit said, thumbing behind him.

Keeli and Di looked over the sergeants shoulder to see a rather peculiar sight amongst the Clone and Twi'leks.

It was a single, lone human man with a very strange garb and hair with several Twi'lek kids around him looking up to him with starry eyes. He seemed to be greatly enjoying entertaining the young kids as several had laughed at a comment he appeared to say.

"Him?" Keeli asked for confirmation.

"Yes Captain." Grit nodded. "You will not believe what he's capable of sirs. It's unlike anything we've ever seen."

Greatly intrigued now, Keeli and Di followed after Grit who approached the silver haired young man who was entertaining a few kids with a small pebble.

Now, most wouldn't be able to see it but Di barely noticed it.

He was making a magic show by seemingly making the pebbles in between his fingers vanish only to pull them out from the children's noses or ears, much to their delighted confusion.

What nobody saw however were the sudden, blink-and-you'll-miss-it movements the man's arms displayed.

Di's eyes widened at seeing the man seemingly twitch his arms followed by a barely visible after image.

'Is that… him?' Ima-Gunn Di thought internally.

The man seemed to have a mischievous grin on his face in front of the kids, as one of them held a pebble out on her palm with an adorably challenging pout. Then he was gone.

Those present blinked in confusion at his sudden disappearance when hand from behind the young Twi'lek girl rested itself atop her head and swayed her back and forth.

Gaping, the kids and even some clones and adults looked to see the man with a smug smirk casually flicking the pebble the little girl had in his hand.

Di and Keeli could only gape along with others who were unaware as to what they just saw.

"What was that?" Keeli asked aloud.

Grit grinned. "That guy is the reason so many of us managed to come back alive."

Di silently observed the man, playing with the kids.

The force.

It resonated not through or from him but more specifically, around him. It was as if it was a convergence of sorts as the concentration the force had on this individual man was incredibly potent.

Whoever Di was dealing with here, this was something possibly entirely new.

But right now, that had to wait.

Ending the brief reprieve, Ima-Gunn Di began yelling out orders for all to get ready to move in three minutes seeing as how close they were to the main operating base where a Republic fleet still hands high above their heads.

At long last, the 71st as well as the Freedom fighters of Ryloth were in full force.

Or so they had wished.

Unfortunately, Sergeant Grits was the only one who managed to return with most of his unit relatively intact. Team 3 had returned with only half of his men while he heard nothing from teams 2 and 4.

In total, the remaining forces of the 71st legion was a sum total 650 men. Along with a few hundred Freedom Fighters they were barely past a thousand.

General Di, Cham and Keeli had just finished getting an inventory report as well as an update on the fleet above.

They were getting hammered hard in all direction, barely holding out as it is. Republic reinforcements remain unattainable as of right now.

"Captain Keeli." Di spoke to his second in command. "How long do you believe we could last here?"

"At full length sir? No longer than a week." Keeli said with grim honesty. "Rationing out the food may prolong it by several days but if the Separatists keep hitting us then we won't last that much longer. The fleet above is whittling down and the clankers could send more reinforcements down easily now."

"Then what do you believe we should do?" Di inquired, walking over to a holo-table displaying their current position.

They were currently at the entrance of a large gap in between a two large elevated land masses. Further in was their main base where most of the soldiers and Twi'lek were at the moment. It was rather open in between but thankfully the naturally formed caves within the mountains provided cover from aerial bombardment.

Still, in hindsight due to their current predicament Keeli said it best. They were sitting Porgs just waiting to get decimated.

Keeli momentarily looked around, looking over all that they had right now.

The AT-TE's were all stationed here, forming a line with their cannons all pointed up. They currently served as their Anti-Aircraft guns while the MG nests and Scout walker remained their heavy weaponry for the ground.

There were also the strange bipedal creatures that the Twi'leks have tamed as mounts named Blurrg's all about the area. They were surprisingly effective in battle and useful beasts of burden. Most were situated around or within the small cluster of trees nearby the entrance to the gap between mountains.

Several rows of trenches with turrets lining them were the final touches of their defenses.

"We could hold out, though I don't know for how long." Keeli admitted. "We've had to abandon a lot of our equipment all over the place when retreating from the Seps, sir. Even with the equipment there's still the matter of food and water and the Clankers hitting us again. Force knows how many times they'll come till we're all dead on the ground, General."

Di frowned, crossing his arms in contemplation over their situation.

It was not looking good and he knew it. The Confederacy has made a successful campaign in storming Ryloth with a good percentage of the planet now under their rule.

While fighting has been limited across the planet overall, every battle held key locations and purpose such as the capital, resource caches and Republic bases.

Di was at a bit of impasse as to what to do next but he remained resolute in his conviction to fight on.

"SIR!"

Keeli and Di turned to see a Clone Trooper running to them.

Rather than waiting for them to say anything, The trooper merely held out his scopes for Di.

"Enemy dropships coming in."

Alarmed, Di grabbed the scope and held them up.

"70 degrees up sir, to your left."

Following his troopers instructions, Di was met with the unwelcoming sight of a large cluster of Droid drop ships with tanks in tow.

"On those guns, now." Di ordered out with many clones rushing to their position. "Get those fighters out of the skies. Men, battle positions." He held up his wrist Comm. "Grit, I need your battalion up here front and center. We've got more droids incoming."

"Copy that sir."

The clones all began lining the trenches.

"General Di."

The Nikto Jedi turned to see Cham arriving on his own Blurrg.

"Cham." Di greeted. "Ready your militia. More Droid abound."

Cham simply nodded, turning his beast around and running around the camp and instructing the Twi'lek to get ready with some already joining the trenches with the Clones while others mounted the many Blurrg's nearby.

Meanwhile, the AT-TE's all had their Mass-driver canons all pointed up with several already firing at the oncoming droid forces.

The droid fighters and drop ships simply charged through, unmoving in their trajectory even as some were shot down.

Hyena and Vulture fighters charged forward, returning fire.

Two of the AT-TE's were subsequently destroyed.

Clones and Twi'leks with rocket launchers began firing up at the fighters, shooting off clusters of rockets rather than targeting.

It was a continuous cycle until the droid dropships at last reached the ground level and began deploying its troops.

B1 and B2 Battle droids began their programmed march towards enemy forces and firing right away.

Di ignited his Lightsaber with Keeli withdrawing his dual DC-17 blasters.

"Open fire." Di ordered, holding his lightsaber forward.

A hail storm of red and blue blaster bolts began flying back and forth between Droids, Clones and Twi'lek.

"Shock Battalion go." Keeli commanded. "Work through their ground forces and concentrate fire on their tanks."

A dozen AT-RT's ran forward at full speed with their Clone pilots kicking and blasting through many droids though several were quickly shot down or blown up.

Fortunately, assistance came in the form of a cavalry charge courtesy of the Twi'leks on their Blurrgs as well as speeder bikes that were utilized by both clones and tail heads.

Many Droids began falling in droves but it was not to be that simple or easy.

More Dropships were descending with more reinforcements.

Di clenched his teeth, deflecting bolts left and right at their senders. He jumped forward and stood at the front of the trenches with some Clone Troopers jumping out from cover to join their General with some getting shot down.

"For the Republic." Di yelled out a rallying cry with his clone troopers crying out in defiance of the enemy droids.

_Scene cut._

Before the start of the current battle, Pietro sat alone against a rocky pillar in the shade.

He had met the alien known as Ima-Gun Di along with apparently a clone trooper named Keeli and Cham Syndulla, a Twi'lek as his species is called.

In short, Pietro had no iota of a fucking clue as to what to do or where he was.

All he could vaguely recall is something about a war in a galaxy, Clone troopers, Droids, the planet Ryloth, the Republic, the Confederacy of something and him being all by himself in the middle of it all.

He ran his hands down his face as he bemoaned his current situation trying to make heads or tails as to what he can do right now.

His thought process went into overdrive, as it ran at a million miles a minute.

Due to his enhancement courtesy of the mind stone, his body got an overhaul. Faster reflexes, running speed, metabolism and so on. But he also got a fortunate and unfortunate boost to his mental capacity.

Pietro was always known as impulsive individual, both in actions and in thoughts. Following his gaining of super powers, this doubled down on all his aspects including his thinking capabilities. Stark theorized its possibly the reason why he could perceive thing at such a fast rate while everything around him is slow. He's thinking "fast" basically.

But that also means so much could go through his head at once, it can be a bit of a jumbled mess at times.

When he first got his powers, his body experienced spasms as well as excruciating headaches as his being was essentially getting accustomed to these new features.

So, with these powers, a plethora of questions sprinted through Pietros mind on the now.

Where was he? What was he to do? Where were the Avengers? Is Wanda hurt? Is Vision alright? Are the others alright? Are they here? If so where? If not, are they in this 'Galaxy' that Di mentioned? What were they doing? What should he do? Wait… that's the four hundredth time he asked that question.

Groaning in exasperation, Pietro didn't really as he thumped his head back against the rocky pillar he leaned on.

Clenching his fists tightly, the Avenger exhaled shakily. He remained there in his own misery for several moments when…

"Haha."

Pietro's ears perked up at the sound of laughter.

Opening an eye, he saw Twi'lek children running around playing together without a care in the world.

Off on the side were adult Twi'leks, probably their parents, watching over them.

And sparsely populating the area were some Clone's here and there.

Strange really.

The scene before him kind of reminded him Sokovia.

It wasn't the best country in the world to live in but dammit it was home. He recalled similar times where it was him, Wanda, other kids along with their parents while soldiers, militia, police or mercenaries were around.

And with this apparent war he found himself in, it was easy to recognize for Maximoff.

While he wasn't told this, Pietro could see and feel it all the same.

Ryloth, like Sokovia was a place of constant strife and conflict. Whether it be from its own internal problems to constant outside forces, Ryloth is not special but on the way to everything special.

Just like Ultron.

Honestly, seeing those robots attack and him running in to fight them felt a bit to natural. Serious Deja-vu… on an alien planet.

Guess some things were indeed universal

Smiling slightly at the kids who continued to enjoy their games, this tranquility ended at the Clone Troopers all sharply jumping up to their feet at receiving warnings of an incoming attack.

Pietro tensed up, watching Clones and armed Twi'leks run about whilst the civilians all went towards safer locations directed by the clones.

Getting up, Pietro looked in the direct where most of the soldiers were running to and decided to head there.

Honestly, he was never one to idly sit on the sidelines.

He was no benchwarmer. Clint taught him that one.

"Hey." Pietro saw the familiar armor marking of Clone Sergeant Grit. "What are you doing here, speedy?"

"It's Pietro." Quicksilver dryly corrected. "And what's going on?"

"More clankers inbound." Grit merely replied, sliding on his helmet and grabbing his rifle.

"More of those robots?" Pietro said to himself. "Of course there's more. When is there not?"

All around him, Twi'leks and Clones ran in the direction of where the sound of a battle was underway. And by the sounds of it, quite a brutal one.

Now, Pietro knew that this was a bit out of his depth.

He clearly landed in the middle of a planet where there are two intergalactic powers at war with one another with this planet being apparently only one of hundreds currently engaged in fierce combat.

War, while something he never participated in, was a constant threat hovering over his home and he had grown up a bit more hardened by the world.

Then again, evil robots attacking a village of innocent civilians was bit too familiar for the Sokovian so….

Cracking his neck, Pietro grinned roguishly and dashed forward.

Back at the battle, Jedi General Di was in the thick of it swinging, slicing and deflecting without a moments of rest.

Behind him were his men, advancing along with him even with their numbers dwindling. They remained steadfast in their stand against the onslaught of Droids, never wavering in the face of overwhelming odds.

But the losses were beginning to pile up now. The Droids had come this time with a plan, targeting their heavy weapons and walkers with dive bombs and even suicidal crashes.

They were down to three right now, Speeder bikes were all but gone and a handful of AT-RT's.

"Captain Keeli." Di shouted over the blaster fire, redirecting several blaster bolts at once. "The right flank is getting stretched thin. Take several units and reinforce it immediately."

"What about you sir?" Keeli asked, ducking under several shots before returning fire.

"I shall hold my position." Di said with steely eyed determination. "Go Keeli, I will not ask a second time."

Keeli wanted to object but seeing the Jedi's resolve, he had no choice but to acquiesce.

"Sixer, get some snipers up on those cliffs. Rev, you and your men follow me."

Going off to his assigned area, Di remained at the front pushing forward.

He wasn't alone of course as he had a dozen Clones still with him who had refused to just abandon their general to die.

Di showed his appreciation with an increase of movements and flurry of lightsaber swings, leaping about between the dozen Clones he had at his side to defend them from Droid blaster fire.

"Men, form two line behind me."

Following his instruction, the twelve clones formed two lines of Six.

Di began moving forward, blocking shots coming his way while also slicing through any droid close enough for his reach. Behind him, the front six Clone troopers targeted every droid that was distracted by their Jedi general while the back six covered the rest.

It wasn't an easy incision into enemy lines, losing a quarter of the men on the way.

Yet it provided to be a minor success as several frontline rows of droids began taking note of the small group of Republic troops and Jedi cutting and shooting their way into their offensive lines.

This in turn allowed the Clones and Twi'leks in the trenches begin shooting down a large swath of the droid forces.

However, the victory was short lived as Hyena Droids flew in, dropping bombs across the field without a care about the other Droid troops on the ground.

Dust and debris exploded up into the air with droid parts, Clones and Twi'leks being flung back by the impact of the explosions.

General Ima-Gun Di was lying flat on his back, face scrunched up in pain. His Jedi robes held many singes and armored greaves scorched.

Clenching his fists, Di blearily opened his eyes. Taking a moment to breath, he forced himself up to his knees.

His vision was blurred but he was able to see the familiar silver cylindrical object that was his lightsaber.

Dazed, he reached out and grabbed his weapon.

Taking a moment to gauge his surroundings, Di could scarcely see anything though both the dust and his sight began to slowly clear.

To his side were two clones visibly struggling to get up themselves though another in between them was clutching his side in clear pain.

He didn't know where the rest of the dozen that followed him were. All he knew was that there three of his men behind him and a bunch of clankers in front all walking in their direction with their blasters pointed right at him.

Glaring defiantly, Di shakily grabbed his saber with both hands and ignited his blade.

He knew he wouldn't last long right about now, even with him calling upon the force for aid but dammit he was not going to just let them kill him or his men.

Hearing the sounds of blasters being prepped to shoot, Di allowed the force flow through him. One last….

"INCOMING."

Before he could even blink, before his very eyes it appeared as though the droids were all seemingly blown apart into pieces by an unseen force.

Unseen to most.

Di saw it.

Barely but it was there.

That momentary after image of someone appearing before several droids and hitting them with such power they basically shattered upon impact.

Suddenly, one after another, droids were bursting apart though not by explosions or blaster fire. Something was hitting and it was doing a damn effective job.

In a matter of seconds, Di and the Republic forces couldn't even count the number of droids that were utterly obliterated by whatever it was that was attacking them.

Then, someone slid to a stop in front of Di.

"Whew, that was a good warm-up." Pietro Maximoff stated cheekily. He was casually rotating his right arm and shoulder with his left hand placed over his clavicle. In his right hand was a B1 droid head.

"Beep-boop-borp." Pietro said mockingly, shaking the droid head up and down before tossing it aside looking to the stunned silent Jedi.

"What?" Pietro joking asked with a wry grin. "You didn't see that coming?"

Not waiting for a response, Pietro bolted forward once more and shoulder slammed a B2 super followed by grabbing two B1's and grinding their heads down against the ground while running.

"SIR." Di vaguely heard his name called but he did turn to see Sergeant Grit along with several more Clones running over to him.

"Sergeant." Di wheezed out.

"Let's get you out of here sir." Grit pulled the Jedi's arm over his shoulders with the other Clones moving to help their downed brothers get to safety.

"Captain Keeli? Cham?" Di managed out.

"They've fallen back behind the trenches sir." Grit informed. "With the rest of the men."

Di took a second to look behind and see the pandemonium.

The speedsters sudden arrival and subsequent thrashing of the droid forces have thrown the clanker into apparent disarray.

Quicksilver was grinning maniacally with apparent joy at the rush of bashing through all these murder bots. Running at one B2 in his path, Pietro pounced on the gray droid.

His momentum coupled with his force behind his grab caused the droids legs to buckle down until they broke apart.

Tumbling forward with the droids ovular body in hands now, Pietro kicked up and began spinning in a rapid circle until he flung the makeshift wrecking ball forward with all his might. The speed enhanced body collided into a cluster of droids and destroyed most while others fell over.

Smirking, Pietro zipped off once more taking an unlucky B1 for a ride.

Back with Jedi Di he was getting tended to his wounds, primarily his shoulder, while speaking with Cham.

"We cannot hold out here any longer, General." Cham spoke in total seriousness, taking occasional moments to fire his blaster at any droid he could see. "You are injured now and our forces are dwindling by the second. If we stay we will die and if we do not get any support from the Republic we will die."

"I shall contact the fleet above." Di grunted out.

Pietro in the meantime was wrecking shop upon the CIS army, ripping apart and demolishing every single droid in his way.

From his perspective, Pietro noticed one B1 droid have some kind of sphere in its hand with its arm cocked back in a throwing motion.

Tilting his head in curiosity, Quicksilver ran over and took a moment to inspect the sphere in its hand. Judging by its size and shape with the glowing red dot on top, it was easy for Pietro to assume that this must be a grenade of some kind.

Looking behind him, Pietro's eyes glinted as he got an idea in mind. Quickly grabbing the primed grenade, Quicksilver ran at the AAT tank closest to him and jumped forward.

With a precise throw that would definitely make Steve and Clint proud, Pietro chucked the grenade into the barrel of the large cannon of the tank.

A few seconds later, the grenade blew up permanently damaging the AAT's primary weapon.

The upper hatch of the tank opened up to reveal a rattled droid pilot.

"What just happeBWAH!"

The Droid was abruptly grabbed around its lanky neck by Quicksilver and thrown out from the tank.

Laughing to himself, Pietro lightly dropped into the tank with the sound of complaining droids followed by loud clanging and banging from within the vehicle that rocked the it around.

The back ramp fell open with Pietro walking out at leisurely pace with a droid blaster in hand.

"Hmmm, wonder if this is as simply as it looks." Pietro said to himself.

"Hey, drop your weapon." A B1 droid said, voice as nasally as ever.

"I think that's actually ours."

"Then he's stealing."

Pietro raised the blaster and fired, nailing a droid right in the head and knocked it clean off.

"Whoa." Pietro exclaimed with a wide grin. "It's as simple as that."

"Get him."

Pietro was gone from his spot.

"Wait, how do we do that?"

"Yeah he's gone."

"You bolt heads."

General Di had recovered enough to at the very least provide some measure of defense for his troops.

He had gotten word that a convoy of much needed supplies where on route to the planet.

All they needed to do was to holdout long enough for them to get here. And that's only if they could get through the Separatist blockade still engaged with the remaining Republic fleet.

"General Di." Cham spoke beside him. "We must sound a retreat and regroup. The supplies will not drop in an active warzone."

Di agreed right away with the Twi'lek leader, turning to Captain Keeli who had returned to his side to fight along with him again.

"Keeli, sound the retreat now."

"Yes sir." Keeli pressed a green button on his wrist. "All units, fall back to base. I repeat all units, fall back to base."

"What about him?" Cham asked, head nodding in the direction of Pietro who momentarily stopped to get a Twi'lek soldier out from being overwhelmed by a bunch of droids before singlehandedly annihilating them a moment later.

"I'll get to him." Di stated, already moving forward.

Pietro punted a B2 droids leg down at super speed, punching it apart a second later. Backpedaling, Pietro jumped down into a nearby foxhole for cover taking a moment to catch his breath.

Wiping a sheen of sweat from his forehead, Pietro shook his hands loosely to throw off some of the shivers he was getting after hitting so much damn metal. Just like that time in Sokovia with all those Ultron drones.

"Maximoff."

Pietro looked up to see that humanoid alien named Di running up to him with that laser sword of his on.

"We need to retreat." The Jedi stated. "If we stay here, we will be overwhelmed even with your abilities."

Pietro stared at the alien a bit in a daze as he felt a creeping sense of exhaustion begin to come over him.

Nonetheless, steeling his nerves, Pietro knew that he had to commit to the actions he had taken to the end. And he wasn't done just yet.

"Go." Pietro declared. "Get yourself, your soldiers and the kids out of here now. I'll hold them off."

"What?"

"Don't worry yourself." Pietro said confidently. "Can't hit what they can't touch."

And like that, Pietro was back at it once more with an increased pace in his step.

Straining his enhanced muscles and powers overall, Pietro was aware of the great strides in control he has managed ever since being officially trained under the Avengers.

With his teammates help, Pietro has improved his control over his relatively new powers by leaps and bounds pushing past his limits.

But Cap said it best.

One can only push past his limits when he crashes first head into them. And that's not achieved during training.

"Come on Pietro. You're an Avenger." Maximoff chided himself to go faster. "Come on Quicksilver."

With a burst of extra speed, Quicksilver felt his muscles tense up even further but he fought through the pain regardless.

"RAH." Pietro roared out, completely decimating one droid after the other.

He was relentless, not slowing down for any moment.

The pressure on his body was starting to growing as he had literally been beating up nothing but metal. Thankfully he had his advanced metabolism coupled with an accelerated healing factor but the stress remained. He could feel certain parts of his body, his arms in particular, spasm and twitch after every droid he took down.

Yet he pressed on, fighting without pause and showing no remorse to these murder bots.

That was until he heard an odd reverberation across the area, making even the droids pause in their attempts to shoot at the one responsible for single handedly holding back their advance upon the Republic forces.

Up above, two large ships that Pietro did not see before flew past over the battlefield deep into the valley where those Twi'leks and Clone troopers had retreated to.

"They're dropping supplies!" A nearby droid announced in surprise.

"They must have gotten through our defenses."

"So what do we do now?"

"You idiot, we still need to take out the rest of the Republic Troops and the Jedi. Capture the Twi'leks after."

Hearing this, Pietro glowered when he calmed himself and coughed into his hand. "Ahem. Aren't you clods forgetting someone?"

The droids looked about each other somewhat stupidly, though Pietro couldn't deny that the exchange was rather hilarious.

"Did we?"

"I'm not so sure."

"Oh wait, we gotta take this guy out."

"Is he Republic?"

"He has to be. He's been destroying us for the entire time."

"Oh yeah! Hey, you're under arrest."

After hearing the clankers speak on the retreating Clones and Twi'leks retrieving supplies, Pietro knew that even with the large head start he had given them they were still vulnerable. The droids could easily have caught up to them and wiped them all out.

That was a prospect that Pietro would not allow to happen.

So, it was time to break out the big guns. Specifically, his newest big gun. Something he had accidentally caused during practice and had a hard time replicating.

But right at this moment, it was do or die.

Feeling his entire being vibrate with the latent power bestowed upon him from the Mind Stone, Pietro vanished from where he stood leaving only an indent of a foot in the ground.

Running in overarching wide circle, Quicksilver felt the strain of his legs coming on. Ignoring the oncoming pain, Pietro's heart rate increased with his adrenaline spiking as his vision focused and teeth clenched up.

Breathing heavily, his running speed steadily increased drastically upon every completed circle.

"Uh, what's going on?"

"I don't know. He's doing something."

"Hey guys, do you feel a breeze?"

Sure enough, winds coming off from Pietro's circle began to pick up both expelling out from every cycle to also being sucked into the run itself.

At this point, some of the droids began to wobble around a bit loosing their balance.

"Hey! What's Happening!"

"Wind storm!"

"Oh No! We're not programmed for _this!"_

Slowly but surely, the winds and dust started to buffet the area with a rising increase of air circulating around the perimeter of Pietro's running circle.

Quicksilver kept on going, the trailing blur that follows in the wake of his running starting to glow actually.

Gritting his teeth, Pietro let out a bellowing roar exploding forth as that was the final catalyst needed to at long last create his intended goal.

A twister.

The speed and velocity of his tornado was powerful, with many droids immediately getting sucked into the swirling vortex.

The force of the winds proved to be so powerful that even AAT's and few Hyena and Vulture droids had got swept into the spinning cyclone.

Quicksilver continued his run for a good few more minutes until bolting off in the direction of the Republic and Twi'lek forces.

The tornado was effective, causing complete and utter chaos as the Droid arm was being ripped apart by the winds or breaking upon impact to the ground.

Maximoffs work was visible for many to see.

Even General Di and Cham, both of who were standing upon an elevated hill and watching the spectacle from afar.

"When I looked back, I thought I would see more Droid fighters coming after us." Cham whispered. "Not a tornado."

"I concur." Di said in equal astonishment.

Their open mouthed staring came to an abrupt end when something stopped before them, kicking up dirt in their faces.

Coughing from inhaling the dust, Di waved his hand to blow the dust away revealing none other than a clearly haggard and tired Quicksilver.

"Ok." Pietro casually began with a strained and tired voice. "Brought you a bit of time." He raised his trembling hands. "No need to thank me." He coughed. "But what you _can do_ is simple."

Pietro steadied himself.

"As soon as I wake up, you're both gonna have to answer _a lot_ of questions for me."

And then he promptly fainted.

**And done.**

**That's another one for ya and so far, this has been my favorite chapter to write.**

**Pietro is now on the scene and making his mark on the Galaxy.**

**Next time, we'll meet back up with Cap and the others.**

**Until next time.**

**Rate Read and Review and as Always Have Nice Day**


	10. Never as Simple as it appears to be

**Rate Read and Review and as Always Have Nice Day.**

Avengers Infinite Wars Chapter 10: Never as simple as it appears to be

Steve Rogers has, and always will be, a practical man.

So why is it that the universe has gone out of its way to make his adjustment to the modern world needlessly complicated.

And by world, he now means intergalactic society that he and his friends have been unceremoniously dropped into that was currently in the middle of a war.

He's honestly shocked how he's even operating right now.

Truthfully, Cap would rather take a nap in ice. Because the Ice seems Nice.

Currently, Cap found himself seated at a circular table surrounded by his comrades.

In between them all was a collection of what qualifies as books within this hyper-advanced civilization as they had been looking over the many aspects of this galaxy.

Seated in the Jedi temples own library, the keeper of the library was kind enough to give them their own personal corner with a set of beginners guide to the greater galaxy at large.

Naturally, the Avengers collectively knew that learning anything and everything they could about this expansive galaxy was damn near impossible.

So they settled for basic knowledge, how the republic was formed, the Jedi, the Sith that seem to be their sworn enemies, technology and so on and so forth.

There was a lot of ground to cover so they divvied up the subject matter.

Still, absorbing all this knowledge was easier said than done.

Scott was determined to learn as much as he possibly could on how the technology of this galaxy worked and tried making sense of it all and on how he could possibly integrate it with their own. The Ex-con was rather studious and while he does make his usual witty awkward comments, they've been on the down low for a while now. And it was honestly easy to see why as Steve felt it in his gut that out of everyone on this table, Scott had the greatest incentive to get home.

Lying beside Scott while he read a file on the inner workings of star ships was a photo with three people on it.

Him in costume without his helmet with Hope in the same attire with his young daughter Cassie having both her arms wrapped around their heads, pulling them close as she gave a beaming toothy smile with the two adults laughing. He had been staring at it on occasion now before going to bed.

Sam and Rhodey had been reading up on extensive "books" in regards to Starfighters and basically how to do everything with them, to how they function to how they fly them.

Something Steve had joined in on from time to time as well as he himself, while not an expert, has some flight experience.

Something Rhodey nor Same would ever let him live it down.

In their studies, they found a great deal of similarities and familiarities with the way the fighter pilots conducted themselves in combat.

While the figure four was a new method that Rhodey introduced, there were a few flight patterns that the soldiers could connect back to Earth. Specifically World War 2 dog fights.

A few times now, the trio had gone to the clones stationed on Coruscant at the Jedi temple and the nearby base as well Anakin himself who had taken up on instructing flight lessons with great gusto.

The clones have also shown admiration and respect towards the Avengers for the willingness to listen and learn how to fly. It also helped that Sam and Rhodey in particular were picking up on it greatly and that all three of them were soldiers with years of battle experience under their belts.

It was rather easy to find themselves relating and endearing themselves to the clones.

The rest of the Jedi were pleasant at the very least.

Aside from Kenobi, Skywalker and Tano they hadn't really gotten to know any of the Jedi.

Sure Steve spent some time with T'ra Saa, Tholme and Aayla but overall this place remained a mystery to them.

Still, knowledge is power and they were determined to accumulate as much knowledge as they possibly can during their stay here.

Who knows, maybe one of the public holocrons may have the information needed in finding their way home.

If they were that lucky. Usually, luck for them seldom ever is.

"Ah, the Force spoke to me of four wayward souls." A soothing female voice said from behind Steve. "And here they are."

The four of them turned to see an exotic alien woman whom Steve recognized immediately.

"T'ra." Steve said pleasantly.

"Captain Rogers." T'ra said in turn, giving him a kind smile. "I hope I am not interrupting."

"Not at all ma'am." Steve said. "I think we could actually use the break."

T'ra only nodded, looking to Cap's friends. "So these are the rest of the Avengers I've been hearing so much about these past few weeks. It is an honor to meet individuals such as yourselves."

"Nice to meet you to." Sam greeted friendly. "Any friend of Cap is a friend of ours. Names Sam Wilson."

"Rhodey." The colonel nodded his head.

"Scott Lang."

"It's a pleasure. I am T'ra Saa, Jedi Master. I do hope your time spent here at the Jedi temple has been comfortable." T'ra stated. "I had heard from Grand Master Yoda of a group of individuals who are from a planet that has not achieved interspace travel yet who are aware of the greater universe at large."

"Yeah, that was a bit of a wakeup call a few years ago." Rhodey wryly stated.

"I think by this point, nothing is off the table." Sam flatly stated, sifting through flight operations.

T'ra chuckled at the aviators statement. "I find myself agreeing with you, Mr. Wilson."

"Just Sam, thank you." Sam said light heartedly. "I've still got my youth."

"All five years that are left." Rhodey quipped.

"Compared to the zero that you have."

"Once you guys get a kid." Scott cut in. "Then come talk to me about the years of your youth disappearing."

Rhodey and Sam both opened their mouths to retort only to close them while looking at each other.

A silent conversation ensued between the two as they tried to figure out a way to counter that yet they came up with nothing.

T'ra chuckled aloud at the interaction between the Avengers, finding their rather open jabs at one another rather refreshing.

"Well, some of my concern has been alleviated." T'ra jokingly said. "I am glad to see you are all in high spirits."

"As high as we can be." Rhodey shrugged. "And no weed to help, unfortunately."

"You've smoked weed?"

"Scott, who hasn't at one point in their lives."

Lang gives him a stare.

"Really?" Rhodey looked at him in mild surprise. "Not even once during…"

"Never really appealed to me." Scott admitted. "Guess I was raised right. In a weird way."

Rhodey snorted that, shaking his head in amusement.

T'ra was equally as amused, finding the way these people converse with one another fascinating.

"Anything we could help you with, Master Saa?" Steve asked.

T'ra hummed momentarily in thought, before taking a seat in between Rogers and Rhodey.

"Actually, I am quite curious about your world." T'ra said with genuine intrigue.

"Really?" Sam questioned, though not rudely "Why?"

"I have lived a long life, Sam." T'ra said gently. "Many centuries with only Master Yoda perhaps being the closest one to a lifelong friend and companion. I have studied many cultures, traversed the galaxy dozens of times over and have trained many apprentices. Yet I have never encountered individuals such as yourselves from a world that is devoid of the force. And still, fantastical events occur on your home world as you once alluded to. I wish to know more. Learn more. And who better than from the men who come from this wayward planet."

The Avengers exchanged glances at one another until Sam threw his hands.

"Alright, what do you wanna know?"

_Scene Cut_

"Grave risk you had done, Skywalker. But rescued your droid and our plans, you have."

Grand Master Yoda along with Anakin Skywalker were walking down one of the many hallways of the Jedi temple.

Anakin had just returned with Ahsoka and the 501st after a daunting mission in regards to rescuing his faithful Astromech droid, R2-D2.

He had been somewhat chastised by Obi-wan and now Yoda and to be honest, he was getting rather tired of hearing the same old shpeal that he had gotten for the past ten years.

It's not his fault these things just happen… to an extent.

As the two continued down their path, Yoda halted in his step. Anakin took a few steps forward until noticing that he didn't hear the soft thumping sounds of a cane hitting the floor.

He looked back to see Yoda standing still, looking off in a different direction.

"Master?"

"Come, Skywalker." Yoda vaguely said, going off towards where he was looking.

Quirking a brow in confusion, Anakin followed after the small green Master.

They had entered through one of the many entrances to the library. Yoda was walking towards the study area where younglings were usually educated on their duties as a Jedi.

What the Grand Master found was a mixed assembly of Younglings, Padawans, Knights, Scholars and Masters all surrounding the temples newest occupants.

"Alright." Scott Lang spoke at the moment a bit bashfully. "Now, I'm not exactly the smartest guy when it comes to this. Thankfully, my daughter Cassie helped me out a lot with this. So… Earth. That's home for us. And it is a lot more different then the planets you guys have."

A youngling raised his hand. "How?"

Scott paused, stammering a bit as he tried to formulate a response. "Uh… well, you see uh… the… Environments! Yes, that's right the environments."

He got quizzical looks from everyone.

Scott momentarily glanced back to his friends with Sam gesturing to the planet Earth that was on display.

He mouthed a few words that Scott caught but most of it went over his head. So he decided to wing it.

"Well…" Scott contemplated for a moment. "A lot of the planets we've seen here has a single kind of environment or, what was the word again? Biome? Yeah, Biome. A planet of snow, a planet of only jungles. Earth has all of those types of places and more."

Rhodey brought up various screens of many environments on Earth. Now to them, this wasn't all that surprising and interesting but to most of the Jedi audience it was something special.

"Fascinating." Jocasta Nu murmured. "How is it possible for one planet to contain so many biomes?"

"That's… a good question that really we don't know." Sam sheepishly admitted. "Most of this is elementary school stuff that we learned when we were kids."

"Which we immediately forgot about as soon as we got out of it." Rhodey remarked with a 'what can ya do' shrug.

"I've never seen something like this." One of the elderly Jedi scholars stated in open fascination. "Every planet within the known galaxy is known for a set biome. Some have various areas but fall under the same condition."

"To think a planet exists with multiple types of environments." T'ra Saa said. "I would very much like to visit."

"Maybe you could help us find our way back." Sam said in wry humor.

"What is it like to live on such a world?" Jedi Master Tholme asked aloud. He had joined as the group began assembling around the Avengers as it went from being a simple conversation between them and his secret lover T'ra to a literal full blown lesson on planet Earth.

"It varies." Steve stated. "No two lives are the same. There's multiple countries, factions, cultures and so on."

"How many are we referring to in retrospect for those you've mentioned?" A Jedi knight inquired.

The Avengers exchanged glances, the four wondering which is the proper answer for this question.

"Let's just say the short answer is a few hundred." Rhodey stated. "And the long answer, if you include the Earth's history, a few thousand."

"All on one planet?" A scholar asked.

"Yeah, pretty much." Scott confirmed.

"Amazing."

"Not as amazing as you think." Sam murmured under his breath with only Rhodey and Steve hearing him, the former nudging him and the two chuckled.

"How 'bout we show you something we know really well?" Scott abruptly said with a beaming grin. "Something I know _all of you_ will like cause everyone on Earth loves them."

There was obvious intrigue at Scott's declaration as he pulled out his phone and brought up a holo-vid, one that made Sam palm his face in amusement.

"Really, Scott?"

"They are royalty and you know it, Sam." Scott dramatically stated, pointing at Sam with a silencing finger without looking up.

Yoda let out a loud chuckle, making his presence known along with an equally amused Anakin who was observing the whole little "lesson" with a smirk on his face.

"Heartening to see, the thirst for knowledge remains." Yoda said, slowly walking forward. "For all ages to seek new information."

"Master Yoda." Jocasta said in respect with the rest of the Jedi present regarding him in the same manner.

"Master." Steve greeted with the other Avengers voicing their own "hello's". "What can we do for you?"

"A moment of your time, Captain Rogers, if you would." Yoda asked.

Tilting his head, Steve stood up to walk after the Grand Master whilst Rhodey and Sam patted Scott on his shoulder bidding him goodbye.

Slightly annoyed by being left alone, Scott faced Jedi that remained as some had departed with a majority of the remaining being younglings and Padawans.

"Alright kids." Scott said aloud with confidence. "It's time I taught you about the greatest music group on my planet."

Yoda guided Steve to a secluded part of the library, requesting Anakin to stay with them.

They had entered a solitary room with only 3 round, cushioned ottomans with the room being shaded by the blinders.

"Come." Yoda gestured to the seats. "Sit. Several things to discuss, we have."

Anakin and Steve shared a looked before the former simply shrugged, holding out his hand for Steve to go first.

Nodding at the Jedi Knight, Steve took a seat with Anakin seating himself right next to him with both men facing Yoda.

The green Jedi sat cross legged before the two men, eyes closed with his walking stick resting upon his lap.

Letting out a small grunt, the aged Jedi opened his gaze onto Steve. It was rather intense, with his eyes conveying the story of a wizened old Jedi who has seen a great many deal of things over the course of his eight centuries of life.

Yet he stared at Steve Rogers with a perplexity of that a young one. Sure, Yoda recognized many traits and characteristics of the super soldier he could easily admire and respect.

But to Yoda, Steve was an entirely new entity. Him and the Avengers.

"Accommodating, your stay in the temple, has been?" Yoda inquired after several seconds of silence.

Steve looked to Anakin who simply shrugged again as he didn't have Steve's answer.

"It's been more than we could ask for." Steve said with honesty.

Yoda nodded his head slowly. "Yet refrain yourselves from more, you have."

"We'd rather not take our chances, Master Yoda." Steve admitted. "We're on a world far from home and we don't wanna go taking advantage of the one place that offered us a place to sleep."

"Sorry the beds haven't been top notch." Anakin said with a wry grin.

"Slept in worse conditions than a simple mat on the floor, Anakin." Steve said knowingly, turning back to Yoda. "But Master Yoda, what do you want to talk to me about?"

Yoda hummed, closing his eyes once more and taking a moment to gather his thoughts.

"A great change has come to this galaxy." Yoda spoke, opening his eyes and facing Steve again. "Your arrival. No warning, no premonition, nothing from the Force. Only your arrival, felt the force has. As did all Jedi, Sith and those connected to the Force. Time passes, and permeation remains. Paths diverging, unclear futures certain. Defined eventuality, hazed in a fog of uncertainty."

Steve couldn't help but find it a bit difficult to process the small green Masters words.

Luckily, Anakin had gotten a good number of years on Yoda speak.

"What Master Yoda is trying to say is that you and your Avengers have changed a great deal of things here in the galaxy." Anakin quickly explained. "Your coming has created a kind of upheaval in the Force. And to be honest, it hasn't really changed."

"So what does that mean then?" Steve asked. "I don't really understand this whole force thing other than the surface level stuff you've already told us about."

"Understand, we do, Captain Rogers." Yoda said. "Difficult situation we find ourselves in, hmmm. Never before the Jedi faced with the event we have before us, has. Many doubts and fears spreading in the temple. The war, clouds judgement. The Sith, in the shadows they remain. Conflict, raging on with many innocence lost. Your arrival… affecting the force, it is. Not of your own volition, it is not."

Steve was a bit wary as on how to proceed in this conversation as he felt that there was a lot he wasn't picking up on.

"I think, what Master Yoda is trying to convey is that your arrival is not your fault." Anakin quickly cut in, a wry expression present. "And that the Force is reacting to you and that none of you are doing it intentionally."

"I… thank you for the clarification. But I still feel like I'm missing something here." Steve said, crossing his arms in thought. "This Force business honestly feels a bit out of my depth here."

"Understandable your plight is, Captain Rogers." Yoda stated. "Do what we can to assist you in your stay here, we shall."

It was at that moment, an idea occurred to Anakin. "Say Cap. Have you ever been to Dex's diner a few sectors down from here?"

Steve gave Anakin a confused look at the sudden proposition.

"Uh what?"

"It's this great place Obi-wan took me to during my early years here at the temple." Anakin, getting up from his seat. "Come on, you look like you could use a break from everything and Dex has some fantastic choices. It'll be my treat."

Steve was still silent, trying to figure out why Anakin was doing but surprisingly Yoda encouraged this.

"Yes, go Captain Rogers." Yoda gestured with his hand. "Find clarity outside the temple, you might."

Frankly, Steve was bewildered at the sudden swerve of the conversation but nonetheless he followed Anakin out of the room and towards this Diner that he had spoken of.

Yoda watched intently as the two men exited, his mind running through a thousand thoughts at once.

He felt it.

Another shockwave in the force.

If he were being honest with himself, Yoda should have seen this coming. They all should have. That unusual shift in the Force felt by the council three years ago perhaps was a premonition. At first, they had discarded the notion as they had received little to no answers as to what it was that the force conveyed. But now, these enhanced beings with powers, technology and abilities outside their understanding appear and the leader tells them that this team had formed three years ago.

While the other Jedi did not bring it up, Yoda recalled that day immediately.

Was this a connection? Or the direct reason?

This change wasn't isolated to their one galaxy.

After hearing the brief but harrowing tales of these Avengers taking on extra-terrestrial enemies that did not exist in the galactic archives, it was rather surreal to realize that life existed outside this galaxy.

Or maybe, this Earth was in their galaxy all along and it was lost somewhere in the unknown regions.

It was hard to decipher with the information they had right now.

All Yoda was assured of… was the shifting Force and the changes to come.

And in a rare instance in his life, Grand Master Yoda experienced a sliver of fear.

But not for himself. Never for himself.

No, it was for his Jedi students, comrades and friends.

Though the code forbade it, in his heart he knew he viewed all the thousands of Jedi within the temple and out there in the galaxy as family.

Every joyful experience, harrowing danger, mourning loss, death, he felt it all as he was connected to them all through the force.

He never infringed upon this connection but to him, all that mattered was knowing the Jedi were alive and well.

Yoda could only hope for guidance from the Force. Have this war end sooner than later and for the Jedi to survive. That's all he could ask for right now.

_Scene Cut_

It was a strange change of scenery to say the least for Steve.

And yet, the fact that they were in a booth with dozens of aliens occupying other tables. It was bizarre how familiar this felt.

Like a weekday night in Brooklyn back during the 30's.

Another surprise for the soldier to see something like this being universal. And oddly comforting.

After receiving their food, Anakin chowed down whilst Steve observed his platter of alien food that he had never had before.

Tentatively, he ate the food and found it quite good actually…whatever it was and ate with Anakin in relative silence.

This went on with a few comments and small talk passed in between the two until they finished with Anakin leaning back, satisfied with his meal.

"Ah." Anakin exhaled, wiping his mouth clean. "I've been meaning to come here but honestly haven't found the time for it."

"Can't imagine why." Steve remarked innocently earning a wry grin from Anakin.

"Yeah… it's surprising how I miss the simper days sometimes. Back when I was just with Obi-wan, learning how to become a Jedi." Anakin said reminiscently. "But, at the same time-"

"You're glad you can put your abilities to use for something." Steve cut in, garnering a surprised look from Anakin.

"Uh… yeah." Anakin nodded, contemplating for several moments to himself. "I… I never realized how much I actually enjoyed it. Not the war. But actually using my capabilities for good. Something to believe in."

"I second that." Steve said with a faraway look in his eyes. "Back on my world, I come from a time of war. All I ever wanted to do was serve during that time. Fight for my nation. For the world because who we faced threatened the stability and liberties of all. Looking back… I think on it so often now with modern times. How much of that war was actually just after everything that came out of it?"

Anakin didn't quite understand what Steve was referring to, making his confusion evident on his face.

Steve saw this, and let out a weary sigh as he leaned his arms on the table.

"When I went under and was basically frozen in ice for 70 years, the world was at war. When I came out, they told me we won. They didn't tell me what we lost. Not just in body count."

This last comment struck Anakin with a slightly conflicted expression now present.

"What was the cost of everything we had fought for?" Steve went on, hands cradling his drink nearby. "How much of ourselves did we lose to win and make that victory mean something? I had to find out the hard way ever since coming out that not all was as it seemed. It honestly wasn't as simple as it once was. Or so I thought it was."

Anakin crossed his arms, slightly tense now. "Steve… can I be personal with you for a moment?"

Steve gave the Jedi a strained grin. "Haven't I been with you this whole time?"

Chortling at his response, Anakin relaxed a bit though he remained a bit rigid.

"When I first became a Jedi, I was only nine years old." Anakin said, remembering his first days in the temple. "By that point in terms of Jedi standards, I was too _old._ Jedi start extremely young, four and under and rarely anything above. Me being one of those exceptions."

Steve arched his brow, his mouth down turning somewhat as his brows furrowed at that information. He wasn't aware that Jedi started so young.

Anakin didn't notice, going on with his story.

"But I had gotten in." Anakin said with somber smile. "And it took the Jedi who found me dying to finally convince the council to allow me to join. The moment I joined, I tried so hard to fit in."

Wordlessly, Anakin began to casually levitate one of the utensils on their table with practiced ease.

"Yet I knew I would never truly be accepted. Not simply at least." Anakin remarked. "Not to boast or anything but… I got the hang of a lot in a short amount of time. All those younglings and older apprentices just looked at me like I was some kind of freak even though we were all supposed to be the same. Jedi. I always stuck out like a sore thumb. I did have friends of course, but even then I felt isolated. And don't even get me started on the rules."

Anakin let out a mirthful chuckle. "Oh man, the Jedi code, the rules, the conduct. Urgh, I'd rather let Grievous gut me with one of his sabers then have to read or listen to another lecture about the damn rules."

"Sounds to me that you're a bit of a rebel, Master Skywalker." Steve dryly said with a joking tone. Though in his mind, Steve could see it. He could see what Anakin was truly conveying even though he tried to suppress it.

"I try." Anakin said, chuckling. "Yeah, I wasn't exactly the exemplary Jedi in the Temple. Tried as I might, even with Master Kenobi helping me."

"But you couldn't resist, could you?"

"Heh, well, aside from glider racing at night." Anakin said sheepishly, still cringing a bit from that old memory.

"You know something, Anakin." Steve said conversationally though his voice dropped a bit. "For as long as I can remember, all I wanted to do what was right. After everything I've done and seen…. Sometimes I don't know what that is anymore. Helping people, saving them, going out there to fight the good fight so that others don't have to. That was all I really knew. All I _do know_ honestly. And I find at times questioning whether or not I'm doing it right sometimes. I never wanted to do this for myself."

Anakin stared at Captain Rogers with a slightly stunned expression, feeling his gut clench at those words.

In the back of his head, he heard a soothing old voice he wished he could hear again. Telling him to believe in himself. To fight for what he stands for and to go out there and be the hero she knows him to be.

He couldn't fight the stray tear that escaped, something that did not go unnoticed by Cap.

"You alright there Anakin?" Steve asked in concern.

"Nothing." Anakin quickly brushed off, though with shaky voice. "I just got caught up in how dramatic you were."

Steve now gave Anakin a flat stare which in turn made the Jedi chuckle aloud at Cap's expression. A second later, Steve joined in with the two sharing a laugh at Cap's more Shakespearean side.

"You just wanna save people at the end of the day." Steve said both to Anakin and to himself. "Sometimes, that's you really can do. If only that were the case."

Detecting a sense of familiarity, Anakin couldn't help but ask.

"Who couldn't you save?" He asked the super soldier in quiet voice.

Steve didn't respond at first, eyes facing the window where the bustling planet metropolis of Coruscant.

"I don't know really." Steve said to himself. "I keep asking myself what's worse. Not being able to save my best friend when he needed me most. Or finding out he had been alive the whole time being a brainwashed slave to the very organization we fought to overthrow."

Anakin hummed to himself until registering the last comment. "Wait, what?"

"Story for another time." Steve said with a small smirk.

"I feel like that's gonna be a recurring theme with you and the other Avengers." Anakin stated getting a kind of confirmation with Steve's laugh.

"Well, you wouldn't be wrong honestly."

A comfortable silence befell the two with the background sounds of the Diners patrons and employees going on in the background.

"I'm surprised really." Steve said aloud, breaking the silence. "I guess I didn't realize how much I needed this. Thank you, Anakin. I owe you for this."

Anakin stared blankly at cap until he broke into a calm, content smile. "I think we both needed this. If you ever need a friend to talk to, don't hesitate to ask."

"The courtesy extends both ways, Skywalker."

Anakin mused momentarily, surprising himself as he though back to his mother. She, who before Padme, meant the galaxy to him. And he couldn't save her. Even with all his power of a Jedi. That one thought alone at times consumed his nights on the worst of nights.

And now sits before him a man who clearly is worried for his lost friends. Granted, these friends have abilities that exceed that of many individuals across the galaxy. But still, they were in a galaxy far, far away from home in unfamiliar territory.

The current four got lucky with sheer coincidence. But the others…

These Avengers had already helped the Republic and the Jedi several times already and all they've done is provide shelter.

That honestly wasn't good enough in Anakin's mind. He knew in his gut that these Avengers, they were not gonna just disappear suddenly. They were gonna make a mark on the galaxy.

And Anakin, if he were being truthful to himself, he can't deny that he wants to be a part of it.

"Steve." Anakin began. "I know that you're probably still worried about your friends. I would be to if something like that happened to Ahsoka or Obi-wan."

Steve remained silent, allowing Anakin to continue.

"If you want, you and the others are always free to join me and my fleet whenever you want. We'll help you find the rest of your friends."

"Anakin you don't have to-"

"You're right." Anakin interrupted. "I don't have to. But I want to. You guys have done a lot for us in a short amount of time. The least we could do is help you out in your search for your friends."

Rogers could only stare in slight astonishment at Anakin's blunt proposal. This wasn't like the time with Chancellor Palpatine who had some underlying motive.

This felt and seemed pure. Anakin just wanted to help. Maybe there was something more to this, but right now the Jedi knight offered his help without asking for anything in return.

You learn a lot about a man when you see him fight.

And Steve always had his faith in people over institutions and systems. So this was a chance he was willing to take.

"I appreciate this, Anakin." Steve said earnestly. "I mean it."

"No thanks needed, Cap." Anakin said with a wry grin.

The two solidified this exchange with a firm, friendly handshake and soon departed from the diner.

Rather than returning to the Jedi temple, the duo instead went to the docking bay nearby where Anakin's 501st legion were currently stationed for their momentary reprieve.

It didn't take long for them to find Captain Rex who was going over inventory and mission reports along with Ahsoka Tano who sat nearby on some crates.

"Captain Rex." Anakin greeted his second in command.

"Sir." Rex saluted though Anakin immediately waved him down to relax.

"Heya snips." Anakin said coyly to his young Padawan. "What are you doing out here? Not shirking on your duties as a Jedi, are you?"

"No." Ahsoka said lightly. "Just making sure the men are rested and moral is high. Something I picked up from you. Hey Captain Rogers."

"Ahsoka." Steve nodded at her.

"They grow up so fast." Anakin said whimsically. "What's the status on the men, Rex? Everyone good to go for our next deployment?"

"More then ready sir." Rex assured. "We're just waiting on you. Though I do have to thank the Colonel and Lieutenant."

Steve quirked a brow for clarity, with Rex nudging his head to his side.

Looking over, both men saw Sam and Rhodey speaking with a dozen or so group of Clone Troopers all of whom were clearly entertained by what Rhodey in particular was talking about.

Sharing a curious look with one another, Steve and Anakin approached the assembled group just in time for War Machines closing lines.

"So, since the suit could take the weight I flew the tank right up to the generals palace dropped it down in front of him." Rhodey then emphatically chopped his hands down. _"Boom, you looking for this?"_

The Clone Troopers all began laughing with many showing clear admiration and were clearly impressed with Rhodey's story. Sam meanwhile only rolled his eyes, a bemused grin on his face as he honestly couldn't believe that _that_ was his fellow Avengers go to story even after everything they've done by this point. Then again, he should have seen this coming. Damaged pride and all.

"I see you guys have been keeping yourselves busy." Steve said aloud, announcing his and Anakin's arrival.

"General Skywalker, Sir." The dozen Troopers all said in unison snapping up to salute.

"At ease men." Anakin said. "We're on shore leave remember?"

"So, gentlemen." Steve began casually. "You've finally heard Rhodey's infamous Tank story."

Rhodey couldn't fight his groan. "Aw come on, Cap. I already heard that nonsense from Tony. And Thor's silence was enough."

"What about Sokovia?" Steve asked.

"I'm saving that one." Rhodey countered.

"Right." Steve took a moment to look around. "Where's Scott?"

"We kinda left him behind at the Temple." Sam admitted. "Didn't seem like he wanted to leave anyway."

"Where do you think he is right now then?" Steve inquired.

"Probably still back at the temple." Sam said.

"Well, it's getting late anyway." Anakin said. "Let's head back to the temple. We've got an early morning tomorrow."

"For what?" Sam asked inquisitively.

"I'll explain to you on the way." Steve said, beginning to stride away with Sam, Ahsoka and Anakin.

Rhodey lagged behind momentarily, sharing quick fist bumps with several Clone Troopers, internally proud at introducing such a simple gesture to this galaxy that will no doubt spread over time.

"Cutup, Fives, see you guys later. Give my regards to Hevy and Echo."

The Avengers and their two Jedi companions returned to the temple soon after.

Upon entering the temple, a strange but familiar sound to the Earthers was heard echoing across the hallways.

"The hell?" Sam craned his ear forward, trying to hear whatever that was more properly.

"What's that?" Ahsoka asked, looking up to her master who was just as befuddled as she was.

"I don't know." Anakin murmured, closing an eye while tilting his ear up.

"Wait a sec." Rhodey held up a hand. "I know that tune."

"Tune?"

They began to walk down the hallway in the direction of the sound and as they got closer, it was easily distinguishable as a song of some kind.

At this point, even Steve recognized what they were listening to. It was after all one of the new things he had heard since coming out of the ice he found himself to really enjoy.

"Wait, isn't that the-"

" _MAGNIFICO-O-O-O-O~"_

" _I'm just a poor boy nobody loves me~"_

" _HE'S JUST A POOR BOY FROM A POOR FAMILY SPARE HIM HIS LIFE FROM THIS MONSTROSITY.~~"_

By this point, the group had stood before a doorway where the song was emanating from.

One which all the Earthers knew very well.

Upon entering the room, they were blasted by cheerful singing by Jedi younglings, Padawans and even a few older Knights and Masters.

To say that it was a bewildering sight would be a bit of an understatement.

In the center of the circular room was Scott Lang, happily sang along with everybody waving his hands along with the song while the rest of the younglings swayed along with him.

Then came the guitar solo and everyone began jamming out.

This was a bit of a surreal sight for those who had just entered the room especially for the two Jedi as this was uncharacteristically uncommon for the Jedi Temple.

It was at that point that Scott swung around and finally saw the others, a big grin on his face.

"Hey guys." He greeted jovially. "Where've ya been?"

"Out." Was all Rhodey said, eyes still on the younglings laughing happily finding that rather endearing.

"So I see you've been keeping yourself busy, Tic-tac." Sam sarcastically stated.

"Hey, it's royalty Sam." Scott said boisterously. "Nothing beats Queen."

**And scene.**

**This was more of a rest chapter if anything but hey, sometimes they're needed.**

**Next time, we pick up where we left off.**

**Oh and we're skipping the Lair of Grievous cause reviewing it in my arc outline, I don't see a point to it, same with the R2-D2 retrieval arc.**

**So, next up, the mission to Meridun.**

**Rate Read and Review and as Always Have Nice Day.**


	11. Crash Landing Metal Clanging

**Rate Read and Review and As Always Have Nice Day.**

Avengers Infinite Wars Chapter 11: Crash landing, Metal clanging.

It was strange that he had not done this sooner.

Then again, looking back on these past few weeks he didn't have the time or place to do such a thing.

But now? He had that moment.

And… it was terrifying, overwhelming and breathtaking all at the same time.

He wondered if this is how Tony felt when he went through that wormhole in New York all those years ago. That image of an alien armada coming to Earth prompting such a drastic change in the billionaire.

Steve had seen it even with Tony's many attempts to deflect such a notion. That was until Ultron. When his AI went array, the event literally forced the Iron Avenger to admit how woefully underprepared and equipped he had felt in facing such an overwhelming force.

Granted, he had felt the same, but Steve felt an unwavering faith in his comrades and friends. They would fight, win and lose together.

Yet now, the Avengers were splintered with practically all its members scattered across the cosmos in the very literal sense.

Clint and Tony were back on Earth, Thor was off doing God knows what, Vision, Hope, Pietro, Wanda and Nat were more than likely somewhere in this galaxy and god knows where Bruce had disappeared to.

Thinking back to Earth, Steve figured how woefully under defended it seemed with _eleven_ of its globally recognized protectors all missing right now.

But… Cap's faith was never institutions, governments or organizations of any kind. Not truly. No, his faith was in people.

And Cap knew without a shadow of a doubt that should if push comes to shove, others will undoubtedly step up and hold the line.

Besides, knowing Tony, the shell head is more than likely already working his ass off to find them while preparing for endless contingencies.

If he recalled correctly, Tony had mentioned something about a recruitment drive. Apparently other enhanced individuals were starting to make their presence known, getting on the radar of the Avengers.

Steve is all for it.

They have to be. They stepped up after Shields collapse and the Earth will need new defenders when the time comes.

But he'll focus on that later.

Right now, his top priority was finding the other lost Avengers and keeping them together in order for the group to be found.

And since Anakin had so graciously offered, here Cap stood in the right wing hangar of Skywalkers flagship Venator of his fleet, The _Resolute._

Currently, Anakin's fleet resided in the Quell system in the outer rim of the galaxy were the Republic had been on a defensive campaign to prevent Separatists from gaining easier access to other systems. It was a difficult plan as most Republic fleets within the rim had been stretched thin.

Off to the side rested Scott Lang who had his headphones plugged in and his foot tapping to the beat of his music.

Sam and Rhodey were somewhere behind Cap, learning more about piloting and ship operations from the other clones. He along with Scott were also learning though at a bit of a slower pace but they were making progress nonetheless.

"Enjoying the view?"

Tilting his head back, he saw Ahsoka Tano approached with a cordial smile. Giving her a slight nod in greeting, Steve resumed his gaze back onto the endless expanse before him.

"Kinda overwhelming honestly." Steve said. "Makes me realize how small I am. As generic as that sounds."

"It is strange, really." Tano mused, crossing her arms and joining Cap's stare out into the stars. "I've lost track of how many times I've seen this view already but I never really took the time to…"

"Soak it all in?"

Ahsoka nudged the captain in confirmation, getting a small chuckle out of him.

The two stood side by side in companionable silence, the ambient background noise of the hangar bay behind them.

"I never would've thought I'd be up here in the cosmos." Steve said, breaking the silence. "Then again, in my line of work I should've seen this coming."

"At least you're open minded, Cap." Ahsoka said.

"Sometimes I can't tell if that's a good or bad for my health." Steve wryly retorted.

Ahsoka giggled once again, making Steve smile at her.

Though in the back of his mind, Steve felt conflicted. Here was a young girl no older than 14 or 15 and she was thrust into a war.

He along with the others were vehemently against such a notion but it was not there place to say. The Jedi had accommodated them in their time of need and for the four of them to publicly go out and state their opinion of young Jedi being in war… well, while most would agree, the simple counter would be that it's war.

And Steve along with Sam and Rhodey would know. War causes people to do things unlike themselves.

Stick their hands in the filth so that others would not. Compromise so that people would be free.

Yet… that same familiar nagging feeling Cap had with insight is just written all over this war.

After the three years since the Avengers formed, Rogers could no longer deny the disillusionment that he has with his own government and the governments of the world as a whole.

It was a rather difficult pill to swallow, but he had to. Fury once told him that SHIELD took the world for what it was and not what it would like it to be. That he had to get with that program.

He instead chose to hold on. Hold on to those old fashioned notions that so many before him had been willing to die for.

His old friends, His Commandos, Phil Coulson.

Cap refused to let go in the belief of people.

And right now, he had to focus on keeping that faith in himself and in his friends that they would find their wayward lost allies.

"Captain Rogers. I see my young Padawan is keeping you company."

Both turned to see Anakin Skywalker approaching the two with an easygoing smile.

"Yeah, helps when looking out into space." Steve plainly said.

"How are you holding up?"

Steve only shrugged. "Fine, more or less. As well as I can be considering where I am. Just glad I'm at least on a ship with friendlies."

"Nice to know we can be of service." Skywalker jokingly remarked, moving to exit the hangar bay with Rogers and Tano following after him.

"I do have to ask something important though, Steve." Anakin said through a somewhat serious tone.

Steve tilted head to the side a bit in response to this sudden change in demeanor by Anakin sharing a momentary look with Ahsoka.

"What about?"

"Does this sound familiar to you?"

Anakin proceeded to do a bit of a bizarre action.

_***STOMP* *STOMP* *CLAP* *STOMP* *STOMP* *CLAP*.** _

It took a moment for Steve to process just what Anakin had done.

"Oh, you've heard that song to!" Ahsoka suddenly said aloud happily.

"Wait, What?" Anakin looked to his apprentice. "You know about that? The boys have been doing it in their spare time. What is that?"

Steve couldn't contain the snort of amusement that escaped him as soon as he realized just what these two were referring to.

"I guess Scott's been keeping himself busy then just the temple."

"Scott?" Anakin repeated, taking a moment to process what Steve could be talking about. "Wait… does it have to do that music we heard the other day?"

"Yeah, pretty much." Steve confirmed. "Looks like Scott's making sure to educate the Clones and the Jedi about his favorite bands."

"I can't really blame him." Ahsoka said with some excitement. "I've never heard anything like that before! Queen is amazing! Scott's showed me and some of the boys a bunch of their songs. And he said that that's only the surface level of music back on your world."

"Well, you wouldn't be wrong about that." Steve stated, a fond smile on reminiscing about the songs he had grown up to along with the exposure of all these brand new genres he had been listening to since waking up in the modern world. "Maybe when we find Earth, you guys can visit and really experience Earth. Not to brag about my planet but it's like a galaxy of cultures crammed onto one planet."

"Now I'm definitely interested." Anakin admitted.

Suddenly, their conversation was cut short by an urgent message coming through the comms of the ship.

" _General Skywalker, this Admiral Yularen. You are needed on the bridge at once."_

Locking eyes with Steve for a brief moment, Anakin gestured his head in the direction to the bridge with Steve nodding.

The trio broke into a run, with Steve relaying a message to the Avengers to be on standby.

They arrived at the bridge soon with Yularen waiting for them.

"General Skywalker." Yularen greeted with a professional tone. "We have received a distress call from Jedi Aayla Secura a system away. She is taking heavy losses and damage by a separatist fleet. It appears to have been a Separatist controlled planet."

Anakin immediately knew what to do. "Prep the fleet for Hyperspace, Admiral. We're heading over there."

"Yes sir." Yularen said, quickly sending out orders.

Anakin went over to the holo table and brought up the distress call only to see that it was Aayla herself speaking.

"Skywalker." Aayla spoke in a relieved tone though the sounds of her ship being bombarded was heard from the other line. "Glad to see someone got my message. Padawan Tano, Captain Rogers. It is good to see the two of you as well."

"What's the status of your fleet?" Rogers asked straight away.

"We're getting hammered on all sides." Aayla replied tersely, momentarily looking ahead and sent out instructions to her troops. "The Separatist fleet is planning to pincer our movements."

"We're already on our way." Anakin stated. "Hang on for as long as you can, Aayla. We'll make it. I promise."

"I'll hold you to it." Aayla said with a light tone before the transmission cut out.

Anakin turned to Steve. "You ready for this?"

"Always am. I'll help get the troops ready."

Steve rushed off, leaving Anakin and Ahsoka the former of which held a contemplative expression.

Ahsoka noticed this. "Master? Is everything alright?"

Anakin mused internally for several moments while the fleet entered Hyperspace.

"I'm not exactly sure Snips." Anakin said, brows furrowing in thought. "The Force… it's acting a bit strange. Do you feel it?"

Ahsoka stared at her master before looking down and closed her eyes. Reaching out to the force, she was greeted to the familiar chaotic sensation that was becoming more frequent within the energy that was the Force. It had been like this since the shockwave when the Avengers arrived and now…

"What do you think it means master?"

"I have guesses." Anakin said truthfully. "But all we can do right now is wait and see what happens."

Steve had returned to the Hangar bay, seeing that Clone troopers and pilots were running about while preparing the ships and themselves for combat.

He instantly spotted Sam, Rhodey and Scott all suited up and ready to go speaking with a few troopers.

Jogging over to them, he saw one of the Troopers have a five tattooed on his temple.

"Cap." Rhodey greeted.

"What's going on, Steve?" Sam asked.

"A Jedi needs reinforcements." Steve quickly explained. "And it's someone I know from the temple."

"Who?" Scott asked.

"Her name is Aayla Secura."

"Oh, from the 327th corps, right?" one of the Clone troopers spoke up though he was nudged to be silent.

Steve stared at the troopers, noting there were four of them in total.

"Oh, that's right, you guys haven't met yet." Rhodey quickly realized. "Cap, this is Domino Squad. The Clone Troopers from the Rishi Moon Base I landed in."

"Yeah, I remember you guys." Steve said, taking a moment to gauge each one's name. "Fives, correct?"

"Yes sir." Fives said, tapping his tattoo. "Kind of a give away though."

"I'm Hevy." The Clone holding a minigun stepped forward. "This is Echo and Cutup. It's a pleasure to meet you sir."

"The pleasure all mine." Steve said, holding out his hand for Hevy to shake which he did. "Good to see soldiers like you helping out my friends."

"We kinda owe Colonel Rhodes a lot." Echo admitted right away.

"Yeah, me especially." Cutup stated sheepishly. "Otherwise I'd be living up to my namesake… or lack thereof."

"Good to see he's making friends." Steve said with a teasing tone. "God knows how his friendship with Tony affected his taste with others."

Rhodey only rolled his eyes, knowing that he couldn't really rebuke that considering the headaches his best friend has given him over the years.

_Scene Cut_

General Aayla Secura stood on the bridge of her flagship Venator of her fleet, doing her best to direct her forces and keep them alive.

"Commander Bly, what is the status of the other ships?"

"AS-2 is dead in the air, General." Bly grimly said.

"Any escape pods?" Aayla asked in concern.

"None so far."

"Get word out to them if you can. Signal them however possible and tell them to abandon ship. I will not have them die like sitting banthas."

"Right away, General."

Bly quickly ran out while Aayla addressed the rest of her crew. "Status report!"

"We're holding out but only barely." One of her pilots stated with frustration. "Our shields are dropping fast and half our cannons have been destroyed."

"Our fighter squadrons have been depleted by half." Another Clone reported.

Aayla clenched her fists, hating to hear so much of her fighting forces being killed off like that. As much as she tried to deny it, Aayla had grown fond of her corps as they had grown fiercely loyal to her in the short time the war had begun.

Bly was a faithful soldier and friend and she had found herself confiding in him quite often on battle plans and strategies. His astute knowledge and battlefield awareness had aided them on a number of occasions, minimizing casualties a great deal.

But right now, all they could do is hold on and wait for help.

"Hurry Anakin." Aayla murmured. "You're our only hope."

Speaking of said Jedi, he along with Captain Rogers and Admiral Yularen had quickly smacked together a plan of action.

"We'll need a two pronged attack." Yularen said, pointing to points of entry. "Judging by the level of damage General Secura's fleet had sustained, it will be only a matter of time before they deploy boarding parties to sweep up the rest of the Republic forces."

"They seemed to be focused on hitting the front for the moment before they go in for the pincer." Steve noted. "If we hit them in the back hard and fast, it'll throw them off balance."

"Giving us time to send out some Gunships and fighters to back up Aayla's fleet." Anakin said. "We'll need to evacuate their ships. Look down here. Some of their escape pod bays have been damaged. We won't be able to get everyone out of there."

Anakin turned behind him to see Rex awaiting orders.

"Prep the gunships, Rex." Anakin instructed. "We'll need so jet troopers for this one."

"Right away sir." Rex left with Anakin and Steve running after him as the fleet pulled out from Hyperspace headed right in the middle of battle.

"Avengers." Steve quickly contacted his friends. "We're heading right in the thick of it. Sam, Rhodey I want the two of you in the air as soon as possible and get some crowd control. Scott, you're with me."

The trio ran into the Hangar bay to see a row of Gunships with Y-Wing bombers and V-19 torrent fighters all whirring aloud.

Spotting the Gunships with the other Avengers and his Padawan, Anakin, Rex and Steve quickly boarded the Gunships.

Falcon placed on a breathing apparatus that the Clones had provided for him and even held a blaster rifle.

Soon enough, the Venators entered the planet's atmosphere immediately engaging the enemy.

The gunships, bombers and torrent fighters all lifted up off the ground and took to the skies with the smaller fighters moving to attack the Separatist Starfighters.

In an instant, the Gunships were rocked back and forth by the blaster fire and explosions going off around them with the battle raging on.

Off to the side, a squadron of V-19's got into a figure Four Formation and shot down a cluster of Vulture Droids though one of their own got destroyed.

"General Secura, do you read me?" Anakin spoke through his wrist comm. "Reinforcements have arrived."

"Not a moment too soon, Skywalker." Aayla's voice chimed in from the other side. "Our shields are gone and life support systems have been damaged."

"Begin evacuation of your troops." Anakin instructed. "I've got Gunships coming in to assist you."

"Appreciated, Skywalker but you're going to have a problem. My ship is crawling with Super Battle Droids and their boarding my ships."

"That's why I've got backup." Anakin said, looking to Steve who got the silent message.

"Rhodey, Sam, you guys are up."

"Let's go, Sam." Rhodey said to the para-rescue Avenger.

Helmet snapping around him, War Machine dropped out from his Gunship with Falcon doing the same. Both began engaging the flying Supers, with their superior weaponry and tactics slamming through the droids one after another.

"I need to get me one of those suits." Hevy murmured beside his squad with them nodding in agreement.

Falcon weaved through the countless falling droids with ease as both his skill, instincts and HUD on his goggles assisted him in maneuvering through the skies.

Barreling towards two droids, his wing suit being as intuitive as it was, curled forward and grabbed the two in midair. Spinning around in the air to add some momentum, Falcon flung the Supers at other droids with both crashing and causing a small litany of droids getting knocked out of the sky. Choosing not to admire his work, Sam went onto to his next set of droids.

War Machine meanwhile smashed through one after another, using his advanced armor as battering ram. His self-automated Minigun was firing left and right at any Droid he passed by. Grabbing a super by its arms, Rhodey's minigun whirled round and shredded through the droid before he threw one of its chunks at another super.

Clipping its rockets, the droid spiraled out of control and crashed into a vulture Droid which made the fighter look in the direction of Rhodey.

"Oh boy." War Machine muttered to himself, quickly turning around and flying away with the vulture droid now in pursuit.

Steve in the meantime told Scott to shrink down and stay one his shoulder and hang on.

As they neared closer to the Venator, their Gunship was rocking around much more violently as some of the Supers and Vulture droids had taken notice of them. They were firing at them, hoping to prevent them from getting close and rescuing the ships personnel.

Anakin had his lightsaber out, deflecting some shots here and there while Sam flew around them to keep other Rocket droids off their ships.

Looking ahead, Skywalker saw multiple droids entering Secura's Venator threw a large gaping hole.

"Those Droids are boarding Aayla's ship!"

"Any ideas, Master?" Ahsoka asked.

"A few."

Being the impulsive Jedi that he was, Anakin leapt out from his gunship and landed on a Super.

Using his own weight to move it in his direction, he spun it around several time to shoot out several Super Droids out of the sky before letting go and falling straight into the breech on Aayla's Venator.

"Of course he'd do that." Ahsoka murmured to herself.

"It was sloppy." Steve shook his head in disappointment. "This how you really do it."

Without further provocation, Steve dived headfirst out the gunship with his shield arm out. Nearing a super battle droid, Cap reeled his arm back and smashed his shield into the upper body of the droid.

It immediately began to fly about erratically until Cap grabbed onto to its arms and forcefully sent it down in the direction of the hull breach where Anakin had just jumped into.

Scott, who was on Steve's shoulder, clung on to the Captain for dear life.

The Clones and Padawan on the gunship could only watch with wide eyes and jaws dropped.

"Holy Kriff, these guys are insane!" Hevy said aloud with clear admiration.

"And I thought the general had a wild streak." Rex murmured to himself.

"No wonder those two get along." Ahsoka deadpanned, the gunship drawing nearer to their objective.

Back down with Anakin he landed in a corridor teaming with battle droids activating his lightsaber and going right to work.

He sliced through several Supers in quick succession, using a force pull on one and cut it in half.

Hearing a thump behind him, Anakin whirled round to see Captain America cocking his arm back flinging his shield forward against the walls.

The shield bounced against the walls in a diagonal fashion, angling around Anakin entirely and proceeding to cut through many droids until it hit an angled indent and bounced its way back to its owner.

Anakin merely sidestepped the shield which was then caught by Steve.

Giving the Captain a grin of approval, Anakin and Steve stood side by side as the Super Battle Droids that remained turned their attention on them.

Then, several up front jolted about violently receiving dents from seemingly nowhere until Ant-man grew to full size to deliver a dropkick to the droid closest to him before shrinking back down again.

Anakin's grin only widened upon seeing Ant-man in action.

"Did I ever tell you guys how awesome it is that you're on our side."

Steve only smirked in response.

Outside, the Gunships drew closer to the damaged Venator with Ahsoka, Rex and Domino squad jumping down into the hole after their allies. Other gunships deployed jet troopers to take care of the Super Rocket Droids crawling all over the ship.

Meanwhile, Republic Starfighter squadrons along with Falcon and War Machine provided enough of a distraction and fight that most of the enemies attention had been turned onto them. This in turn gave the new Gunships time to swoop into Aayla's hangar bay and get the 327th corps to safety.

Inside the ship, Captain Rogers, Skywalker and Ant-man were cutting a swath right through the Droid troops until blaster fire came from behind, taking down several droids in front of them.

Looking behind them, they saw Rex, Domino Squad and Ahsoka running to catch up to them.

"Bout time you guys got here." Anakin jokingly said. "You're missing out on all the fun."

"Apologies sir." Rex wryly stated. "We didn't pack our jetpacks and super juice with us today."

Anakin only grinned at his second in command.

The assembled group pressed on through the Droid infested Venator until they saw Aayla Secura fighting off droids with Commander Bly and several other clones by her side.

"Nice of you to join us, Skywalker, Ahsoka." Aayla greeted. "Captain Rogers! Mr. Lang. I am grateful to see that Anakin is taking this rescue seriously."

"Pleasure to see you again, Aayla." Steve said in turn, slicing a Droid in half.

"I hope you didn't come in rushing without a plan, Skywalker." Aayla said with a knowing tone sent the Jedi Knights way.

"As a matter of fact, I've got my fighters and gunships evacuating your ship as we speak. There's a corvette coming up for us in the lower hangar." Anakin quickly said, the large group of Jedi, Avengers and Clones all running down the corridor while taking out droids along the way.

Said Corvette was currently floating up to the docking bay, cautiously making sure to align itself properly with the ship as the larger Venator was beginning to fall through the planet's atmosphere.

The clone pilots were soon leveled with the lower hangar bay.

"Activate Docking port." The main pilot instructed.

The republic forces and their Avenger allies made their way to the lower hangar bay.

"It's just up ahead everyone." Aayla said aloud, leading the group.

Several seconds of running later, they saw the doorway out of the ship.

"We made it." Ahsoka declared happily, despite the ship violently shuddering just now.

However, while everyone ran forward to the bay door that Ahsoka opened, Anakin looked back in dread as a raging inferno of explosions were coming right for them.

"NO!" Anakin let out a powerful force push that sent his comrades hurtling into the Corvette waiting for them.

"MASTER!" Ahsoka cried out in fear as the door closed.

"Anakin!" Steve slammed his fist against the metal door. He turned to Rex. "Get this damn door open."

On the other side, Anakin had closed another door in front of him to hold back the fire. The metal groaned and creaked until it gave in.

The pressure build exploded violently, flinging Anakin back making him slam down to the floor hard.

Ahsoka got the door open at last and saw her down and out Master on the ground.

"Master."

"I got him, Ahsoka." Steve was already beside the Jedi, easily lifting him up and carrying him into the Corvette.

"Get us out of here, pilots." Aayla ordered quickly with the soldiers complying with calm professionalism.

Getting out from underneath the lower hangar bay, the Corvette flew upwards towards the _Resolute_ though they immediately encountered resistance.

"Sam, Rhodey, we need some cover here." Steve said through his comm link.

"Easier said than done, Cap." Sam grunted, evading a pair of Vulture droids on his tale. "This place is a god damn cluster-fuck."

"As crude as an assessment Lieutenant Wilson's of the situation may be, you cannot risk docking in the middle of this battle, General Secura." Admiral Yularen chimed in.

"We have no choice, Admiral." Aayla said firmly. "Skywalker received critical injuries during the Evac of my ship."

"Are all Jedi so reckless?" Yularen inquired half-joking, half-frustrated.

"Only the good ones." Aayla quipped with a mischievous smirk.

The Corvette was flown at Anakin's main Venator with it positioning itself beneath the lower hangar. Then, several stray vulture droids flew by while firing at the ship damaging it.

The main controls of the Corvette sparked chaotically in the face of one of the pilots which knocked him out. Falling forward, his helmet smacked against the controls wit h a red, green and yellow panel glowing repeatedly.

"The Hyperdrive's been activated!" Bly said in alarm.

"Shut it down!" Aayla said frantically.

"I can't!"

On board the Venator, the alarms were blaring greatly worrying the Admiral.

"General Secura, what's going on?" He asked.

"Our ship has sustained damage!" Aayla said rapidly. "The damage inadvertently triggered the Hyperdrive. You need to detach, now!"

"Cap." Rhodey called in. "My suits picking an energy spike, what the hell's happening?"

"Looks like me and Scott are going for a ride." Steve grimly informed. "Return to the Resolute immediately you two."

"But Cap…"

"Now, Sam, trust me on this. We'll be fine."

The Venator moved away from the Corvette just in time as it zipped away far into the recesses of Hyperspace.

"Plot every trajectory their ship had." Yularen ordered the Troops. "Once we finish this battle, we need to find them."

Sam and Rhodey had returned back to the hangar bay, both face each other anxiously.

"Oh man." Sam whispered, looking back out onto the raging naval battle in the air.

Separating from his friends and leader in a galaxy far, far away didn't exactly sit well with the aviator. Unfortunately, that was circumstance of this battle and now all he could do is place his faith in Cap and Scott that they'll return in one piece after all this blows over.

"They'll be fine." Rhodey reassured, though he himself didn't like this any more than Sam did.

"It's not them I'm worried about." Sam said. "It's what they're gonna run in to."

Even Rhodey couldn't find a solid argument against it. His time spent here and with how Tony described it to be in his brief time up there showed him that Space didn't play by your rules and was as unpredictable as a raging tide on the seas.

_Scene cut_

A lone republic Corvette sailed through the black and blue tunnel of hyperspace with one critically wounded Jedi on board and several other individuals in a bit of a bind.

"Great." Scott bemoaned aloud. "First there were four of us and now we're two apart and Sky guy's hurt."

"Take it easy, Scott." Steve calmly stated, helping Ahsoka move Anakin into a more comfortable position in the med-bay. "Sam and Rhodey can handle themselves just fine. We'll be back with them before you know it."

Ahsoka meanwhile looked down upon her master with a sorrowful frown, placing a hand over his chest. His heartbeat was stable but his overall condition was not.

She was shaken from her internal strife by a gentle hand upon her shoulder.

"Ahsoka." Steve said softly. "He's gonna be fine. You've got nothing to be worried about."

"How can you say that so easily, Captain Rogers?" Ahsoka said, hands clenching tightly. "I've never seen Master banged up like this."

"Because it comes with the job, Ahsoka." Steve said succinctly. "Scott, Sam, Rhodey, the Avengers, myself and I bet even Secura has dealt with these types of injuries before and they've pulled through just fine afterwards. Anakin's a tough one. He's not gonna let a little back pain and concussion keep him down. He's too stubborn and reckless to allow it."

Ahsoka let out a shaky laugh, giving Cap an appreciative smile.

"He's really good at that." Scott said with pure admiration. "Really knows how to lift your mood up in an instant."

Ahsoka couldn't help but laugh at the random comment while Steve turned to a bashful Scott who waved his hand off.

Shaking his head in amusement, Steve looked over to the Medbay door that had just opened up to see Aayla Secura stepping in.

"Is everything alright down here?" Aayla asked, glancing at Anakin.

"More or less." Steve shrugged. "How are things with the Clones and the ships course?"

"The troopers are fine." Aayla promised. "Though the ships trajectory is a bit difficult to pinpoint considering it was punched in via explosion. Ahsoka, head up to the cockpit and assist Bly for the time being. I'm pretty sure Anakin has taught some of his flying skills, no?"

"He has, Master Secura but I'd rather stay down here and watch over my master." Ahsoka said firmly. "He needs my help."

"You can help your master by getting us to safety, Ahsoka." Aayla said understandingly. "And you don't need to worry about your master. Captain Rogers and Mr. Lang is here and they can watch over him for the time being."

Biting her lower lip, Ahsoka wanted to argue but she knew that she really couldn't say much against Aayla's reasoning.

However, Tano wouldn't get a chance to say anything by the sudden arrival of Commander Bly.

"General Secura, we've got a serious problem." Bly said grimly.

"What is it, Commander?"

Letting out a sigh, Bly walked over to a terminal showing their current trajectory. "In our haste to escape, the Navi-computers coordinate were inputted incorrectly. Outside our control. And now we're headed right for a star."

Scott's jaw dropped in disbelief. "What?!"

"Scott, stay here." Steve instructed, leaving the Medbay with everyone else and rushing off to the pilots cabin.

On the way they saw Domino Squad, Rex and three other clones all working on repairing the damages done to the ship with Rex joining them on the way.

Entering the cockpit, Bly and Ahsoka seated themselves with Aayla, Rex and Steve looking on.

Both Jedi and Clone frantically pushed buttons, flicked switches and attempted to override the Navi-computers until Bly slammed his fist into the controls.

"It's no use." He said irritably. "The Navigation computers are completely fried."

"Shut down all the power circuits to reset the coordinates." Aayla quickly ordered.

"But Master Anakin's life support will get cut off." Ahsoka said.

"He'll survive for a few seconds." Steve said. "That's all we'll need."

"Captain Rogers' is right, Ahsoka." Aayla said. "We need to this now."

Ahsoka bit her tongue, gripping the steering tightly. "Switching off primary power units."

"Cutting it close, Commander." Rex said, looking at the ships distance from the incoming star.

"Steve." Aayla gestured the Captain over to a control panel. "Press this at the same time with me. Then hold that lever."

Following her instructions, the two did just that and Aayla turned to Tano.

"Ready to shut off Auxiliary power." Aayla said, both hers and Steve's hands gripping their levers at the ready.

"On three." Ahsoka said. "1… 2… 3!"

Ahsoka shut down all power and the recoil of exiting Hyperspace was strong with Rex, Steve and Aayla now dangling in the air whilst holding on for dear life. The blazing star was dead ahead and they were approaching it fast.

"We're out of Hyperspace." Bly yelled out. "Resume all power, now."

Both Steve and Aayla pulled their switches down and Ahsoka instantly fired up the engines.

Narrowly skimming the stars upper atmosphere, everyone could feel the momentary intense heat of the star until Ahsoka flew out of its range.

Then came the warning systems of a damaged thruster.

"Well, we're not crashing into any star but we are gonna hit that planet." Ahsoka miserably announced.

Rex went over to a speaker for the ship and spoke into it. "Brace for impact."

Ahsoka grasped the controls firmly. "Get ready to pull up with me, Commander."

Bly silently nodded, copying the young Padawans movement and held on tightly.

The ship shook heavily as it entered the new planet's atmosphere, the corvette momentarily ablaze which only served to further damage the engines that were now breaking apart.

"NOW!"

Both Ahsoka and Bly pulled up as hard as they could, the ship jolting up a sharp angle.

Eventually after several seconds of falling, the back half of the ship struck the ground first with the rest coming down hard.

Rex, Aayla and Steve flew up into the air and landed on the ground sprawled out.

Grunting, Steve hefted himself back up to his feet, going over to help Rex up a second later.

He turned to see Aayla still down though she was sitting up massaging her temple.

"You alright, General?" Steve asked respectfully.

"Yes, Captain." Aayla nodded. "A bit dazed from the landing is all."

Offering her a hand, she graciously accepted, easily being lifted back up to stand.

"Thank you, Captain."

Steve only nodded, holding up his wrist comm. "Scott, what's your status?"

He heard a soft grunt, followed by metal scrapping. "Alive. But I think I hit my ass on the way down."

"And Anakin?"

"Kept him on the bed." Scott said. "He's breathing and all."

Ahsoka heard all this and let out a relieved sigh, leaning back on her seat and placing a hand over hear rapidly beating heart.

Rex had departed from the Pilot's room to check up on the other Clones.

He saw them all, with Hevy and Fives assisting Cutup while Echo was over with the other three clones from Bly's corps.

"Everyone alright in here?" Rex asked. "Any injuries?"

"Just rattled mostly, sir." Hevy answered. "Just need a moment to catch our breath."

"We'll need to do a quick inventory and status check on the ship." Rex said.

"I'm good to go, Captain." Fives spoke up.

Rex nodded. "Cameron, your with us. The rest of you, gather what you can and get off the ship."

Meanwhile, Aayla, Ahsoka, Scott and Steve carefully took Anakin out from the Medbay onto the crash landed planets' surface.

"We made it." Aayla said, somewhat alleviated from this whole mess. "And Master Skywalker is still alive."

"I'm just glad he wasn't awake for that landing." Ahsoka quipped.

"You would have made him proud." Aayla said sincerely.

"In what? Crashing 101?" Scott couldn't help but remark earning a pout from the Padawan.

After retrieving a few supplies from the ship, the Clones, Jedi and Avengers began to set up a makeshift camp. They had tried to get some of the other ships functions going, primarily the communications but unfortunately it was too damaged from the crash

A small fire was going while Rex and Steve made a tent of sorts to keep Anakin somewhat comfortable.

"We can't stay here for long." Steve said, looking around at the endless savannah like planet surface. "There's not enough supplies to keep Anakin here stable."

"Agreed." Aayla nodded. "Skywalker will not last much longer if we simply sit about. We must find help tonight."

"How do we do that?" Scott asked. "This place reminds of a continent back home… one with a lot of predators."

"We'll split up, cover more ground that way. We've got the numbers for it." Steve said, getting a nod of agreement from Aayla.

"Captain Rogers is right." Aayla said. "Bly, Flash, Lucky, Cameron. The four of you will come with me and Ahsoka to the south."

"What?" Ahsoka clearly was not expecting this. "B-but… I can't leave my master behind like this. If it were me, Master Skywalker wouldn't abandon me either."

"Ahsoka." Aayla placated, placing her hands on the young Togrutans shoulders. "Believe me when I say that I understand your concern for your Master. Master Vos and Tholme always did the same for me. But the only way you can help your master is by finding it. We must keep calm and rational heads right now. For all our sakes."

Rex stepped forward. "Don't worry, kid. I'll stay behind and watch out for the general."

"Scott." Steve said to the ex-con. "Stay here with Rex to. Don't want any surprises for him or Anakin."

"Are you sure, Cap?" Scott asked, not exactly keen on the idea of separating.

"We have to if we wanna help Anakin and get off this planet."

"Hey, everyone!"

All heads turned by the sudden call from Clone Trooper Echo who ran up to them holding a strange wooden plank.

He held it up for all to see. "I don't think we're alone on this planet."

On the plank was a bipedal sapient being wielding a spear in the face of a quadrupedal beast of some kind.

Soon after, the group had gathered their supplies and weapons with Domino squad being assigned to Captain Rogers as he was heading North.

"General Secura." Bly spoke up. "What exactly is the plan here for us?"

"As risky as this sounds, we'll need to find the natives of this planet. Perhaps they can be of assistance." Aayla answered.

"With respect general, how are we going to find them?" Bly inquired.

Ahsoka took a moment to walk over to Echo who was still analyzing the wooden plank.

"Echo, may I?" Ahsoka politely held out her hand with the clone handing the plank over to her.

"They went through great lengths to make that tree really intricate." Echo noted as he handed off the wood.

"They did." Ahsoka agreed, hands grazing over the carvings. "I think that the natives of this planet may live by large trees. Probably around or within them."

"An astute observation, Padawan." Aayla praised. "Come, we need to get moving while we still have light."

Ahsoka went over to Anakin who remained unconscious and kneeled down to him.

"I'll be back with help soon, Master." Ahsoka said assuredly. "Rex and Mr. Lang will keep you safe."

"Don't worry Commander." Rex said resolutely. "No harm will come to the general."

"Yeah, cross our hearts." Scott said earning bewildered looks from the clones and Jedi.

Blinking a moment, Scott let out a small 'oh' of realization. "Right, right, keep forgetting. Sorry guys, Earth expression from back home."

Aayla turned to Rex. "Captain, keep your locator on. We'll be back by daybreak with whatever we find to help."

"Yes, General." Rex said, placing a hand on Ahsoka's shoulder for a brief moment. "Good luck kid."

Giving him a strained smile, the two groups soon split off in their directions leaving Rex and Scott with Anakin.

A moment later, Scott walked over to the tent and plopped himself down in front of it letting out a long sigh.

"Alright." Scott groaned, helmet snapping off. "That was a long day."

Though this was the first time Rex had been left by himself with an Avenger, he didn't disagree with the sentiment.

"You said it, Mr. Lang."

"Ah." Scott waved Rex down. "Just call me Scott, Captain."

_Scene cut_

Captain Rogers walked ahead of Domino squad, helmet on with his shield held firmly in his hand.

The rest of Domino squad marched behind him, a bit of distance from him though not far.

"So that's the guy who's the leader of the Avengers." Echo murmured in slight awe.

"The guy who leads colonel Rhodes." Fives whispered.

"Wonder how a Colonel follows a Captain." Echo mused.

"I don't get how that shield works." Hevy murmured, eyeing the star spangled metal circle. "Does he throw it or something?"

"From what I hear, he does." Cutup said.

"How does that work?" Echo said thoughtfully.

"Well he must be really good if colonel Rhodes follows him." Fives remarked.

Steve continued walking ahead until he heard something, halting in his tracks and holding his free hand up signaling for the Clones to stop.

He motioned his hands down, getting to his knees with the clones copying his movement.

Glancing to the Clones, Steve motions them to get closer.

"There's something moving out there." Steve said in a low voice. "Something bigger than us."

"What was it?" Fives asked, his voice also low.

Steve looked to the squad. "Echo, correct?"

"Yes sir."

"Those binoculars on your helmet work?"

"Always."

Understanding the unspoken order, Echo lower his Marco-binoculars over his visor and scanned the area.

He looked around for several moments until halting upon several large hulking figures not that far from them.

The creatures were quadrupedal with fur around their front hind legs, three claw toed feet and a head and beak with features similar to that of aviation based species.

There were about a half dozen or so, possibly more and they all moving together as a pack.

"They don't look friendly." Echo said straight away.

"What is it?" Hevy asked.

"Not sure." Echo said, going into his pouch strapped to his left thigh and handing a second pair of binoculars over to Hevy. "But they're definitely predators."

The fives of them each took a moment to look the creatures over.

"What do we do Captain?" Cutup asked.

"Stay back and stay low." Steve ordered. "We'll move around them carefully. We don't wanna spook them. If they're a pack, they're might be more nearby."

Nodding, Cap remained crouched down as he slowly moved forward with the Clones right on his tail though he told them to try to remain as low as possible.

Their white armor with the blue accents was a bit too obvious to see.

However, Steve signaled for them to stop again.

The creatures were making loud sounds, with the head of the pack letting out a screech before they all ran off into the distance.

Seeing that they were in the clear, the group rose up though clearly confused as to why the creatures just ran off.

"What was that about?" Cutup asked aloud.

"Must've been spooked by something." Echo surmised.

"That may be the case." Fives said.

Steve instead chose to walk over to where those creatures once prowled, seeing if there could be anything useful.

What he found was a spear and some rope.

"What'd you find, Captain?" Hevy asked.

"Looks like the locals encountered these creatures earlier." Steve noted, picking up the spear and inspecting it.

"Think they were hunting them?" Echo guessed.

"More like defending their homes and…" Steve's eyes widened upon seeing something off in the distance.

"Get down." Steve said sharply, as he dropped to his stomach with Domino squad doing the same.

"Sir? What's wrong?" Fives asked. "Did you see something?"

Crawling over to them, he held out his hand to Echo with the Clone Trooper handing him a pair of Macro-binoculars. Looking through the scopes, Steve's jaw clenched while holding out the scopes to Hevy.

"11 o'clock." Steve held out his arm in said direction only to get a bit of a stare from Hevy.

Blinking, Steve realized… "Oh, right. That's a military expression on Earth. I'll tell you about it later. Look there."

Complying, Hevy looked through the scopes in the direction that Steve pointed to and his form immediately tensed up.

"Is that…?"

"Droids." Steve confirmed grimly. "Looks like we landed on a separatist occupied world. From the tank and infantry, it's safe to say that it's a patrol."

"What the hell are droids doing on a backwater planet like this one?" Cutup asked, now holding his rifle up in case any blasting needed to be done.

"Keep that blaster down, Cutup." Fives hissed. "You'll only alert them to our presence."

"He's right." Steve said, eyes on the AAT tank off in the distance. "Aayla, Bly, Rex and the others may be unaware of the CIS being here. Are our long range communicators working?"

"Yes sir, but the closest one is only Captain Rex so far." Echo responded.

"Contact him right away and tell him what we found." Steve ordered.

"What about the droids, sir?" Fives asked.

"We're gonna follow them." Steve answered. "If this is a patrol force then there's a chance that they'll lead us to a base. A base we can possibly infiltrate and use to get into contact with the Republic."

"Great thinking, Cap." Hevy praised before back pedaling a bit. "Er, I meant Captain. Captain Steve… I mean, Rogers, sir."

Steve gave the trooper an amused grin. "Cap works fine, Hevy."

_Scene cut._

During Cap and Domino's squad trek up north, Aayla, Ahsoka, and their group of clones ran southward with some moments of respite in between.

Currently walking at the head of the unit with Ahsoka by her side, Aayla scanned the seemingly endless horizon for anything other than tall grass with patches of barren land.

She took a moment to look over to the young Padawan, finding the still dejected expression present since the start of this journey.

"I sense you are still conflicted on leaving Anakin behind." Aayla abruptly said, cutting through Ahsoka's thoughts.

She looked up at the older Jedi knight and gave her a sheepish face. "Am I really that easy to read?"

"Only to a professional." Aayla said good naturedly. "Then again, it takes one to know one."

Ahsoka gave her a curious look. "What do you mean?"

Aayla looked ahead with a reminiscent gaze, her lip quirking upward for a moment.

"My masters basically raised me." Aayla said with a fond smile. "Quinlan Vos, Tholme, T'ra Saa. The three of them are the closest thing I've ever had to a genuine family within the order. I can't deny that some of their more rebellious tendencies rubbed off on me and I can see the same attitude in Anakin and yourself."

Ahsoka blushed somewhat embarrassedly at that statement, upon remembering all of the quirks her mast had that she herself had now. Especially with the constant crashing's of a ship.

"And there's nothing to be ashamed of in that." Aayla said kindly, placing a comforting hand on her shoulder.

Ahsoka gave her a grateful smile only for it to drop a moment later.

"I still don't like that we left him behind. The Jedi code tells us to be detached, yet compassionate. That we shouldn't care about ourselves but for everyone as a whole." Ahsoka said. "It feels… contradictory really."

"Masters, Tholme, Vos and Saa would like you a great deal Padawan." Aayla remarked. "They to constantly question the Jedi codes tenants. Though not its purpose. Something they made sure I am aware of as well and it appears Anakin and Obi-wan Kenobi, whom you train under follow."

"And what's that?"

"Our duty to the galaxy." Aayla said. "Contradictions and all. But you must also remember a lesson that Master Tholme taught me a long time ago. Don't throw away a thousand lives just to save one."

Ahsoka looked down to the ground. "I know that Master Secura. That doesn't mean I can't try to do it anyway."

Aayla only gave the Padawan a light smile, understanding her plight when Bly spoke up.

"General, up ahead."

Looking up, both Jedi and Clones saw a distinctively large tree not far in the distance.

"Let's move men." Aayla declared, with the group breaking into a sprint.

They soon arrived at the base of the tree to find it relatively deserted.

"Ok, so a big tree." Ahsoka mused aloud. "But no life around it."

"Could be in the tree itself, commander." One of the clones, Lucky, guessed.

"Possibly." Aayla said.

"I found something." Bly's voice echoed from around a large root jutting out from the ground that made its own archway.

Moving around the root, they found Commander Bly along with Flash standing before an oddly shaped ovular rock.

"What's that?"

"Looks like a boulder or something." Cameron said.

Ahsoka approached the strange object and rapped her knuckles against it.

"Hmm, I don't think it's a rock." Ahsoka said. "More like an oversized nut or seed."

"But looks like there's no life here to put this to use." Bly said.

"LOOK OUT." Aayla cried out, using a force pull to reign in Ahsoka, Bly and Flash.

The spot where they once stood was suddenly occupied by another one of those large seeds/nuts from the overgrown tree with several more falling around them.

"No wonder there's nobody living around this place." Ahsoka exclaimed. "You'd be crazy to dodge those on a daily basis."

While the clones and Padawan kept their eyes above at the tree canopy, Aayla instead scanned the area and found several peculiar sights.

The sights being a group of craters near the base of the tree on the other side with a trail going off in one direction down the hill this tree stood upon and over another far in the distance.

"Maybe nobody lives around here." Aayla said aloud, gaining her groups attention. "But someone or something intelligent enough seems to have found some kind of use for these things. The trail leads in that direction over the hill."

_Scene cut_

Back with Scott and Rex, the former of the two sat within the tent taking the time to make some adjustments on his suit and see if there were anything wrong with it.

Rex sat at the front, helmet lights on as he checked over the tall grass.

"You hear that rustling again?" Scott asked from within the tent.

"Yeah, there is definitely something out there."

"Droids?" Scott asked nervously.

"Nah, less they have stealth models they would've just outright attacked us by now." Rex stated.

They had remained here since the departure of their allies, though they were now more tense then ever after they got the message from Steve and Domino squad about a separatist presence on the planet.

Rex had gone back into the crashed corvette and managed to withdraw some heavier weaponry and bombs along with a portable shield generator in case of any surprises. Scott had been going over his suit in the meantime to keep himself calm while waiting for Cap and the others' eventual return.

His work process was cut off suddenly by a pained grunt from beside him.

Scott looked down to see Anakin had at long last regained consciousness though the pain he held was clear as day.

"Anakin." Scott said softly, gaining Rex's attention who moved over to be beside his general. "Don't move so much, buddy. You got really hurt."

"Scott is right, General. Take it easy, you've had a long day." Rex said.

Anakin only shook his head, throat dry and head sore as he craned his head up.

"There's something out there." Anakin hissed out with a pained breath.

Just as he said that, an inhuman screech echoed around them.

Out from the grass in front of them, a quadrupedal beast with a bird beak for a mouth sprang out from the tall grass and sprinted full speed towards them.

Scott's eyes widened in shock while Rex shot forward, blasting at it.

However it was too close by that point and with its heads, barreled through Rex. The Clone Captain was sent flying back through the tent causing it to collapse upon Scott and Anakin.

Sensing that the latter of the two closest to it was the weakest, the creature jumped forward at Anakin with its mouth wide open.

"NO!"

Only for Scott to shove himself forward against the beast. The beast didn't take to kindly to this, responding by biting into the Scott's arm and sinking the sharp edges and lower teeth of its beak into his left arm.

"AURGH." Scott yelled out in agony as the creature attempted to thrash him around though he resisted as much as he could.

Just as fast as it had its jaws around the ex-con's arm was it let go as Rex had recovered quickly and shot the creature in the head, killing it.

Wrenching his arm away, Scott moaned out and cradled his bleeding arm while testing its movements.

"Just looks like a flesh wound sir." Rex assure, using the cloth of the ruined tent to quickly wrap up Scott's new injury.

Scott winced from the tight bandaging of his arm but gave the Captain a grateful pat on his shoulder with his good hand.

Looking over, he saw Anakin was still conscious but only just.

"Check on him." Scott said, shakily get to his feet with Rex helping him and the two went over to see Anakin was relatively unharmed. Well… no more unharmed then he already was. Which he was… badly.

"Hope they return soon." Rex said grimly. "Otherwise we're a sitting meal ticket for both the Seps and whatever the hell that was just now."

"You said it, Rex." Scott grimaced, nursing his injured arm.

The day went on into the night until daybreak came with Aayla's group at long last arriving at a large village with the pods from the trees made into makeshift homes.

"Pod central."

Ahsoka said in relief, sharing a smile with Aayla.

The group entered the village and found it inhabited by short, thin, furry, Lemuriod type of species that reached up to their wastes.

Many backed away fearfully and nervously, staring at the newcomers to their village with great fright save for one distinguished individual with a beard and yellow robe.

"Lurmen." Aayla recognized the species.

"You know them?" Ahsoka inquired, unfamiliar with the species.

"They are natives to the planet Mygeeto. I was unaware that they had a colony here."

The chief looking Lurmen approached them with a purpose, eyeing the group suspiciously.

"Who might you be?" he asked, somewhat hostile. "More of those aggressive Separatists? Come to claim yet more territory for your _glorious revolution?_ "

"Separatists?!" Ahsoka repeated in alarm.

"We are Jedi from the Galactic Republic." Aayla quickly answered. "We come in peace. Our ship crashed with one of us being gravelly injured. Please, I beg of you, we need your help."

The chief however could only look at them bitterly. "At the outbreak of war, we came and colonized this planet to remain neutral and hold a solace of peace. Instead, those wretched separatists and their incessant Battle Droids found this colony and since then has been harassing this village and my people. None of us have been killed or injured but with your arrival here that unstable peace has now been threatened outright."

"But we're on the side of good." Ahsoka said determinedly. "We're fighting for freedom, not enslavement like this."

"We are not enslaved." The chief shot down. "Nor are you freedom fighters or peace keepers. You Jedi have deluded yourselves into believing that while the entire galaxy rests on the brink. Now, I must ask you to leave at once. I do not wish to incur the wrath of the Droids stationed upon this planet."

"We can't do that." Ahsoka said resolutely. "If there are droids on this planet harassing you then it is our duty as Jedi and Clones to fight them."

"Violence only incurs more violence." The Chief countered. "It is an endless cycle that is perpetuated by your own aggressive words and thoughts, young one. It's bad enough that other off worlder has been harassing the Droid base. I knew I shouldn't have helped her."

Confused as to who they were talking about, Cameron abruptly yelped waving his arms around for a brief moment.

"Cameron?" Bly inquired. "What's wrong?"

Taking off his helmet, the clone looked around intensely with slight bewilderment.

"I thought I saw something fly in front of my helmet." Cameron explained. "It looked like… like a human. Or a fairy. It had little insect wings."

"Ah, there she is." The Chieftain said with a roll of his eyes.

"Father." A young Lurmen with a vest and rusted hat admonished. "Don't be so rude. You know that were it not for her, we would be in a much worse state then we already are."

Though the chief wished to argue against his son, he knew that the boy wasn't wrong.

Grumbling a bit, the Chieftain spotted a small dot zipping about. "Hope, reveal yourself. These are not the separatists. They mean us no harm."

Ahsoka's eyes snapped in the direction of the Chief, before looking around rapidly.

"Wait…" Ahsoka strained her memory to way earlier in the day, before the battle, before the crash landing on this planet.

Back in the Resolutes hangar bay where she and Scott Lang shared a brief conversation.

"Hope?" Ahsoka said aloud, making some stare at her now. "Hope Van Dyne? Also known as the Wasp of the Avengers?"

At this point the Clones and Aayla gaped upon hearing Ahsoka's callout.

No sooner, something or really someone appeared before them in a manner identical to another enhanced individual currently looking out for an injured Jedi Knight.

Her suit while color schemed and patterned differently held clear similarities to Scott's with the helmet being a dead giveaway.

Said helmet retracted revealing a young woman with long hair tied back into a pony tail.

She stared at Ahsoka suspiciously yet the Padawan could only smile brightly at her.

"How do you know who I am?" She asked warily.

Ahsoka only laughed heartily. "Scott is going to be relieved to see you again."

Hope Van Dyne's heart nearly stopped, her breath stalling momentarily.

"Scott…?" Hope whispered, praying this wasn't some joke.

The Chieftain had watched all this and only sighed.

"Wag too." The Chief spoke to his son. "Gather some supplies and go with them. As much as I do not wish for it, I cannot ignore a plea for help."

Hearing this, Ahsoka beamed though the Chief added to his statement.

"On one condition. One of you Jedi must stay while the rest of you leave. If the Separatists return and discover a sizeable presence of you all it would mean the end of my village."

Aayla was all too willing to step forward and volunteer. She told Ahsoka and the Clones to get back to the campsite near the crashed ship with post haste.

Not arguing her orders, Ahsoka was already running out from the village back in the direction of her master while calling on the Wasp to follow her.

_Scene Cut_

Scott Lang, Captain Rex and Anakin Skywalker had survived a rather long and arduous night.

Since their first attack, the trio has had to deal with an entire pack of these bestial creatures all night long and well into the morning. Rex stood in front of Scott who was supporting Anakin up with his uninjured arm while the Jedi shakily held up his lightsaber. The Clone Captain faced off against the last two that were standing a few yards away from them, pawing at the ground and hissing at them.

"They're determined, that's for sure." Anakin strained dryly.

"Did we crash land on their turf or something?" Scott asked aloud. "Seriously, is there nothing to eat out here other than us?"

"Here they come!" Rex announced allowed, leveling his rifle at the now charging beast.

What they did not expect was a red, silver and blue circular disk to bash into the neck of the head creature that was running towards them while the other one was quickly gunned down by blaster fire.

"Cap." Scott said in utter relief, watching the shield return to its owner who stood before domino squad.

"Sorry we took so long, Captain Rex." Echo said aloud.

"Yeah, we got side tracked by Clankers." Fives said, the squad approaching them. "We followed a patrol back to a base stationed on this planet."

"Have the others returned yet?" Steve asked until he saw Scott's bandaged arm. "Scott? What happened here? Did you guys get attacked?"

"Yeah, by those assholes right there." Scott said in annoyance. "But we're alive."

"Master! Rex! Captain!"

All heads turned to see the return of Ahsoka, Bly, Flash, Cameron and Lucky along with a strange rolling creature that soon jumped up and unfurled itself to reveal an odd bipedal simian.

However, that wasn't who Scott and Steve were focusing on.

Their eyes instead rested on the woman who stood next to Ahsoka before she began approaching the two slowly.

Anakin, sensing Scott's desire to go to the woman, casually threw his arm around Rex who looked at the general with surprise until he gestured his head back to Scott who practically ran forward.

"Hope!" Scott cried out in pure joy with the woman of his affections meeting him half way and jumping into his arms.

Kissing him fiercely and lovingly, Hope held on tightly to her boyfriend letting a few tears of joy upon seeing him once more.

Scott only laughed, hugging her once more with no intentions of letting go.

Hope held him with all her strength, opening her eyes for a moment and spotting a smiling Captain America.

Detaching herself from Scott, she hugged Steve a moment later with Steve doing the same in complete relief.

"It's good to see you again, Hope." Steve said jokingly.

"Good to see you to, Cap." Hope said, smiling up at the super soldier feeling Scott wrap his arm around her.

Off to the side, Ahsoka went up to Anakin who was leaning on Rex for support with a casual smirk on his face despite his current physical state.

"Heya Snips." Anakin said tiredly. "I see you've been busy."

"I could say the same for you." Ahsoka teased, though it was clear for Anakin to see just how worried she was for him.

Anakin chuckled only to grunt in pain, favoring his ribs.

Remembering who she came with, Ahsoka looked back to the Lurmen who was approaching them.

"Master, this is Wag Too." Ahsoka introduced the Lurmen. "He's a healer from his village who will help you get better."

"You'll be feeling as good as new in no time at all." Wag Too promised sincerely. "Get a stretcher prepped for him and come back to the village. The rest of my herbs and medicine is there. I'll also treat your friend there with the arm. Mastiff Phalone's all have a nasty bite to them."

"That's what they're called?" Rex dryly asked. "I'd rather prefer beak head or an honest pain in the ass."

Taking what remaining supplies they could carry with them as well as make the stretcher for Anakin, everyone soon returned to the Lurmen village where Aayla was awaiting their return.

Giving them a pleased smile, she congratulated Ahsoka on a job well done.

Anakin was taken to Wag's personal hut where the Lurmen administered the necessary procedures to help fully heal Anakin.

In the meantime, the rest of the clones either stood by or helped out a few of the natives get their errands done with the villagers offering them something to eat which they graciously accepted.

Scott and Hope were basically inseparable with Hope herself using the oils of the pods to bandage up her boyfriends arms.

Ahsoka and Aayla sat by themselves atop the hill that overlooked the village with small winged creatures casually gliding around them.

"You were right all along master Secura." Ahsoka said, breaking the silence.

"About what, Ahsoka?"

The young Togruta picked up a rock and levitated it slightly off from her palm. "Had I stayed with Anakin at the ship, I never would have found this place with you and get the help needed to heal him."

"You two also found a lost Avenger."

Both women turned to see Captain America walking up to them and seated himself next to Aayla.

"I owe the both of you more than you know for that." Steve said earnestly. "Thank you both for finding Hope."

"Come now Captain Rogers." Aayla said good naturedly. "It was you, Ahsoka and Anakin that came to my rescue when we called out for help. My Corps and I owe you our lives for what you did."

"So should we call it even then?" Steve said.

"I think that is hardly enough." Aayla remarked with a kind smile. "Though I can sense you would be stubbornly insistent."

"Kinda like a Jedi." Ahsoka said brightly.

Aayla chuckled when she turned somber. "We still need to find a way off this planet."

"And there's that separatist base Domino squad and I found." Steve said grimly.

"So the Chief wasn't just saying that for nothing." Ahsoka said glumly. "There really are Seps on this planet."

"We shall deal with them when the time comes, Padawan." Aayla assured. "For now, let us use the time we have a recuperate. Your master, Mr. Lang and our troops need it for tomorrow."

"Yeah, go down and rest with Skywalker Ahsoka." Steve advised. "You've had a long day."

Ahsoka, rather than argue, knew it was best to follow Cap's advice as she quite literally felt a wave of exhaustion creeping up on her.

Bidding the two good night, Aayla and Steve remained seated upon the hill watching the sun set over the village.

"You helped save a great deal of my men today, Captain Rogers." Aayla said suddenly. "Say what you will but your arrival along with Skywalker, Lieutenant Wilson and Colonel Rhodes was more than enough to keep my Corps from fizzling out and dying."

"We did what we had to." Steve plainly said, knowing this to be true. "These Seps…. They use disposable metal but the Clones and the Jedi? Well, both may have been raised from infancy to fight for a greater cause and as much as I dislike that you're all still living beings. It's part of the job."

Aayla gave the Captain a curious expression, humming to herself.

"When Master Saa and Tholme explained to me that you are wiser then you seem it appeared to be true."

Steve hung his head slightly. "If only that were true."

"Come now, Captain Rogers." Aayla comforted. "Today, you save the lives of thousands of soldiers and reunited with one of your lost friends. Allow yourself this moment. You earned it after all."

Normally, Captain America would be one to object to this but right now he was content to just watch the sun of this planet go down.

Cap would always be that one man to tell others to rest while never doing so himself. Yet Aayla Secura, a warrior of principle and discipline like himself was telling him to do so.

And right now, after finding another one of his lost friends he doesn't mind that.

"Thank you again… Aayla."

"And to you as well… Steve."

**Well that was break neck, oh man my fingers are burning.**

**Whew, so yeah that's right everyone Wasp has been found and her story will be told next.**

**Really falling asleep at the keyboards as I write this message so enjoy the read guys like usual.**

**Rate Read and Review and as Always Have Nice Day.**


	12. A Reason To Fight

**There is nothing better than having a true friend and comrade like Jebest to help you out in a pinch when you need it.**

**I am nowadays only able to work on chapters in large bursts now due to my scheduling and thanks in no small part to Jebest, this chapter was finished in a literal day considering the time frame.**

**A day was all it took and I couldn't be happier for it.**

**Now, I really cannot lie that I badly wanna get to the end of this season cause seasons 2 and 3 are where things really start to pick up so forgive me if any of you find this chapter lacking but right now I really REALLY wanna get to the bigger things I have planned cause the bigger events are galaxy shaking.**

**So on with the show**

**Rate Read and Review and as Always Have Nice Day.**

Avengers Infinite Wars Chapter 12: A Reason To Fight

"What are we looking at here, Hope?"

Kneeling down in the cover of the tall grass, Steve Rogers, Scott Lang, Hope Van Dyne Pym, Aayla Secura and Commander Bly observed a Separatist base from afar, stationed on the now identified planet of Maridun.

From afar, they watched as droid patrols went about their programmed duties while staying close to the base.

Dawn was breaking upon Maridun. The rest of their comrades had been left behind at the Lurmen village allowing time for Anakin to heal up properly and the Clones to rest while they scouted out the CIS base nearby.

"This is the base that's been stationed here, apparently before I was found by the Lurmen." Hope quickly explained.

"And it's just been here all this time?" Aayla inquired.

"Afraid so."

"Don't know about you," Scott began, rubbing his chin while scrutinizing the base. "But this place must've had been built for over a month ago; given how fast construction is compared to back _home_."

"And asides from making a base here, what _have_ they been doing?" Inquired Commander Bly. "I don't see any signs of them making a droid factory around the vicinity." He turned over to Hope. "Could there be one inside?"

"Not one that I know of. But they are making something." Hope kept eyeing the enemy base as she continued. "Been seeing ships flying in and out of this place with various parts. Haven't been able to get a good look on what they're making; so sorry in advance. And I haven't been able to know the local written language here, so I haven't been able to know _what_ exactly are on their servers."

Steve pondered on the details and gave his thoughts. "Asides from this being a CIS base, this could be a testing vicinity."

Scott hummed. "Makes sense. Far off location in Neutral Space, where no one would suspect the enemy to be stationed. And with the privacy, they could have all the time needed with whatever nefarious plans being cooked up."

This got certain stares coming from others.

"What?" Scott said in a low tone. "This is practically screaming it… And… I've been rewatching a few old shows on my phone again… so there's that…"

"...G.I. Joe?" Came Hope's guess, earning a bewildered look from her boyfriend. She groaned soon after. "God, sometimes I forget how childish you are."

"Um… what are you guys talking about?" The Twi'lek Jedi asked aloud.

"Let's just say that when you're in a relationship with this man child, you know all his tendencies."

"And what's _that_ supposed to mean?" Scott crossed his arms in a playful, pouty mood.

"Can we focus here?" Steve said, getting back to the matter at hand. "We can discuss more on Scott's preferences at another time-"

"Hey!"

"-But we've got some investigating to do."

"And if we're lucky," Bly began, "We can snag one of the Sep ships and eventually get off planet."

"If there currently is one behind those walls." Aayla added in, getting 'obvious' and 'affirmative' like responses from the others beside her.

And it wasn't long before Hope and Scott shrunk down with Wasp flying into the air for a better look of things as she carried her boyfriend.

"So what is the point of this base way out in the middle of neutral space?" Steve asked as they started creeping along the tall grass. "Hope, do you see anything?"

"First off, there aren't any ships here. Second, they are definitely working on something in there." Hope stated as a spot light momentarily hit them, but was thankful that her presence didn't set off any alarms due to their size. "Since we're in a war, easy to guess that it's a weapon of some kind. But… whatever it is I can only guess."

"What do you see right now?" Steve asked.

"Just the standard stuff that they've been doing. There's a circle of those droids in the middle all looking over a cannon."

"A Cannon?" Bly repeated. "What, like artillery?"

"Possibly." Wasp said, flying down to get a closer look.

"Hey Cap." Scott spoke up over the comms. "Do you mind if I try something?"

"What is it?" Cap asked.

"Just wait a sec."

Scott rode an any down to a nearby droid, landing on its radio backpack attachment.

"Remember when I told you of me wanting to hack the droids back on the Malevolence?"

"Yeah?"

"Let's give it a try here." Scott said, rubbing his hands together.

"Woah! What the-" Spoke a droid before it suddenly went silent and leaned forward slightly.

Nearby, several droids noticed the momentary yelp of the droid.

"Hey, X-29, what's going on?"

X-29 remained silent until it jolted up, raising its arm to rub its head.

"W-W-What?" It swerved its head side to side and looked at it's fellow droids. "Why are you crowding me?"

"You seemed to have malfunctioned and shut off all of a sudden."

"O-Oh!" X-29 waved it off. "I-I didn't know that."

"Do you need to get checked into maintenance?"

"Uh... maybe?"

"Go on X-29, we have you covered."

Nodding, the commandeered droid began walking in a random direction.

Wasp floated above, looking down curiously as to what exactly was going on below her.

"Scott?"

"Don't know about you guys, but I feel weird being the puppeteer here." Spoke the droid in an odd tone all too familiar to the Avengers. "Wonder if this is how that Ultron guy was like doing his thing."

"...What did you do?" Steve asked

"Let's say I'm somewhat experiencing what it's like being inside Tony's Hulkbuster suit." Came Antman's response in the B-1 battledroid's voice. "Given my shrunken size and all."

"When did you learn that?" Bly couldn't help but ask in slight awe.

"Actually, Anakin helped me sometime after the Malevolence mission." Scott remarked. "He told me about Droids having a central command usually that allows them all to function. So I figured I could cut off the transmission of whatever is keeping this bot going and input my own commands."

Aayla seemed very impressed in hearing this. "Very well done, Mr. Lang. I have no doubt Skywalker will enjoy hearing your success in your little project."

"Just call me Scott, general." Scott said cheerfully.

"You guys have been busier than I thought." Hope stated, giving Scott a fond look below.

"Honey, you have no idea." Her boyfriend jokingly said before dread filled his voice. "And all the reading…" The B-1 battledroid suddenly clasped its head and massaged it like having a migraine. "Oh all that reading and studying."

"I thought you had a Masters degree in engineering?" Hope asked with a laugh.

"Yeah, and I thought I was done with that." Scott countered as he maneuvered his puppet to point at his girlfriend as they crossed into the inner workings of the Sep base. "Besides, Engineering has always been a hands on learning experience for me. But since coming to this neck of the universe, I've been given more college classes to go through."

"Alright you two, focus up." Steve said in amusement. "What do you both see?"

"Just the usual still." Hope replied. "Scott, take a left up ahead. That's the armory up ahead."

The puppeted B-1 droid nodded as it walked along the hallway with Hope absentmindedly sitting on its shoulder. She looked around and was at the ready in case she needed to duck into the commandeered droid's paneling to hide. But luckily for her, any and practically all enemy droids didn't pay attention in their direction.

Entering the armory, it was rather underwhelmingly small. Akin to a walk in closet that's really doubled in size.

"See anything useful?" Aayla asked through the comms.

"Aside from all these guns, there's this weird dome thingy here on the ground." Scott said, looking down on it.

"Dome thingy?"

Ant-Man groaned. "Sorry~ an energy barrier… Happy?"

"...You could've just said that in the first place." Spoke the Twi'lek.

"What is it?" Hope inquired.

"A deflector shield generator." Bly quickly answered from outside the base. "We could use that for later if the droids here get a little suspicious." A groan escaped his lips. "Too bad we can't take them with us now. Very awkward to even move them over a long distance without a ship.

"How do we get it out of the base though?" Aayla mused aloud. "It's small enough to be carried but it may be detrimental."

"That's what we're here for." Wasp said, growing to full size. Pulling out a small disk from her belt, she adjusted its setting and threw the disk forward.

"...What are you talking about?" Aayla, who did not have a visual as to what they were doing did not see the shield generator shrink down.

Scott couldn't help but release a chuckle upon seeing what is in his girlfriend's grasp. "Oh you guys are in for one hell of a treat when we're back in friendly territory." The ex-con looked up and voiced the obvious question. "You wanna start back up the _collection_?"

The Van Dyne-Pym formed a smirk underneath her helmet. "Did you even need to remind me?"

"What?" Bly and Aayla shared a look and even Steve was somewhat confused.

"Guys?" Steve spoke. "What are you doing?"

"You're gonna love this Cap." Scott said excitedly. "I actually can't believe I didn't do it sooner. It would have been _real_ useful on the Malevolence to some of the Republic ships and bases we were previously on."

Steve only shook his head. "Okay you two, get out of there and see what else is here at the base." Steve ordered. "I wanna know the layout for later when it's time to raise this place to the ground."

"Ya got it."

"Of course."

"Let's pull back everyone. No need to press our luck."

_Scene Cut_

"Oh you gotta be fracking kidding me!"

"And why would we joke about that, Anakin." Scott spoke with the biggest grin he could ever muster.

"Cause I hate that I missed _that_." Anakin said in a joking childish tone upon hearing the droid puppeteering moment before gazing at the objects situated on his friend's palm. "So you guys shrunk _these_ down and took it with you? What else can you shrink down? As a matter of fact, does it still work?"

"Everything so far." Scott shrugged. "Actually, I don't know what it doesn't work on. Pym particles can be applied everywhere really."

Anakin gave the ex-con a hard stare. "Next time, you're _taking_ me with you."

"I promise."

"Ok, now that _that's_ settled." Steve dryly said. "How are you feeling, Anakin?"

"Better." Anakin grunted, rotating his shoulder. "But I am too sore. Give me a few more days and I'll be right as rain."

"Try not to move too much." Wag Too said on the side, coating the Jedi's next set of bandages with the healing salve of the pods. "You'll need to remain relaxed for the remainder of the day to fully recover."

Anakin obliged the Lurmen healer, laying back down. "Say, where's Ahsoka? And Rex?"

"Helping out the villagers with the clones go about their daily tasks." Aayla answered. "Rex is on the outskirts with Domino Squad and Bly. Keeping an eye on anything that may sneak up on us."

Anakin nodded at the information as he is out of commission for the time being, he very much appreciated being in the loop.

"Ahem."

Aayla turned behind her to see the Chief of the Lurmen and Steve Rogers standing at the entrance of Anakin's tent.

"I wish to speak with you and this shield fellow here in my personal tent, if you wouldn't mind a moment of your time."

Aayla quirked her brow, looking up at Steve for a brief moment who only shrugged his shoulders and simply gestured that they go along with this request.

Looking back down at the small biped, Aayla nodded and with Cap followed the chief towards the center of the village where the largest tent pod stood.

Entering the tent, The Chief held his hand up towards two spots with blankets as a place for them to seat themselves.

"So what did you want to discuss, sir?" Steve inquired sitting down next to Aayla.

The Chief waved his question down, first going about grabbing two cups and filling it with liquid and offering them both to drink.

Accepting the drinks graciously, the Jedi and Avenger exchanged looks whilst the Chief sat down on the opposite end of the fire that was lit in his hut.

"Your people have come at a very difficult time, both for my village and the galaxy." The chief began, looking tired. "For the past few weeks, those blasted droids have been coming through our village. No harm had come to us nor any damage but their presence disturbs our very way of life."

Both of his guests remained silent as he went on. "But now with your arrival here, I can only assume it'd be a matter of time until conflict breaks out. It is inevitable when two opposing forces are in such close proximity to one another."

"We did not mean to bring conflict to your home, Chieftain." Aayla said respectfully. "This was not what we intended."

"Be that as it may, you are here." The Chief said sharply, eyeing the blue twi'lek. "And with it, your war. Something my people and I came to this planet to avoid."

"These things happen, Chieftain." Steve spoke up. "Back on my homeworld, global war broke out affecting many innocent civilians that wanted nothing to do with the conflict. It was unavoidable in most cases."

"A fanciful excuse for you, maybe." The Chief shot back. "But we are a people of peace. We do not engage in violence for that only breeds more violence. The Jedi and the Republic claimed to have been champions of such conflict and yet here we all are. A galaxy embroiled in war with every planet getting caught in its crossfire."

"War is sometimes inevitable." Steve said firmly, eyes now locked with the Chiefs. "There are those in the galaxy who wish for the loss of lives to only further their own goals. That is an ideal that can't be dissuaded no matter how hard you try."

"And you would know this?"

"I speak from experience. I have known a great many deal of individuals that would rather prefer to resolve things with their power then with words."

"Chieftain, I understand your resolve but the Jedi share in this belief of peace." Aayla interjected. "Our duty is to the force and the galaxy."

"Peacekeepers?" The Chief said with slight disgust. "How can you call yourselves such things when engaging in battle and leading legions to their deaths?"

"The Separatists threatened the galaxies stability." Aayla said.

"So rather than coming to an agreement with these former senators, you instead resolved to settle this in War?" The chieftain shot back. "That seems rather simple minded of you and your order, Miss Jedi."

"War is never as simple as that, Chieftain." Steve gave the Chief a fierce look. "I learned this the hard way after discovering the horrors being conducted before the start of my war back on Earth. I learned that the Republic tried desperately to settle and avoid this war but as I've told an old friend of mine, every time you try to win a war before it starts, innocent people die. Every time."

"And yet, here we are." The Chieftain remained resolute. "The innocence of the galaxy being the true victims in this war."

"What about the Separatists outside your base?" Aayla pointed out. "They threaten your way of life as is by simply being here. What if they came in with the intent of abusing your hospitality?"

"We would not be offering any resistance."

"And _that_ is something they'd take advantage of and greatly abuse." Steve said straight away

"We have done nothing to provoke them."

"And I know this will sound stereotypical, but I'm afraid you all will be slaughtered if you do nothing; even at this time with the droid army at your doorstep. You should at least make an effort to either find someplace else to hide until this all blows over or defend yourselves."

"Mounting our defenses and engaging them in battle will make us no better than they are." Responded the Lurmen chief. "Our philosophies have kept us alive for generations and it will not stop. Not now or ever."

"Even at the cost of your very lives?" Aayla questioned, shocked at what she was hearing.

"...We will rather die than taking the lives of others."

Before their discussion could continue, the Lurmen chief's son entered the tent with a distressed look on his face.

"Wag Too, what's the matter?"

"The Separatists are here?"

Aayla and Steve looked at each other before the human Super Soldier spoke. "Where and how far?"

"Outside of the village and possibly minutes upon arrival."

"That's no good." Steve muttered out before making his way out of the tent with his Jedi companion. "We need to get the others out of here and hiding elsewhere. We aren't prepared for a fight just yet."

"And if they find any sign of us being here, then the Separatists will raze this village to the ground." Grimly spoke the Twi'lek.

Following right behind them was the village chief as he spoke up to them. "And it is your presence that endangers us all."

"We know that, sir, and neither of us want any of you in the crossfire."

"Which is why you _all_ must leave at once." Said the chieftain as he broke away from the taller people. "Now if you'll excuse me, I must attend to our new _guests_."

Both Aayla and Steve momentarily looked on before looking at each other. With nothing much to say, the pair ran off towards the others in hopes of getting the injured Anakin out in time.

As they made their way, they both knew they couldn't force the Lurmen into a war; no matter how bad it is.

_Scene Cut_

Rex, Fives and Echo used the tall grass as cover, observing a large separatist dropship high above slowly make its way down to the surface.

"What do you see, Captain Rex?" Commander Bly's voice inquired through the comms.

"Droid Dropship." Rex responded. "Nothing to big but since it's a dropship, no doubt a Separtist Cruiser is up above in orbit."

"Get out of there quickly." Bly instructed. "We're moving General Skywalker to safety."

"Copy that, Commander." Rex stood up with Fives and Echo and the trio ran back to the village.

Eventually, the droid ship touched down at the village outskirts.

With the soft clanking of wood against the earth, the Lurmen chieftain made his way closer and closer to the CIS droid shiop. He kept his gaze forward and held himself high -despite his hunched back- as a means of showing how strong of a character he was.

With the droids coming down the ramp, comprised of a contingent of B-1 and B-2 battle droids, they momentarily stopped before parting ways to reveal a pleasantly plump, male Neimoidian with several other individuals.

Undeterred, the Lurmen Chieftain drew closer while the Male Neimoidian stepped off his ship.

"Ah, so this is the planet then?" The Neimoidian held an air of smug arrogance as he asked one of the droids beside him.

"Affirmative, General." A green accented battle droid confirmed.

"Hmmm." The Separatist general mused until seeing the Lurmen Chief approach. "Hello there, I am General Lok Durk of the Sepratist Alliance."

"And I am Te Wa Kaa, leader of this colony. What do you-"

"I believe you are aware that you are under the protection of the Separatists, no?" The General cut him off.

"Your droid base is known here."

"Then you should consider yourselves fortunate in your luck by being under the umbrella of such an illustrious collection of free systems." Lok Durd arrogantly declared, walking away from the Chieftain who only glared slightly at the rotund form of the general.

Quickly catching up to him, Te Wa Kaa walked beside Durd in hopes of talking some sense to him as he was surrounded by a couple dozen sepratist droids.

"We are a peaceful people, General. We do not condone violence."

The Trade Federation general ignored the Lurmen chieftain by waving him off. "If you'd be so kind and stand aside. I'd like to inspect my new colony."

Te Wa Kaa could only look on as Lok Durd gave his droids the order to _inspect_ his village…

Well _inspect_ was a strong word… it was more like ransacking his peaceful village.

Many Lurmen cowered and ran in fear with the droids breaking apart various homes and held the citizens at gunpoint in case if any of them were to do anything _stupid_. But it was really hard for them to do such things, given their peaceful nature and upbringing.

Wag Too stood off in the far back with Ahsoka Tano beside him.

"What are they doing?" Wag asked in complete shock. "We haven't even done anything to them."

" _Those_ droids were programmed to do this." Ahsoka said bitterly, glaring at the clearly amused Lok Durd. "Programmed to follow whatever that fat shlob wants."

The present Avengers were feeling sick to their stomachs as neither of them could do anything to help these peaceful villagers.

"Are we really just gonna sit around here like this Cap?" Scott asked, clearly hating that all they could do was hide.

Ahsoka looked back as her eyes pleaded with the master Jedi and the Super Soldier on at least doing something for the Lurmen.

Unfortunately, Steve shook his head.

"As much as I hate to do this, we need to fall back."

"Agreed." Anakin looked over at the village's natural barrier. "All we can do now is hide in the tall grass and wait things out."

Ahsoka clenched her fists in frustration before acquiescing and following the Clones, Jedi Masters and Avengers out of sight for the moment.

Soon enough, the Droids continued their "inspection" of the village and returned to the Sep General.

"There is no evidence of any Republic contraband within the village." the lead Droid reported.

"This is not the first time your droids have done this to my people, General." Chief Wa Kaa stated.

"Then expect to have more of our inspections in the future, chieftain."

"Because we represent such a threat to your battle droids." The Chieftain sarcastically remarked before sagging his shoulders. "We will offer no resistance."

Lok Durd only laughed. "Your species is smarter than you look."

The Separatist forces departed a moment later leaving a clearly disgruntled Chieftain.

Wag Too, seeing his father return to the village, quickly ran up to his side.

"Father, are you hurt?"

Te Wa-Kaa only shook his head, though held a solemn expression.

"The Jedi and their allies are safe though." Wag too said.

"And yet, they nearly brought harm upon our people."

"Father, you can't go blaming them for something that's beyond their control." Wag Too defied his Father's words. "But now we have to deal with this new tyrant who won't be lenient now that he has control."

"I've just insured our peace." The Chief said affronted.

"By bowing to that demagogue?" Wag Too said challengingly. "Are we to do nothing while they harass us even more now."

"You would discard our very way of life?"

"If it means to ensure the safety of the village, yes." Wag Too firmly stated.

Wag Too could only look on with his father walking away. Clicking his tongue, the chieftain's son turned towards his friend.

"Mind going out there and finding the Jedi and their friends?"

"Of course, Wag Too." Was all the villager said as he jogged away and started his search.

In the tall grass over a vast distance away from the village, the Republic forces and Avengers waited about with each bearing a visible emotion to what they witnessed earlier.

Pacing in his spot, Rex released a frustrated sigh. "I just can't figure out why the Lurmen couldn't stand up and fight back. Lack of pride, I guess."

"More like lack of courage." Came Ahsoka's dry remark.

"Sometimes it takes courage to stick to one's beliefs, young padawan." Aayla sadly lectured. "As any Jedi well knows…"

Ahsoka could only look away, pulling out a small ration bar and bitterly eating it.

Before she could even take a bite out of it, she felt Hope place a hand on her shoulder.

"I know it peeves me too, Ahsoka, but we just can't force them out of something they've been practicing for years. It takes time to adjust."

"But what if they'll be too late?" Ahsoka asked.

"Good question, Snips." Anakin grunted. "But right now, our primary concern should be getting a ship off this planet."

"How would we do that, sir?" Hevy asked.

"Easy." Anakin held a mischievous grin. "A brand new craft just landed here, ripe for the taking."

"Stealing from the Separatists?" Rex said in the all too obvious happy tone. "Count me in."

"And we already know where the base is stationed." Scott pointed out, earning nods from the group. "So no need to go that far."

"And depending what is there, I'll be needing your help hijacking them Scott."

"Definitely."

"So what now?"

Hope was about to suggest something when she saw something at the corner of her eye. Turning her head, she most definitely spotted a red light amongst the tall grass.

"CAP!" Hope shouted, pointing at a grayish black droid that raised itself out from the cover of grass and moved to flee.

The group rounded about with the Clones quickly raising their basters and opened fired.

Steve quickly grabbed his shield from his back and flung it forward.

The shield dented the domed droid allowing the Clones to gun it down a moment later.

"...Damn, nice throw." Bly whistled out.

Steve walked up to his shield and picked it up while giving a brief 'thanks'. "Seems the Separatists wanted to be more thorough in their _inspection_ than just within the village borders.

"We'll need to move fast." Aayla stated. "We don't know if the droid broadcasted what we said already."

"Flash, Cameron, Lucky, the three of you go back to the village but stay out of sight." Bly ordered his troops. "If the Droids come back, let us know how much are we dealing with."

"Domino squad, you do the same." Rex added. "Better to be safe than sorry."

The respective troops gave their confirmations before running back towards the Lurmen village to carry out their assignment.

"Where are we going?" Ahsoka inquired.

"Overlooking their base, of course." Steve answered. "And if memory serves, there's a tree big enough to survey the valley."

"There." Aayla pointed up and off in the distance was the large tree.

"Gonna be quite the climb."

"For you guys." Scott said cheekily, shrinking down onto his miniature size.

"...That is _so_ unfair." Ahsoka said with puffed cheeks, already knowing what's bound to happen next.

"He can be such a child." Hope said until she herself grinned, shrinking down with her wings popping out. "And in this case, I agree with him."

Steve and Anakin could only roll their eyes as they trekked towards the large tree in the distance.

It had taken the regular sized people to climb the massive trunk, given what equipment they had on hand… or lack thereof. And with them high above the ground, the group stood atop of the large tree branches with the large separatist base off in the distance.

The lone Separatist Dropship stood in the center of the base with a reinforced Droid battalion now patrolling the areas.

"They really buffed themselves up." Scott murmured.

Steve eyed the base and from the side of eyesight he saw Anakin shudder and held a hand over his bandages.

"And here comes the welcome wagons." Skywalker commented, seeing the train of Droid tanks rolling out of the parked enemy ship.

"You sure you're recovered enough for this, Anakin?" Steve asked.

"... With all that? I think I could take on one… at a time."

"Hey look." Rex pointed forward at the front of the base. "What's that they're dragging out of the base?"

The droids and General Durd came out with one of the AAT tanks equipped with a particularly larger cannon.

"Looks like that artillery cannon you two mentioned is all ready to go." Anakin said to the couple in the group.

"Yeah, but we still don't know what it does." Scott pointed out.

Anakin in the meantime went back to looking through his scopes at the base and spotted what he was hoping to find.

"They've got a shuttle behind the dropship." Anakin said. "That's gonna be our ticket outta here."

"Not gonna be easy, General." Bly said. "They've really got all their blind spots and formations in check. And there's still that new cannon of theirs."

"Then we'll need to slip into their base tonight, take the ship and blow up the base along with that weapon of theirs."

"What does that thing even do?" Ahsoka asked.

"Only one way to find out." Wasp once again shrunk down and flew forward.

"Hope, wait up." Scott followed after her.

"Good luck out there, Hope. Scott."

"Roger that."

Over by the Separatist base, the plump Neimoidian surveyed his weapon being rolled out and stationed at a safe distance. With it mounted in place, Lok Durd pulled out his holo-communication device and made a call.

After several moments, the holographic image of Count Dooku appeared before the Trade Federation general.

"Count Dooku. My- oh, pardon me- _Our_ new weapon is finally finished and ready for testing."

"It had better be worth the time and expense, Lok Durd."

"It will be, My lord." Lok Durd turned to speak to the assembled droid army down below at the ground.

"Then you may proceed."

"Of course." Waving his hand towards the cannon stationed down below, Lok Durd addressed to both the Sith Lord and the droid army. "Today, is a great day in the separatist alliance. This new weapon will bring about swift and decisive victories across all battlefields for the Confederacy. It is a tool that has the power to destroy organic matter down to a molecular level while droids shall be left unscathed."

What followed were all the B1 Battle droids cheerfully exclaiming victory and 'roger rogers' until...

"Now… I'll need several volunteers."

Suddenly, a large number of droids stepped back with two B-1 droids standing in place, unaware that they were chosen.

"Good, now I want you two to go into the field and stand there until further instructions."

"Wait, us?" the two droids looked behind them to see the rest of the B1's had stepped aside to make a path for them.

"Now go." Lok Durd encouraged. "For the glory of the Confederacy of Independent Systems."

The droid pair gave a hesitant 'Roger, Roger' before doing as they were commanded.

Close to the cannon, both Ant-Man and Wasp hovered nearby.

"Okay, front row seat to the action." Scott said as he eyed Hope's form, who seemed rather nervous. "Something wrong?"

"Hmmm?"

"You look a bit tense there, Hope."

"O-Oh, it's nothing to worry about Scotty." Hope reassured. "I'm fine."

Unsure of what to say, Scott had no choice but to drop this for the time being.

The Separatist cannon started whirling to life as orders were being barked out. The B-1 droids following their commands as everything was primed and ready.

"Is the Defoliator ready?" Lok Durd asked his ally who confirmed it. "Then fire!"

*KABOOM*

A large payload fired into the air and screeched across the vast distance. It eventually plummeted towards the earth as it eventually neared the center of the vast tall grass.

Both droids stood by and watched as the shell grew closer.

"Uh, should we take cover?"

"No, idiot. That's not even gonna hit us."

Upon impact, a blast soon went off with a napalm-like flame quickly spreading across the field. And it wasn't long before the impact struck the two battle droids as neither of them were remotely harmed at all.

The only thing that was-was the tall grass… and some unsuspecting animals as their ashes lied amongst the ground nearby the sentient machines.

Smiling towards himself, Lok Durd turned his attention back towards Dooku. "As you see, the weapon meets its designs. The landscaped is harmed, but not the droids."

"Impressive." Dooku admitted. "But I believe it would be better tested against living organisms."

Lok Durd chuckled. "That is exactly why this was the planet I had chosen to conduct its first official test. The inhabitants of this world are harmless and will serve as the perfect test subjects."

From their placements, Ant-man and the Wasps heads shot up in alarm at what they had just seen. The tanks devastation was terrifying. And they no doubt shared the same thoughts with their companions at the massive tree a safe distance away from the napalm-like blast.

Taking off into the air, the two insect-themed heroes went back to regroup to plan their upcoming attack on the Separatist base.

Off to the far end of the scorched earth, the Lurmen Wag Too had sent conveyed a message to be sent to his friend via the azure blue bird that accompanied him to the base.

_Scene Cut_

Night has fallen with only a handful of light sources being seen in the valley. And amongst the tall grass outside of the Separatist base, the Republic forces and present Avengers hid themselves away from the moving lights.

Their plan tonight was very simple: take out the Separatist's communications, procure the enemy shuttle and anything else they can get their hands on. And if they can even snag the CIS' new weapon, then it will be all the more sweater upon dismantling it.

Anakin, Steve, Bly and Rex remained crouched on the far left end of the base with Ahsoka and Aayla on the far right.

Up above, Wasp and Ant-man were their eyes in the sky keeping watch on the inside of the base. As much as they'd like to go there immediately and do some damage, they were needed in their current task as it was essential for things to run smoothly.

Though the only time they'll actually enter the base was if they were asked to shrink down anything for them to use later.

Soon enough, Aayla and Ahsoka began their approach to the base running around the lights used by the Droid base and making it to the wall of the base.

Anakin in the meantime used the Force to have a rock near one of the droids begin to move about erratically.

"Huh?" The droid looked down in time to see the rock zip away from him. "What's that?"

The other droids around him noticed their fellow clanker go after the rock that was zig zagging deeper into the tall grass where no light could be shined on.

Entering the grass, Steve quickly tripped the droid with Anakin igniting his lightsaber through the head.

Aayla and Ahsoka took the chance to scale up the wall, using their natural athleticism and Force enhanced jumps to get over and into the base.

Wasp and Ant-Man also descended on down and in rapid succession, smacked multiple droids off the upper levels of the base down to the ground.

Some of the droids took notice though it was too late as the entirety of the small strike force leapt into action.

The two shrunken Avengers knocked out the security lights while Steve popped out from his cover and threw his shield at the remaining droids on the ground.

The shield bashed in between multiple droids, knocking each and every one in rapid succession.

Bly and Rex each tackled droids and systematically tugged and ripped their heads off while Anakin simply sliced through them with his lightsaber.

Wasp, Ant-Man, Aayla and Ahsoka made quick work dispatching the remaining droids in the base with the other four joining them as Ahsoka had managed to get the door open.

"Guys… I'm not seeing the cannon or its ammo." Ahsoka reported.

"The separatists must've moved them onto another ship." Rex guessed as he clicked his tongue. "Now things will be much harder…"

"I know, but we'll need to do what we can now to hamper for what's to come." Steve spoke out before addressing the others. "Now we need to take the shuttle and whatever else that may be of use."

"And then blow up this joint?" Hope rhetorically questioned, pulling out several charges from her belt.

Seeing the nod from Captain America, the team quickly spread out and made their way across various points in the Separatist base and planted the bombs.

Even though the base was cleared of droids, they couldn't take the chance of any CIS forces arriving at a moment's notice. So neither of them took their time in their current task.

Aboard the shuttle, Anakin hotwired the ship with some assistance with Scott.

"Say… Anakin." Scott innocently said "After this is all said and done, is it alright if we get this ship for ourselves?"

Pausing momentarily, Anakin continued his work. "Why would you want a Sep ship? You know the Republic could just give you one."

"Yeah, but that would make use look like we're greedy." Scott stated. "But spoils of war?"

Skywalker was able to start up the engine before turning to his shrinking friend. "What's this about a collection you and Hope were talking about anyways? Neither of you actually gave any specifics."

Scott smiled and explained as they heard their group piling in with armfuls worth of shrunken boxes worth of enemy provisions and ammo.

As the explanation went on, Anakin's smile threatened to break his face in half before he released a hearty chuckle.

"Oh boy~ I can't wait to see how that'll look." He said, clearly loving the idea his friend had in store. "That'll no doubt help out down the line."

With everyone now onboard, Anakin got the ship off the ground and took off into the night sky.

As they were at a safe distance away, Hope was given the signal in flipping the switch-

*KABOOOOOOOM*

-causing a massive amounts of explosions being heard outside of the ship coming from what now remained of the enemy base.

"Make contact with Domino Squad." Anakin ordered Rex. "Tell them to get ready. We've got a battle to win."

_Scene Cut_

The Lurmen village were up and about this morning, though there was a clear tension in the air.

Wag Too had received word of the coming Separatist forces and was going about telling the rest of the villagers.

A task that was noticed by both his father and the other Clones stationed in secret around the village which made them reveal themselves much to the relief of Wag and the bitterness of the Chief.

To make matters worse for the leader of the Lurmen, a Separatist shuttle was seen coming straight for them with the Clones taking up positions around the ship as it landed.

Though they quickly lowered their guns upon seeing their Jedi commanders, Clone leaders, and The Avengers stepping out from the ship.

"Why have you returned?" The Chief angrily exclaimed. "I thought I made it clear that we do not want you hear in the village."

"Father…" Wag Too wanted to argue against his father but Aayla beat him to it.

"I'm sorry Chieftain, but we must be here." Aayla said straight away before raising her voice for the rest of the Lurmen to hear. "Everyone, please listen to us. We must get you all to safety _now._ The Separatists are coming to raze this village to the ground and your lives with it. You must all go immediately."

"We will not abandon our homes." Te Wa-Kaa stubbornly refused.

"But if you stay here, then you'll just fall."

"If it's to be our destiny to _fall_ in _your_ war, then so be it."

Nothing could be said with the chieftain's stubborn attitude now as he walked away.

Looking at each other, the Republic and Avenger entourage immediately mobilized to get the village properly defended with the upcoming assault.

_Scene Cut_

General Lok Durd was not in any way shape or form happy this morning.

He was having a pleasant sleep on board his ship when he got quite the rude awakening from his assistant; whom informed him of his base being blown up into smithereens. And this wasn't reported earlier due to communications being cut off in the middle of the night.

Because of this, the Neimoidian had to scramble his forces and make his way towards the Lurmen village.

In his mind, Lok Durd rationalized the peaceful colony was harboring something that was connecting to his base's demise.

With his new weapon aimed at the village, it was being rolled out beside him as he rode inside of the droid tank. Once it was within firing range, the Neimoidian will have it primed and ready before finishing off the test as a means of not only completing his mission but also having his revenge against the Lurmen.

"Ah, General."

"What is it?" Snapped Lok Durd.

"The villagers are making some sort of barrier with the pods."

Pulling out his binoculars, Lok Durd zoomed in and saw what was happening over yonder. "Oh please~ like those pods will do any proper defense against my weapon, less alone with you droids and my tanks."

His mood soured even further when he ended up seeing the pods being moved… on their own… without anyone remotely touching them.

Zooming closer, the Neimoidian saw the source of this odd mystery.

"JEDI! What are they doing here!?" Lok Durd then barked out an order. "Halt!"

Back at the village, Te Wa-Kaa was clearly upset upon seeing the larger people making a barricade with the giant seed pods.

"Stop what you are doing!" Yelled the chieftain. "I didn't ask you to defend us!"

"You don't need to." Steve plainly said, pushing a large pod with the aid of Hevy and Echo. "Echo, Hevy, do we have any mines?"

"Yes sir." Hevy nodded. "Managed to grab several from the ship before we left."

"Then you know what to do."

Nodding, Hevy looked to Echo and gestured his head in the direction of the front barrier of the village. Calling upon Fives and Cutup, Domino Squad ran out to quickly plant the mines.

Meanwhile, Aayla and Anakin were dealing with a still angry Chieftain.

"Sad to say, but this battle is inevitable." Anakin said apologetically.

"I can respect that you want to stay and rely on your just beliefs, but let us do the same with ours." Aayla simply stated, returning to moving more pods forward for the village defenses.

Te Wa-Kaa didn't say anything, only walking away once more with a grumble under his breath.

His son looked on in sadness as he spoke up. "I greatly appreciate what you're doing." He then sighed. "And as much as I want to help, I'm afraid I can't do much."

Curious, Ahsoka questioned the chieftain's son. "How so?"

"My father… is strong willed and set in tradition." Wa Too looked over at the Tortuga as he continued. "My people are split down the middle, most share the same beliefs as I do and the rest follow my father. I mean, we've been raised under a strict code and only recently have the majority of us started questioning it."

Anakin, who overheard these words, couldn't help but chuckle to himself. "You have no idea how much I know exactly what you're going through."

Ahsoka looked to her master in confusion whilst Aayla herself retained a stoic visage.

"Sad to say, but we've got to respect our beliefs… even if we don't really agree with it."

Steve had shoved one final pod into place and turned to see Bly and Rex beside him.

"Sir, what exactly is our plan here?" Bly spoke up. "The clankers have at least half a dozen tanks with one of them being that scorcher. Their numbers aren't exactly comforting either."

"Our main priority is defense of the village." Steve firmly stated. "The tanks will be dealt with when they get in range. For now, we should get into positions and get ready."

"Yes sir." Bly and Rex said, both moving to where they could get the best vantage point.

Bly spread out his three clone corps members with Domino Squad that had returned from their quick run out to prep the village defenses.

Situated on one of the giant seed pods, Rex spoke up. "The clankers are holding their positions."

"They're not going to hit us directly, not if they can fire from long range." Anakin stated as he and his fellow companions started getting ready. "But if we can stand both their weapons and their tanks, then we'll be able to draw them in."

*KABOOM*

"And not a moment too soon." Lucky muttered out as the group saw a streak soaring through the air. "Missile incoming!"

"Power the shields!" Yelled out the Skywalker.

And not a moment too soon as the Clones and Avengers finished setting up the shield generators. With a final button stroke, pillars of energy shot out from the devices and started forming a giant barrier around the village's vicinity.

Wasp and Ant-man stood with Aayla as the energy shield descended on down in front of them. As soon as the barriers edge hit the ground, the Defoliator round struck the dirt and unleashed its scorching capabilities.

It spread like wildfire that it was until coming to a stop at the energy shields that protected the village.

"Glad to see that works." Scott said in relief.

"But if they get close enough, the droids can easily bypass and stepped through the shields." Aayla grimly stated making Hope look at the Twi'lek Jedi.

"Wait, what?" Hope said in bewilderment. "How does that work?"

"Energy rounds are deflected against the barrier, but anything else is sadly fair game to move on through."

Scott contemplated this piece of info for a brief moment. "That…. Feels really counterproductive."

"You have no idea how much I agree with you, sir." Said Commander Bly who walked up next to his Jedi general.

"All preparations to the village are ready, general Secura." Bly announced.

"Okay, when the droids start coming through that barrier -which we no doubt will happen- we need to protect not just the generators but the Lurmen as well." Steve stated as he eyed his companions. "If the generators go down, then the Separatists will fire their weapon again and we'll be wiped out." The Super Soldier eyed Ant-Man and the Wasp. "Scott, Hope, I need you two to go sabotage their weapon as they'll least suspect you two."

"Ya got it, Cap."

"Of course, Steve."

The insect themed Avengers quickly shrunk down and made their way towards their target with a faint zooming hitting everyone's hearing.

"Everyone else, hold the line and protect both the generators and villagers."

"Sir, yes Sir!" Barked out various Clones while the Jedi nodded.

"They're starting their march." Rex said aloud.

"Get ready." Anakin ordered, igniting his lightsaber with Ahsoka and Aayla doing the same.

The Clones all had their weapons up with Steve standing alongside them with his signature shield in hand.

Stepping out of the protective shield barrier, Steve moved first and begun the battle with his trademark throw of his shield.

The nearest droids were struck hard by the Vibranium shield, heavily denting and decapitating many as it ricocheted off in rapid succession. Not wanting to lose track of it, Captain America charged forward, leapt into the air and used various droid heads as stepping stones in order to retrieve his trusty shield as it fell down towards the earth.

The Jedi and Clones were right behind him as they rushed forward.

Anakin utilized a Force pull, drawing in an unfortunate B1 into his saber that sliced it like a hot knife through butter.

Ahsoka instead opted to sprint forward, jumping into a spinning slash that took down two droids before deflecting several blaster bolts. Shifting her saber into a specific angle, Ahsoka sent the next shot sent her back to the sender, which in turn blasted the poor droids head off.

Aayla had worked in tandem with Bly and her Clone Troopers, being primarily their defense whilst they delivered the fire power.

It didn't take long until the first wave was clear out with relative ease as there was very little sent.

"That wasn't so tough." Breathed out the Tortuga Padawan.

"That was only the first wave." Anakin commented as the sounds of mechanical feet grew louder and louder with each passing moment.

"Be ready for the next one, people." Steve said as he picked up a droid blaster off the ground.

"Domino Squad." Anakin said aloud. "Front and center, right behind me."

"What of us, sir?" Asked Bly's subordinates.

"You three are gonna behind me." Steve said, holding up his shield and had the blaster poking out from its edge. "Whatever gets past us, you take care of."

"With pleasure."

"Rex, Bly, you two stay behind with us." Aayla ordered.

Getting into position, Steve looked over at Anakin and the Domino Squad.

"Hey, Hevy." Steve called out to him.

"Sir?"

"Ready with those planted charges?"

Hevy smirked underneath his helmet, pulling out the trigger from his belt. "Bomb's away."

Pressing the switch, a series of explosions went off in the middle of the droid battalion, causing quite the amount of chaos within the B-1's.

"WHAAAAA! What is happening?!"

"My head is on fire!"

Lok Durd who had witnessed all this growled in frustration and anger at the complete lack of progress made by his battalion.

Gritting his teeth, Durd looked to the rest of his remaining forces.

"Tanks! Open fire!" Durd shouted out.

Blast rounds shot out of the hovering tanks and soared through the air in hopes of defeating the opposing forces.

Steve was fighting through the next set of droids with Flash, Cameron and Lucky behind him gunning down any Droid that got too close to his blind spots.

Anakin was off to the side doing the same as the two units worked as a well-oiled machine.

Suddenly, Flash looked up to the sky at the sound of a strange whirring sound that was getting closer and closer from above.

"INCOMING SHELLS." Flash shouted out.

"GET BACK." Anakin yelled.

The two groups broke into a retreat and were getting closer to the barrier when Steve saw that one of the tank rounds were falling directly in the direction the clones in front of him.

Without hesitation, Steve felt his muscles tighten as sprinted forward in a burst of speed and with his shield shoved the three clones with enough force to get them back into the safety of the barrier.

Aayla and Ahsoka saw this and both their eyes widened at the tank shell falling straight down at Rogers.

"CAP!" both cried out in horror just as the Super Soldier raised his shield above his head.

The tank shell impacted the shield, a loud ringing explosion going off.

Smoke was thrown up for a brief few seconds until it cleared to reveal a relatively unscathed Captain America with mostly scorch and dirt marks overall on his form.

Both the Jedi and the Clone officers could only stare blankly at Cap casually wiping off some the marks on his shield.

"Whoa." Was all Rex said, echoing the sentiment shared between the four of them. "I did not know his shield could withstand that."

"You don't know the half of it." Steve commented as he briefly remembered Thor's mighty hammer bouncing off of this on several occasions.

"Gotta get me one of those." Bly murmured

"Good luck finding one." Steve said in good humor.

Zooming across the air, Wasp and Ant-man soon landed onto the Separatist's new weapon.

"Heh~ they don't suspect a thing." Scott muttered out as he and Hope slipped their way through the console's main paneling.

Once inside, the shrunk pair started pulling out wires and denting what they believed were major components to properly operate the cannon.

On the outside, Lok Durd's assistant started noticing the console's lights were starting to go out. Curious, he tried pressing some buttons for some sort of response, only for nothing to really happen. As he investigated further, he ended up getting electrocuted upon prying the console's panel out of its place; falling back and landing in an unconscious heap.

"What is going on?!" Lok Durd demanded, briefly seeing his assistant down on the ground with smoke coming off his body.

"And I believe that is our cue." Hope said, getting a nod from Scott before taking him out into the air. "Got the bomb set in place?"

"Just need to get a good distance before we can say bye-bye to it."

Hope pushed herself to go faster through the air in response.

Looking back, Scott counted down the seconds as he fingered the trigger to his planted bomb. And what felt like forever to him, he finally pressed down.

"And… boom~"

The tank next to Durds exploded spectacularly, rocking the general greatly.

"What was that?" Durd exclaimed panickingly.

"One of our tanks blew up." A Droid plainly stated.

"I know that." Durd said in anger. "What I'm asking is how?!"

It wasn't long before he saw something that quickly drained the blood from the general's face: his weapon sparking and erupting in flames.

"Oh poodoo-"

*KABOOM*

Durd was flung back, falling out from his tank and landing hard onto the ground.

And to add more injury to what just happened -quite literally- some of the napalm-like flames caught onto his arm; causing him to cry it utmost agony.

Shrieking about like a wounded child, Durd smacked his arm into the ground repeatedly in hopes of dousing the flames.

One of the surviving droids quickly ran over and started stomping on the flames to protect his master. As a result, the Neimoidians arm quickly fell and crumbled apart into ashes.

Lok Durd whimpered, clutching his new stump when….

"Ahem."

Opening his eyes carefully, Lok Durd saw Captain Rogers, Anakin Skywalker, Ant-man, Wasp, Aayla Secura, Ahsoka Tano, Bly and Rex standing over him.

"M-M-May I ask for m-mercy?"

All he got in response was a punch in the face, rendering him unconscious.

"Mercy given." Spat out one of Bly's subordinates.

_Scene cut_

The Clones were busy with Bly and Rex sending out messages to any Republic ships capable of picking up their signal whilst the rest simply stood to the side.

Hope and Scott had remained close together with the latter holding the former in an embrace as the two watched the endless plains of Maridun together.

Cap, Aayla, Anakin and Ahsoka in the meantime spoke on their current situation.

"All things considered." Anakin mused aloud. "This wasn't as bad as I thought it would be."

"I'll say~" Spoke Rex as he eyed the villagers. "Practically no casualties. And to me, that is a good mark in my book."

"We all kept a calm and level head when it was most needed." Aayla said, giving a certain Padawan an appraising look making her giving the older Jedi a bashful smile.

"Wish all missions could be like this." Bly said, looking over to the clones that had thankfully not been killed in this whole ordeal.

"I share the sentiment, Bly." Aayla said, placing a hand upon her trusted Commanders shoulder.

"But we know that would be asking for too much." Bly somberly said.

"Hey, cheer up guys." Anakin said with a grin. "This is a rare moment where we didn't lose anyone. Let's enjoy it."

Their conversation was interrupted by Wag Too's approach to them, sporting a happy smile.

"Once again, we are utmost thankful for your help." Wag Too said to the nearby Jedi. "Many of my fellow villagers were ready to step in and assist you. Neither of us would be standing if it weren't for you." He then noticed his father walking towards them. "Oh, father. I was just giving the Jedi and their friends our thanks."

Releasing a small sigh under his breath, Te Wa-Kaa addressed them. "Perhaps it was good to have your help." He then heard sounds echoing in the air, prompting him and the others to look up. "But at what cost?"

"Well, looks like the cavalry finally here." Rex remarked, looking up to the skies.

High in the air, Three Venators were clear to see with Gunships already coming on down.

"Time to pile onboard the Quin-shuttle!" Ant-Man called out.

"Quin-shuttle?"

"We have Quinjets back home and this baby ain't no jet… so…"

"What's a Quinjet?" One of the clones asked.

"That's how we got around back home." Scott answered.

"Alright sweetie." Hope said, walking up the ramp. "And let's save twenty questions for later."

Bidding their goodbyes to the Lurmen, the Avengers, Jedi and Clones departed from the planet with higher spirits then when they had arrived.

_Scene Cut_

"HOPE!"

Hope Van Dyne, upon stepping onto the Hangar Bay of the Venator that belonged to Skywalker was met with the wonderful sight of Sam Wilson and James Rhodes rushing over with both men getting the chance to hug her.

"Damn, it's good to see another pair of friendly faces." Hope beamed, seeing Sam and Rhodey. "How've you been?"

"That's a question we should be asking you." Sam stated, looking up to his grinning friend. "Geez Cap, we get separated for two minutes and you go and find another one of us."

"You gotta learn how to keep up." Steve casually remarked.

"Don't you say it." Sam warned, though his joking smirk was easy to see.

In the midst of all this, Admiral Yularen had approached the newly rescued Republic forces and their Avenger allies.

"It is good to see you all in such high spirits." Yularen commented before addressing the bandages. "Hope you weren't too roughed up down there."

"Not entirely." Anakin walked alongside the admiral. "Anything we missed while we were gone?"

"Quite a few, actually." Yularen stated as he eyed both the present Jedi and Avengers. "I believe you lot should hear it for yourselves."

Curious, the newly returned and rescued group, primarily being the commanding officers and the Avengers followed Yularen up to the bridge of the ship where a holo-projection of Obi-wan, Yoda, Windu, Plo Koon, Palpatine, Padme and Jar Jar Binks awaited them.

"Ah, Master Jedi. Captain Rogers, it is truly a relief to see you are all back with us alive and well." Palpatine said with a pleasant smile.

"I see you've been busy Anakin." Obi-wan said, looking slightly frazzled along with Master Plo.

"Not as much as you, Obi-wan." Anakin shot back, quirking his brow. "What exactly happened to you? And Plo for that matter."

For the first time in a long time, Obi-wan actually looked a bit sheepish.

"Well… to make a long story short, Master Plo and I had to deal with a certain set of pirates who… somehow captured Dooku."

"WHAT?!" Was the response of the Jedi who were unaware of this.

"Indeed and unfortunately they had managed to subdue us with underhanded means as well." Plo added, though not as ashamedly as Kenobi did.

Anakin then saw his old masters face and… well he just couldn't help himself.

"At least Obi-wan is now a master… at getting caught."

The flat look that he had gotten from Obi-wan was all Anakin needed to burst out laughing.

"...What happened?" Seeing the look on Obi-wan's face, made him realize something… embarrassing occurred and he wasn't there to see it in person.

From the corner of her gaze, Padme noticed an odd person amongst the group over on Anakin's ship. "Oh~ And who might you be?"

Seeing all focus was placed on her, Hope stepped forward and addressed the holograms. "Hello, my name is Hope Van Dyne; codename the Wasp of the Avengers."

"Hmm~ another lost has been found." Yoda said with a pleased smile.

Hope only gave the green master a simple smile until she leaned back to the other Avengers.

"Why does she look like Jane Foster?" Hope asked in a low voice.

"We don't know." Rhodey deadpanned.

"And why does he look like Nick Fury?"

"Once again, we don't know."

"Doppelgangers, most likely." Scott simply said. "People say there's bound to be ones out there for each person. Just odd chances of running into them… Not counting the Clones, of course."

"But on a side note." Jane… I mean Padme spoke up with a triumphant smile. "Thanks to the efforts of Jedi Luminara, Commander Gree and Senator Binks, we've captured Viceroy Nute Gunray."

"Truly?" Palpatine displayed an expression of surprise as he shifted his gaze away from the newly retrieved Avenger. "Why this is wonderful news, senator Amidala!"

"With his capture, we could make further means of putting an end to this war." Windu said determinedly.

"You guys have _certainly_ been busy." Anakin quipped.

"Which is why we would like your assistance in the prisoner transfer."

Ahsoka however, did not exactly want to see her master immediately go on yet another mission. "Masters, with all due respect, my master had just endured a great deal of physical stress. He still needs time to recover."

Padme took a better look at her secret husband and saw Ahsoka was right.

"Master Skywalker does look like he needs time to recover."

Kenobi nodded in agreement. "Indeed, you've done enough fighting for the time being, Anakin. I think you and the Avengers deserve a much needed respite after this whole ordeal."

"But what about Viceroy Gunray?" Windu brought up. "We need some assistance in transferring him to a secure location."

Unable to stop himself, Anakin placed a confident hand upon his pupils shoulder. "Ahsoka is more than ready to take my place."

That garnered surprised from the other Jedi.

"Anakin, are you certain of this?" Kenobi asked. Even Ahsoka was surprised.

"More than sure of it." Anakin declared. "If it weren't for her, I'm pretty sure I wouldn't be alive right now."

Ahsoka gaped for a second before looking down at the ground with a shy smile at the praise she had gotten from her master.

"And if it isn't too much trouble." Steve began, "Maybe one of us could help out with this prison transfer."

And from her spot, Hope thought of possibly helping out before feeling Scott's hand slip into her grasp. Looking back, she could tell in his eyes that he didn't want to separate anytime soon. Getting the message of wanting to catch up, Hope kept down her voice.

Seeing as none of the others were willing to step up, Rhodey spoke. "I'm willing to help."

"Then it is decided." Palpatine said with his patented smile. "Ahsoka Tano and the Avenger, War Machine, will rendezvous with the prisoner transport."

**And that's another one.**

**Rate Read and Review and As Always Have Nice Day**


	13. Cloak Of Darkness

**Rate Read and Review and as Always Have Nice Day**

Avengers Infinite Wars Chapter 13: Cloak of Darkness

"Don't worry Captain Rogers." Ahsoka Tano promised light heartedly. "I'll make sure nothing happens to Colonel Rhodes."

"Why do I need a chaperone again?" Rhodey asked, the Air Force pilot and young Jedi Padawan standing within a LAAT Gunship currently en route to a Republic Corvette where their escort mission awaited them. "I'm a few decades older then snips here, you know."

Ahsoka only puffed out her cheeks in annoyance at Rhodey using her master's nickname for her.

"You volunteered for this escort mission, remember? And Ahsoka here along with the other two Jedi are the professionals in this regard." Steve said knowingly from his end of the holo-Comms. "Just keep a level head, Rhodey. You'll be fine."

"Yeah, yeah." Rhodey waved off, the communication ending. "Why do I feel like this is gonna go downhill?"

"Hmmm? What do you mean?" Ahsoka asked in confusion.

"Nothing, nothing." Rhodey waved down. "So aside from the two of us, we're going with two other Jedi?"

"Mhmm." Ahsoka confirmed. "We're not taking any chances with this one."

"Must be some real big wig for three Jedi and allowing an Avenger to go on this little escort mission." Rhodey mused aloud.

"I'd be surprised if the security detail was small." Ahsoka admitted. "Nute Gunray is one of the core leaders of the Confederacy and a huge financial backer for the production of the droid army."

"So we've got someone the CIS will definitely want back." Rhodey stated.

"More than likely." Ahsoka said.

"So then who's coming with us?"

Just as Rhodey asked the question, the Gunship landed with its doors opening to reveal two Jedi Women with identical light green tinted skin both sharing distinct patterns upon different parts of their faces. This made Rhodey assume they were of the same race as even their garments were greatly similar to one another and both held an air of calming patience.

"Greetings, Padawan Ahsoka." The taller of the two spoke with a patient smile. "And you must be Colonel James Rhodes, if I remember correctly."

"That's right, ma'am." Rhodey said respectfully. "I've seen you before but I don't think I ever learned your name."

The Jedi Master only smiled. "I am Master Luminara Unduli. And this, is my Padawan Barriss Offee."

"It is a pleasure to meet you Colonel Rhodes, Padawan Ahsoka." The younger Jedi said with a pleasant smile.

"It's nice to meet you as well." Ahsoka responded in kind.

Their meeting was then cut in by the arrival of a Clone Trooper with green accented markings upon his armor.

"General Luminara." The Clone Trooper spoke professionally. "The crew and ship is prepped and ready for our delivery of the prisoner."

"Glad to hear, Commander Gree." Luminara said with a pleased smile. "Let's see if our guest is feeling chatty before we ship him off."

The assembled group followed Luminara to the holding center of the corvette while the two Padawans hung back from the others and made small talk with one another.

"So how long have you been a Padawan for?" Ahsoka asked the Mirialan Jedi.

"For about two years now." Barriss answered. "Master Luminara has been my instructor since."

"Two years." Ahsoka said to herself. "Wait, Master Luminara was part of the strike force that first went to Geonosis at the start of the war. Did you…?"

"Yes, I did accompany my master along with all the other Jedi to Geonosis." Barriss confirmed, though her expression grew sullen. "I only wish we had not lost so many in the battle."

Ahsoka only frowned, glancing down at the ground feeling a bit dejected at reminding her fellow Padawan at a clearly painful memory.

"I'm sorry." Ahsoka murmured quietly, slightly surprising Barriss who only gave her a calm smile.

"You have nothing to be sorry for." Barriss assured the Togrutan, placing a friendly hand on her shoulder. In turn, Ahsoka smiled back.

"I am curious however." Barriss spoke up after a moment of silence. "You are the Padawan of Master Skywalker, correct?"

Ahsoka nodded in confirmation.

"I have heard from several Jedi that he's a bit of a wild card amongst the order." Barriss stated. "What is it like being his apprentice?"

"It can be a handful." Ahsoka said straight away with a light laugh. "But he's really brave and wise in his own way. He doesn't really lecture me much, not like Master Kenobi."

"He sounds like a strange Jedi Master." Barriss mused to herself.

"He is." Ahsoka cheerily agreed. "But he's taught me a lot in the short time I've been with him and I'm going to keep learning everything I can under him."

Barriss only smiled at her new friend, the two continuing to follow after the others.

During this time, Commander Gree and Luminara took the time to better know Rhodey.

"Colonel Rhodes." Commander Gree said respectfully. "I'm curious to know about something."

"What's that?"

"Is it true that the leader of your team, the Avengers, is led by Captain Steve Rogers?" Gree asked.

"Yup, Cap's the main guy."

"Why would a Captain be leading a Colonel then?" Gree asked in confusion.

"I do admit, I find myself curious about such a matter as well." Luminara stated.

Rhodey hummed thoughtfully, taking a moment to consider there question.

"It's a bit of a long story." Rhodey said after a moment. "If I really look at it, Cap ain't exactly a Captain. At least… I don't think he is anymore after the Second World War back on our home world. It's a really weird, long and funny story. But to sum it up, we follow Cap cause he's the best man for that job. My best friend back on Earth can do the same and even Thor but out of the entire team,. When I really look at it, nobody I think understands it better than Cap. That's why he's in charge."

Commander Gree was silent, thinking on those words as he wasn't exactly sure on how to process them yet Luminara found it quite enlightening and fascinating.

"So merit is a big attribute to him leading your team." Luminara surmised.

"Big time." Rhodey said. "Cap isn't just the best representation of the country we come from but the best of humanity as a whole. Flaws and all."

"You all must regard him highly."

"He's a good man and a good friend."

The positive vibe soon changed upon standing before the prisoner cell that they had arrived at with the Neimoidian on the other side of the door.

Upon seeing him, Rhodey couldn't help but voice his immediate opinion on the Separatist.

"This is the guy we're all so worked up against?" Rhodey said in disappointment. "A breeze could probably knock his ass over."

Commander Gree and several other clones within the vicinity chortled and choked on their laughter upon hearing such a crude yet hilarious description of Nute Gunray.

Ahsoka and Barriss blinked in surprise, sharing a look with one another not really expecting a comment like that.

Luminara surprisingly felt her lips quirk upwards for the briefest of moments while Nute Gunray found himself affronted, glaring at the armored Avenger.

"As unassuming as he may be, Colonel, he is still an important figure within the Separatist Alliance." Luminara stated. "He will provide to be pivotal in bringing this war to an end sooner than later."

"So we just need him to talk then?" Rhodey asked. "Just tell us a few secrets here and there?"

"Somewhat." Luminara said. "We must transfer him to a secure location first before we could interrogate him. There is a strong chance of Dooku sending a sizeable force in retrieving their lost Separatist."

Rhodey gave the Neimoidian a hard stare, very unimpressed with this frail looking individual.

"Or maybe just one." Rhodey remarked under his breath.

Nute Gunray of course was in a less than stellar mood as he was taken from his cell and transported to the cockpit of the ship surrounded by Clones with Rhodey at the back whilst the trio of Jedi led them at the front.

Rhodey continued to observe Gunray, taking stock of the aliens posture and rather slimy demeanor as he seemed to be looking for a way out of this mess in the best way he knew how: bribery.

Being best friends with an overly bombastic billionaire, James Rhodes has had the unfortunate luck of meeting some rather annoying and even outright detestable individuals. Nute Gunray was an easy one to spot.

"I am a man of great wealth." Nute Gunray spoke candidly, in particular to Commander Gree. "And I can be very generous to my allies."

Gree however was having none of it as he clearly showed the disdain and annoyance in his eyes at the Separatist.

"That's a very tempting offer, Viceroy." Gree said mockingly. "But I have a much more immediate proposition for you." The Clone Commander held up a pair of handcuffs adding sarcastically. "Non-negotiable, I'm afraid."

Nute Gunray only grumbled as Gree slapped the cuffs on his wrists.

Meanwhile, Luminara had finished contacting the Venator Tranquility which will be used in assisting their transport of Gunray to Coruscant.

_Scene Cut_

Count Dooku stood upon the bridge of the flagship dreadnought of the Separatist Alliance, _The Invisible Hand._

There he awaited the call from his Sith Master, Darth Sidious in regards of the matter of the captured Nute Gunray.

No sooner did he dwell on those thoughts did Sidious's hologram appear before him.

As customary of every Sith apprentice when in the presence of his master, Dooku kneeled down head ducked as the Sith lord spoke.

"What is thy bidding my Master?" Dooku spoke respectfully.

"A topic that needs no addressing, my apprentice." Sidious plainly stated, getting a nod out of the Count.

"Yes." Dooku said. "The Republic holds Nute Gunray hostage."

"Gunray will not last long under Jedi interrogation." Sidious stated. "He is frivolous and weak willed and his willingness to talk will prove to be detrimental to our war efforts my friend."

"I am aware of such matters, my lord, which is why I have already put a plan into motion." Dooku explained. "I will send my own apprentice, Ventress to board the Jedi ship and rescue or permanently silence the Viceroy."

"Ventress." Sidious repeated the name, not fully on board with the idea. "She has underlying potential yes but you are putting a great deal of faith on an operative who has failed us in the past."

"She is a gifted assassin." Dooku said determinedly. "She will complete this mission to the letter."

"Be that as it may, I will not allow any chances." Sidious said with a firm tone. "Had it been just the Jedi with their clones, I would allow such a notion. However, they are not alone."

"Master?"

"One of the Avengers has been selected in accompanying the three Jedi to Coruscant." Sidious announced. "One who will undoubtedly cause a great deal of trouble for your assassin."

"And who may this Avenger be?" Dooku warily inquired.

Beside his master appeared the Avenger that is given the rather aggressive name as War Machine.

"Colonel James Rhodes, known in the group as War Machine." Sidious said with an underlying bitter tone. "From the brief instances that we've seen of him in action, this man is a force to be reckoned with as his suit lives up to its moniker as a one man war machine. The suit he wears can fire upon multiple enemies at once it seems, gives him flight, a great deal of protection from blaster fire and enhanced strength that completely destroy battle droids. He, like the rest of this growing group of "Heroes" are not to be taken lightly, my friend. For you assassin to succeed, we shall need a proverbial ace in the hole as one would call it."

Dooku briefly contemplated on his master words and news in regards to the mission when realization dawned within his eyes.

"Master, there is perhaps one way we can provide an even playing field for this operation." Dooku said.

Sidious tilted his head down as a means of conveying for Dooku to elaborate.

"My agents have recently discovered an old warrior well versed in combating many foes of great variety, including the Jedi." Dooku explained. "His skills are not to be taken lightly as is his capacity in taking punishment."

"Oh? And you have faith in this new wildcard?"

"More than you would believe, My Master." Dooku declared.

Normally, Sidious would further question his apprentice however there were times where a master must allow his student to go about his own initiatives.

"Very well." Sidious acquiesced. "You may proceed."

The transmission cut off just as Asajj Ventress arrived upon the bridge.

Dooku rose to his feet before turning to the Sith acolyte with a hard stare.

"Master." Ventress greeted the Count.

"Walk with me, Ventress." Dooku instructed. "I have something I must show you."

Dooku walked out from the command bridge with Ventress falling in line behind him.

"There is no margin for error this time, child." Dooku lectured. "However, I have have received complications on this mission which will undoubtedly lead to greater difficulties if not outright failure on your part."

Ventress of course didn't take this to kindly, though remained respectful. "What kind of complications?"

"The Avengers that you had faced on Naboo." Dooku simply said making Ventress blink before reigning in a snarl.

"I was merely unprepared for their capabilities, Master." Asajj quickly argued.

"On that, the two of us can agree on." Dooku surprised Ventress at how he easily sided with her. "Which is why you shall not be conducting your mission alone."

"Excuse me?" Ventress felt slightly insulted at this statement.

Dooku however was having none of it. "You heard me."

The duo soon stood before a door that slides open revealing a rather darkly lit room. Within the room, Ventress could barely make out the silhouette of a large, hulking armored individual that stood within the room all by itself; both figuratively and literally.

"Now, my apprentice, I'd like to introduce you to your new… colleague."

The figure began to walk towards her with measured steps, each footstep making the room shake.

Ventress craned her neck up to the newcomer with a quirked brow, taking note of his size and battle worn armor.

"A bounty hunter?" Ventress said in slight disbelief.

"He is more than any bounty hunter alive today, my apprentice." Dooku said knowingly. "He has a higher Jedi body count -so to speak- then you yourself. Perhaps only Grievous comes close to his numbers."

Hearing this, Ventress looked at this being in a slightly new light both caution and respect. She hated the Jedi outright and any who did the same and even killed some were ok in her book. To an extent of course.

"And does this brute have a name?"

_Scene Cut_

The Venator _Tranquility_ continued its voyage through space unimpeded for the time being.

Within the ship itself, the Clone troopers and Senate Commando Guards went about their duties whilst the three Jedi, Rhodey, Commander Gree and Captain of the Commando division aboard the ship, Argyus, stood within the detention center of the Venator.

Argyus and Commander Gree stood on the outside of the cell holding Gunray whilst, Luminara, Barriss, Ahsoka and Rhodey were inside interrogating the Neimoidian.

"Your thoughts betray you, Viceroy." Luminara began. "I can feel your concern for losing much in this war."

"I- I have no idea what you're talking about." Gunray nervously rebutted.

"Let's see." Rhodey voiced as he held down his fingers one by one. "Your wealth, for starters. Then your power, which heavily relies on your wealth. And your connections and allies. Also cause of your wealth. Correct me if I'm wrong, Viceroy."

"These are all just fanciful theories on your regard, fool." Gunray angrily said aloud. "I am merely an innocent pawn in all of this."

Rhodey rolled his eyes at the bullshit he was hearing. "Right~"

"If you were a pawn then you would have already told us what "meager" amount of information you could possibly possess." Barriss patiently stated. "Otherwise, there would be no need for this security force."

"So Viceroy." Luminara pressed on. "Who are you protecting?"

"No one." Gunray said weakly. "I know nothing."

Ahsoka had heard enough, slamming her hand down on the table before them.

"LIAR." Ahsoka said aloud, angrily. "Liar, enough with all these annoying lies."

Igniting her lightsaber, Ahsoka leaped forward holding her emerald blade up to Gunray's neck.

"Tell us what we need to know or I will gut you like Rokarian Dirt fish." Ahsoka zealously threatened.

The Viceroy gasped, falling down from his seat while the young Jedi felt a metallic hand upon her shoulder jolting her away from the Neimoidian.

"Whoa~ Ahsoka." Rhodey spoke in an even tone. "May I have a word?"

Blinking, Skywalker's Padawan soon followed Rhodey outside of the cell. Once turning the corner so she no longer saw what happened next with Gunray did she see something quite different.

Gone was the familial feeling the Tortuga Padawan grew fond of from the Avenger. Now before her was that of his official rank of Colonel addressing his subordinate.

"What the hell was that?" Rhodey asked in complete seriousness. "Threatening a prisoner with death? I may have only been with you guys for a few weeks, but I could easily tell that's not something a Jedi would do."

"I wasn't going too really." Ahsoka admitted right away. "I just wanted to scare him into telling us what we wanted to know."

"Listen, I get it trust me I do. But I've seen enough slime balls like that loser that it's not going to fully cut it." Rhodey explained.

"Then what do we do?"

Before Rhodey could answer, the ship began to violently shake with explosions going off in the distance.

Looking at one another, both ran back around the corner to see Luminara and Barriss stepping out from the holding cell.

Commander Gree held up his comm link, contacting the bridge. "Captain, Status report. What's going on out there?"

Up on the _Tranquility_ bridge, the commanding clone officer used the control panel to keep himself on his feet while squadrons of Vulture droids bombarded the ship.

"There's a battalion of Droid fighters attacking, sir." The Captain informed. "And they've brought boarding ships."

Outside the Venator, the Vulture droids harassed the ship keeping the defense guns concentrated on them while clearing a path for the boarding ships.

Half a dozen boarding ships penetrated the main hangar bay with Super Battle Droids immediately dropping in.

Back at the holding cell, Commander Gree gave out the orders to prepare the ships defenses.

Several dozen clones grabbed their weapons and ran to the hangar bay with some clones already fighting against the droids.

They were using the crates scattered about the hangar as cover whilst the firing at the growing wave of Super battle droids.

Not waiting for a better incentive other than the droids in front of them, the clones opened fire upon their enemies.

They knew that super battle droids required more firepower to take down then their lankier and frail counterparts, the B1's, so the current standing officer of the Clone squadron made sure they took down every super in concentrated fires of two or more clones upon one super.

While the method was effective, it did little in stalling the Droids advances as more simply dropped in to replace their fallen comrades.

Several Supers fired off rockets at the cluster of clones hiding amongst the crates.

"EVASIVE MANEUVERS." A Clone shouted aloud with only a few being lucky enough to react in time and roll away.

Unfortunately, a large contingent of Clones were either swallowed up in the inferno caused by the rockets or blown away violently by its shockwave.

The clone captain of this battalion contacted Gree once more.

"Commander Gree, we need reinforcements down here stat. They're ovwerwh-"

_**THUD** _

The entire Hangar shook momentarily with the sound of metal boots meeting a metal floor echoing around the vicinity.

Many clones ceasefire momentarily and looked over to the source of the loud sound.

There, standing in a dented portion of the floor beneath it was a massive, armored individual exuding a menacing air as it rose to its full height and surveyed the area around it. Upon spotting the clones, the being suddenly let out a menacing cackle as it stepped forward while flexing its fingers.

"At long last." The being growled out, its voice masculine and threatening. "Mandalorians to fall beneath my boots."

The clones couldn't help but shudder which turned into full blown fear at the burst of speed this large individual possessed.

It flew forward and in a matter of moments held two Clones in its grasp by their necks and slammed them down with great force. Both clones died upon impact.

"OPEN FIRE." The Clone Captain ordered with most of the clones turning their attention upon the armored being who merely laughed in glee at the blaster bolts striking him and bouncing off his form.

"Yes, Mandalorian Clones." the being hissed in delight. "Fight with futility. Do your best to prolong your inevitable _Death!"_

He ran forward and jumped into the air, landing in the middle of a group of clones.

Grabbing one by his arm, the being swung the poor Clone into several of his brothers. In the midst of the swing, the Clone cried out in agony as he felt his shoulder pop out of his socket before he was thrown into a wall head first. The trooper did not get up.

Not finished with his assault, it booted and punched away several more Clones with each strike being followed by sickening cracks of both armor and bones.

One clone fool heartedly jumped onto the individuals head, wrapping his arms around the neck.

The being simply grabbed the Clone and hefted him up into the air before bringing him down to his knee, breaking the Clones back.

The clone cried out in anguish until he was silenced by a powerful jab to his neck.

Tossing aside the Clone, the armored being rose up once more to face the remaining clones.

"Next?"

All the while, Commander Gree was listening to the Clone Captain in the Hangar.

" _Sir, we need reinforcements down here now!"_ The Clone Captain grunted out, explosions and blaster fire going on in the background. _"There's something else here and I don't think it's a new battle droid. It's tearing us apACK."_

"Captain." Gree spoke in alarm.

"They need help and they need it now." Rhodey didn't wait in rushing off to the Hangar Bay.

"He is right." Luminara grimly said. "Gree, let's go."

"Right behind you." Ahsoka said determinedly.

"No." Luminara said straight away. "You and Barriss will stay here and guard the Viceroy. For all we know, this could be a diversion in getting us away from the prisoner."

"But-"

"Ahsoka." Barriss spoke up this time. "We must follow the Masters instructions. She along with Gree and Colonel Rhodes will handle this. We must do our duty here."

Ahsoka knew she was outvoted and upon remembering the scolding she had received earlier from Rhodey knew it'd be better to stay put and listen to orders.

Rhodey in the meantime by this point was flying fast through the hallways of the Venator. Along the way, he smashed through several squadrons of Super battle droids, alleviating pressure all around for the Clones to make their way to the Hangar.

All the while, the beast of a being was laying waste to the Clones in utter glee as it killed one after another. It halted momentarily upon hearing one Clone whisper beneath his breath.

"What are you?"

Turning his attention towards a random clone, the massive being spoke. "Who am I? Why I'm the nightmare of Mandalorians -like you lot- and Jedi alike. I am your reckoning. It is time the galaxy remembered the terror that is, Durge."

The now named Durge raised its arms, ready to end this poor Clones life when he was suddenly tackled by an equally armored individual who wrapped his arms around Durge and hefted him up into the air.

Getting a decent height, Rhodey tossed the bounty hunter into a nearby wall before aiming his arms and shoulder mounted minigun at his new enemy.

"Eat this." Rhodey gritted out, unleashing a torrent of lead on Durge.

Durge held up his arms to defend himself. At first he wanted to laugh at the fact that this newcomer appeared to be using slug-throwers against him.

That changed upon feeling a few pierce through his armor. Moving fast, Durge rolled out of the way of the fire yet Rhodey was hot on his trail. The Bounty Hunter quickly grabbed two nearby crates and with ease threw them at Rhodey who fired one away with his Repulsors while the other he ducked down.

"Interesting." Durge muttered, rushing forward.

Rhodey reached behind him with a compartment popping out with a handle extending for him to grab. Pulling it out, Rhodey primed up an electrified baton of sorts and flew at the charging bounty hunter.

Durge threw out his arms and around his arms were red energy spheres.

The two met in a clash with Rhodey striking Durges shielded arms. Every strike however sent out a small torrent of electrical shocks which rattled the bounty hunter.

"Impressive technology." Durge stated. "Perhaps I'll rip you from the armor and take it for myself."

"Yeah, sorry. Only works for me." Rhodey dryly remarked.

"That can change." Durge growled, using his greater strength to shove Rhodey back.

Stumbling, Rhodey barely had enough time to throw his arms up to block the powerful haymaker Durge swung at him.

He was sent flying through the air before crashing into a LAAT gunship, clipping off one of its wings.

"COLONEL." Several Clones that had remained to fend off the Supers ran over to him.

Grunting in pain, Rhodey got back to his feet in time to see Durge had gone.

"Lockdown the ship." Rhodey said in a pained groan. "And stay away from that Bounty Hunter. He'll only kill you if you give him the chance."

"But sir, what if he's after the prisoner?" One of the Clones asked.

"I'm not gonna let soldiers die for nothing, trooper." Rhodey emphatically stated. "Spread the word and tell General Luminara we've got a serious problem on our hands."

"Yes Sir."

Luminara during this time had been with Commander Gree and a group of clones routing out the Super Battle Droids that had managed to get deeper into the Venator.

After destroying the last of the battle droids, Luminara received an immediate call from Rhodey.

" _General? General?! Luminara, do you copy?!"_ Rhodey sounded somewhat frantic. _"Luminara we've got a serious problem on the ship."_

"What is it, Colonel Rhodes?" Luminara asked, noting his strained panting.

" _The Separatists' got a new fighter on their team and he's a real killer."_ Rhodey informed. _"And I mean that in the most literal sense. Calls himself Durge and he's not to be taken lightly. Whatever you do, do_ not _engage him alone."_

"Copy that, Colonel." Luminara grimly said. "Commander Gree, notify all Clones and Commandos to be on full alert. Whatever this _Durge_ being may be, tell them to retreat and not engage in combat. Concentrate on delaying and keeping him from the prisoner."

"General Luminara." One of the Clones spoke up urgently. "I've just received word that the Barracks are under attack."

"The barracks?" Commander Gree repeated in utter confusion. "That's nowhere near the holding cells."

"It appears this Durge holds an ulterior motive or may be a distraction of another kind." Luminara said, holding up her wrist comms. "Colonel Rhodes, this Durge you spoke of is in the barracks of the ship."

" _On my way there now."_

"I shall see you there." Luminara said. "Let's go Commander Gree, the barracks aren't to far from here."

"Yes sir!"

In the barracks, chaos reigned as every Clone within the vicinity fired everything they had at the rampaging bounty hunter who killed and slaughtered without mercy.

Durge grabbed a Clone by its chest and used him as a meat shield as several clones inadvertently killed their brother.

"Inferior Clones." Durge laughed, tossing the body aside.

Suddenly, Durge was struck by a volley of small missiles that engulfed him in a blaze that actually chipped away some of his armor.

He largely remained unaffected by the fires still burning upon him, instead looking to the newly arrived War Machine who had his weapons trailed on him.

"Back for more I see?" Durge taunted.

"Well seeing as how you ran away from our last fight like a coward…" Rhodey left his unfinished statement hanging in hopes of angering the bounty hunter.

"Fool." Durge snarled excitedly. "Not many are as stupid as yourself. They would normally take that chance to flee."

"Yeah well, unlucky for the both of us I'm not what you would consider normal." Rhodey shot back, rolling his shoulders. In response to this gesture, multiple compartments opened all around Rhodey's armor with various missiles, blaster, guns and so on and so forth all pointed at Durge.

Rather than being taken aback with fear, Durge was taken aback with excitement as he took a moment to gauge at Rhodey's form.

Durge proceeded to cackle madly, hunching over in a posture akin to a predator ready to pounce upon its prey.

"Interesting." Durge stated. "Let us see if you satiate my appetite."

"One premium grade-A ass kicking coming up." Rhodey declared just as Durge rocketed forward.

Unleashing a wave of fire on Durge, Rhodey's armor notified him that the bounty hunter wasn't slowing down and would be upon him in a matter of seconds.

Rescinding his weapons back into his armor, War Machine once again wielded his electrified stun baton and with timing on accounts of both himself and his armor smacked his melee weapon into the helmed face of Durge.

Thanks to his armors enhanced strength, Durge was smacked aside but the fighter recovered quickly via a tumble and in a surprise move shot his arm forward.

His arm stretched out, covering the distance between himself and Rhodey and wrapped itself around the Colonels arm who held it up as a means of defending himself.

Rhodey grit his teeth, feeling the strength behind the pull. Taking a moment to glance at the outstretched limb, he saw that it was a mass cluster of what looked like nerves and muscles with no skin tissue or bones to be seen.

Not allowing Durge a chance to gain an advantage over him, Rhodey began repeatedly jabbing his electrified weapon into Durge's arm.

This caused visible spasms on the arm with Durge actually yelling out in pain as the electricity of Rhodey's weapon appeared to be clearly damaging the appendage.

However, Durge did not relent on his grip, only seeming to tighten his hold on Rhodey's arm which in turn made his ensnared opponent fight back more viciously.

The momentary stalemate changed upon Durge's arm being shot at by a volley of blaster fire before his arm was cut from his body via Jedi Luminara's green lightsaber.

Durge didn't even flinch, instead having his concealed eyes bore into the newly arrived Jedi master with Commander Gree and the rest of the clones.

"Nice timing, Luminara." Rhodey greeted, shaking his arm to get the severed arm to fall off.

"Think nothing of it." Luminara took a moment too look at Durge who now was one arm short.

Holding her blade aloft in Durge's direction, Luminara gave him a challenging stare one he did not cower or back down to.

"I am only saying this once, bounty hunter." Luminara said evenly. "Surrender now. You are outmatched."

"Or don't." Gree said with anger, noting the many dead clones in the barracks. "All the more reason to take you down."

Durge wasn't in the least bit deterred, simply holding out his cut arm which had somehow regained its lost limb.

Startled, both Rhodey and Luminara looked down to where that hand had been only to see a barely visible trail of pink fluids leading back to Durge.

"It's been a while since I have fought a Jedi." Durge said with anticipation. "Jedi and Mandalorians for the price of one. I am glad I took up that Sith lords offer."

"Sith lord?" Luminara said warily, having an idea as to whom Durge was referring to.

"Take him down, boys." Gree commanded not wanting for this monster to strike again and take out more of his men.

"No wait!" Rhodey yelled out, yet it was for naught.

The remaining clones and the newly arrived ones all began to fire upon Durge who took it with ease as he moved to counter attack.

Not wanting any Clones to die haphazardly, Rhodey rushed in to join with them with Luminara doing the same.

Durge was a like a typhoon of death, knocking aside Clones left and right while killing any he grabbed.

Getting to Luminara and Rhodey, Durge was merciless in attacking them both.

Luminara kept her distance while Rhodey engaged in close quarter combat.

Durge however was letting his instincts drive his actions, being able to shove Rhodey into Luminara before returning to work on killing the Clones.

"You know, Count Dooku told me about your progenitor." Durge delivered a punch to a clone's head, snapping his neck in the process. "How he was supposed to be the best warrior in the galaxy." He Spartan kicked another into a nearby wall as he severed the clone's spine as a result. "Won some bounty hunter competition." He quickly pulled out his blaster and fired upon a few clones trying to sneak up on him. "To me, I believe Jango Fett was lucky I was taking a dirt nap for sixty years." He then stared down at Commander Gree, who kept his blaster trained at the Bounty Hunter. "Now I'll just have to settle in killing all of his _disappointing_ spawn as compensation."

"You shall do no such thing." Declared Luminara's voice from the side with Durge suddenly feeling an invisible _force_ send him flying away from Gree and into a set of bunks.

"Commander, are you alright?" Luminara was beside her second in command.

"Alive, general. Thanks to you." Gree said appreciatively.

"Let's keep it that way." Rhodey said as he rushed past the two and locked into a small wrestling match with Durge who had already recovered.

Grabbing the larger foes wrists, Rhodey attempted to wrestle Durge to the ground but the bounty hunter proved stronger.

Durge raised his arms up with Rhodey still hanging on. Thinking fast, Rhodey delivered a thruster powered double kick to Durges chest.

The heat from his thrusters coupled with the force of his kicks burnt a hole through Durge's armor, revealing more muscles and nerves.

Luminara took a moment to analyze Durge, witnessing his charred "skin" so to speak heal.

"Gen'Dai." Luminara murmured in disbelief.

"General?" Gree said in confusion.

"Ah, so you are aware of my kind." Durge chuckled sadistically.

"Your kind are a rarity." Luminara stated, keeping her lightsaber trailed on the now identified species. "I had honestly thought you have all died out."

"Oh, we're very much alive." Durge remarked, his entire body begin to bulge. "And this one is here to kill you all."

Durge shot forth his two extendable arms at Rhodey and Luminara with both moving aside.

"Gree, keep your distance." Rhodey yelled out. "It's clear this bastard just wants you guys dead more than anything."

"Copy that sir."

Luminara moved forward to engage, raising her to let out a force push, repelling Durge's arm.

"Why are you doing this, bounty hunter?" Luminara questioned, slashing a metallic fist away. "Are you here for the prisoner?"

"Prisoner?" Durge laughed madly. "I'm not here for that slime ball. That's not why I was hired. That duty belongs to someone else."

"Someone else." Rhodey said aloud.

"The Padawans." Luminara said in alarm.

"Commander, get back to the holding cells, now!" Rhodey ordered, looking to the other Clone survivors. "All of you!"

"Yes sir." Gree and the rest of the Clones shouted, quickly running out of the barracks.

"Where do you think you're going?!" Durge roared in outrage, shooting his arm out to intercept the retreating clones.

He stopped when something metallic pierced through his muscles which was followed by a small explosion, destroying his arm.

Hissing in pain, Durge turned to glare at Rhodey who had his hand raised with one empty slot on his wrist mounted missiles.

"Your fight's with me, freak show." Rhodey declared with Luminara standing by his side.

Durge huffed before beginning to laugh madly once more.

"Fine. I'll just have to settle for slaughtering the two of you for now."

Rhodey on the other hand knew that the Padawans may need assistance right about now.

"Luminara, you go on without me." Rhodey said firmly, keeping his weapons on Durge. "The kids may need your help more than I need yours."

Luminara looked at him in alarm. "Colonel Rhodes, I do not wish to entertain such a thought of leaving you."

"You're not leaving me by myself." Rhodey said, hoping to alleviate some of her concerns. "You're just going to retreat for a bit and making sure the mission doesn't fall apart."

"But Durge…"

"Luminara, your Padawan and Ahsoka need you right now more than I do." Rhodey stated. "I'll be fine down here."

Luminara didn't have time to talk as Durge was on the offensive once more.

Rhodey wrapped his arm around Luminara and flew a good distance from Durge who had crashed through the wall. Landing at the exit to the barracks, Rhodey gently pushed the Mirialan Jedi through the door.

"Go, now!"

"Can you handle him on your own?" Luminara asked worriedly.

"Maybe, for a little while." Rhodey admitted. "But for now, the Padawans need you more than I do."

Luminara wished to stay but the Avenger was clearly resolute in his decision.

She heard metal scraping against one another and turned to see Durge step out from the hole he made.

Clenching her jaw, Luminara shook her head giving one last look to Rhodey who had his eyes squarely on the bounty hunter.

She turned to run while Rhodey jumped into the air to meet Durge head on once more.

Meanwhile, Barriss Offee and Ahsoka Tano were holding back the assassin Asajj Ventress with everything they had.

During Durge's rampage through the ship, all they could do was stand there and listen to multiple Clone troopers calling in for aide only to be silenced a moment later. Ahsoka was beyond frustrated as she wanted to go out and assist the troopers but Barriss held her back to remind her of her duty here.

Which came into use as Ventress made her presence known, immediately attacking the two.

Several of the Senate Commandos were taken out with Argyus and a few left standing trying to support the two Jedi.

Yet it proved difficult as Asajj was more than capable of holding back all of them, utilizing the narrow spaces of the hallways to her advantage.

Ahsoka and Barriss clashed with Ventress, the Sith acolyte easily holding back both Padawans with her crimson lightsabers laughing all the while.

"Once I kill the two of you, perhaps I'll deliver your heads to your masters." Ventress taunted sadistically.

"Whatever you say you bald head harpy." Ahsoka shot back. "I'm amazed Dooku even keeps you around considering how many times you've already lost."

The insult got to Ventress, making her clench her teeth in anger.

Before she could retaliate however, from the corner of her eyes, Ventress saw Clone troopers appearing out from the lift with all their guns trailed on her.

Thinking fast, Asajj called forth the force and harnessed its power before unleashing a powerful force push all around her.

The Jedi, Clones and Senate guards all flew back to the ground giving Ventress the chance to make a quick getaway.

Ahsoka moved to pursue but Barriss quickly grabbed her arm.

"No Ahsoka, we can't pursue. This could be a trap." Barriss said, pulling her fellow Padawan back.

"But we can take her out." Ahsoka argued back.

"Be that as it may, the ship is under Separatist attack and any chance will be taken in achieving their goal of rescuing the Viceroy." Barriss countered, making Ahsoka pause in her actions.

Thinking it over, she knew her fellow padawan was right.

Both tensed suddenly upon seeing the elevator appear only to relax when it was revealed to be Luminara arriving on the floor.

"Master." Barriss greeted.

"Barriss, Ahsoka." Luminara expressed relief. "Are you both alright?"

"We're still standing, Master Unduli." Ahsoka said confidently before taking a moment to look behind her.

"Where's Rhodey?"

With gritted teeth, Luminara answered. "Facing Ventress' partner in this endeavor of ours."

Ahsoka's eyes widened in alarm. "You mean he's facing that crazy enemy that took out so many of our troopers by himself?!"

"He insisted." Luminara said. "He cared more for the well being of the two of you over his own."

"I'm going to help him." Ahsoka said straight away moving to walk past Luminara only for the older Jedi to halt her in her tracks by grabbing her shoulder.

"You will do no such thing." Luminara said strictly. "This Bounty Hunter named Durge is beyond _anything_ you have faced before, Padawan. I had far to many close calls in the short amount of time I face him along with Colonel Rhodes."

"We can't just leave him to fight by himself." Ahsoka argued back heatedly.

"And we shall not." Luminara declared. "Seeing the two of you are safe and sound, I shall be rejoining Colonel Rhodes shortly."

"Alone, Master?" This time, it was Barriss who spoke up clearly nervous at the prospect of her mentor rushing into the jaws of death.

"I must." Luminara stated resolutely.

"Master, forgive me, but I do not believe that would be such a wise move." Barriss openly admitted. "This foe you are about to face once again is clearly one that you shouldn't face alone."

"Please Master Luminara." Ahsoka pleaded. "We can't let you and Rhodey fight that monster alone."

Luminara however wasn't budging so easily. "I need you two to stay here at Gunray's cell. Remember, it is the Separatists' goal in retrieving him at this time."

As she said this, the ship began to shake violently with multiple alarms going off.

"What was that?" A nearby Clone asked aloud.

Commander Gree and Captain Argyus checked over the controls panels, testing out multiple controls.

"Our engines are damaged." Gree reported grimly.

"Lifelines, communications, sensors." Argyus listed off frustratedly. "They've all been damaged. We're barely functioning as is."

Luminara contacted Rhodey, hoping for a response. "Come in Colonel Rhodes, do you copy?"

She received a strained, cheeky response. "Yeah, you needed something Luminara? Kind of in the middle of something?"

"What's happening down on your end?"

"This guy is still a raging asshole in case you're wondering." Rhodey grunted, the sound of gunfire and metal clanging being heard on the other end. "But the whole ship just went through an earthquake… or was it a space-quake. What the hell is going on?"

"It appears there is more than one agent of Dooku aboard this ship." Luminara said anxiously.

"Wonderful." Rhodey gritted out sarcastically. "As if one jackass wasn't enough. How're the girls?"

"They're fine." Luminara announced, gaining a brief sigh of relief from Rhodey.

"Good to hear thaGAH."

"Colonel Rhodes/Rhodey?!" Luminara and Ahsoka yelled out at the same time.

"I'm fine." Rhodey rasped out. "Bastard got a lucky shot in."

"I'm coming to you now." Luminara stated. "Hold on."

Looking to the two Padawans, she ordered them to stay while she herself rushed back off to assist Rhodey.

Over with said Avenger, Rhodey crashed into a wall which made the metal bend to his form with pieces of wires and pipes sticking out.

Vision dazed, it cleared to see Durge running straight at him.

Moving on instinct, Rhodey quickly grabbed a pipe sticking out from the walls and pulled it out.

Just as Durge was within striking distance, Rhodey swung the pipe and bashed it into the Gen'Dai's face.

Not giving the bounty hunter the chance to recover, Rhodey unloaded a wave of lead upon Durge who felt each bullet rip through his now mostly exposed body.

This went on for several moments before Durge stretched his leg out and booted Rhodey back.

The air force pilot flew back and landed on the ground yet he got back to his feet a second later to see Durge retreating.

"Oh no you don't" Rhodey yelled out, chasing after him.

Luminara all the while ran through the corridors of the ship with her lightsaber ignited.

Using the force to guide her path, she was unprepared for the next door in front of her to open up and reveal Durge barreling right in her direction.

Not reacting in time, she was grabbed by Durge and slammed into the wall.

"I'll make this quGACK."

Rhodey tackled Durge off Luminara and tossed him away.

"What are you doing here?!" Rhodey questioned, helping the Jedi master to her feet.

"I am not going to abandon you to facing this monstrosity by yourself." Luminara stated, tone brokering no room for argument.

Rhodey sighed, looking over to see Durge had up and vanished.

"Ah shit, where'd he go?" Rhodey bitingly said aloud.

Luminara instead of answering closed her eyes and reached out with the Force. After several moments, she found the bounty hunter.

"Follow me." She said, running down a corridor with War Machine not far behind her.

_Scene Cut._

Pacing back and forth in front of Gunray's cell, Ahsoka was feeling like a nervous wreck. And her Mirialan counterpart merely looked on as she wasn't feeling any better as well.

"Luminara Unduli maybe a Jedi Master, but she doesn't know how troublesome that bog witch is capable of." Ahsoka stated.

"And Colonel Rhodes is facing that bounty hunter." Barriss added in a grim tone. "Despite how skilled he is, he is just one man against what appear to be a _literal_ monster."

"We can't just stand here and do nothing while they risk their lives against those two."

Rubbing her arm, Barriss spoke. "But our orders-"

"Wouldn't they have a better chance in succeeding if we were there with them?"

The Mirialan held her tongue as she didn't know what to say. So many conflicted thoughts and feelings filled her. Compassion for her allies versus her duty for the mission at hand. Pros and cons battled against each other as neither one were letting up.

Seeing this happening, the Senate Commando Leader came up to the padawans and gave his thoughts on the matter. "Sometimes being a good soldier is doing what you _think_ and _feel_ is right. It's why we're superior to droids."

Hearing this seemed to settle some conflict within Barriss while Ahsoka felt _some_ form of relief.

"But… we can't exactly abandon our posts, can we?" Questioned the Tortuga.

With a final bit of push, Commander Gree soon spoke up. "You two go on and help the General and Colonel. I'll stick around and help watch our _guest_."

The padawan pair looked at each other for the briefest of moments before Barriss spoke in uncertainty. "Are you sure?"

"Positive." Gree then nudged his head. "Now get going. Sooner you two get to them, the sooner the fights will end. Hopefully in our favor."

Seeing no other way around it, the padawan pair nodded as they ran away from the holding cells and let the Force guide them to where they needed to be at this moment.

_Scene Cut_

It hadn't taken long for Luminara and Rhodey to find the Gen'Dai given the sounds of a slaughter taking place… along with the trail of clone bodies _helping_ them along the way.

Durge stood there within the center of the Hangar bay where the fighting had begun, waiting for their arrival. In his hand was a struggling Clone Trooper that he held by the neck.

He laughed madly upon seeing his two foes arrive before tightening his grip around the poor Clones neck, snapping and killing the trooper in a second

"I figured neither of the two of you wished to fight in such an enclosed space." Durge mockingly said, tossing the Clone to their feet.

Rhodey had a murderous look in his eyes as stared with intense anger at Durge who appeared uncaring of senseless murder he had commited on the way here and in front of them.

Luminara was also glaring heatedly at the bounty hunter with a focused gaze in her eyes.

"You shall pay dearly for the lives you have taken this day, Bounty Hunter." Luminara said fiercely, widening her feet to get into her combat stance.

"I know _I'll pay_." Durge taunted before glancing at his torso and limbs. "Do you know how much it will cost for me to rebuild that armor set? It was custom made."

"Alright, screw this." Rhodey's armored shoulders popped open missile compartments and fired everything they had.

Durge took the missiles, the flames scorching his flesh yet he remained standing.

Luminara dashed forward, Rhodey flying over her shoulder.

Even taking consecutive blunt force repulsor blasts weren't enough to take him down.

Durge then did a rather strange move where he cocked his hands back by making them fold into his arms.

As they drew closer, Durge released his hands with the two launching forward at the two like cannon balls.

"Ah fuck." Rhodey siad, trying to change his trajectory but was too late as Durges fist slammed into him _hard_.

Luminara ducked and slid beneath the limb, slashing her lightsaber up cutting through the nerves and muscles severing the arm. Jumping back up, she glanced behind her to see Rhodes was trapped in Durge's other hand and ran to assist him.

However, she felt a warning come from the Force making her turn to see Durge sending the rest of the limb that she had not cut at her.

She quickly began a graceful dance of cutting and slicing through the enlarged limb before making Durge retract his damaged appendage.

Rhodey all the while struggled to get himself free from Durge's grasp when suddenly he found himself let go and falling to the ground.

Thankfully, he was falling feet first so Rhodey landed in a kneeling position with his armor taking the impact.

Rhodey looked up to see the hand that held him fall to the ground before nerves shout out to the rest of Durge to reattach itself to its host.

In front of him stood none other than Barriss Offee and Ahsoka Tano, both holding their lightsabers while facing Durge.

"Barriss!" Luminara said in surprise. "Ahsoka!"

Both Padawans looked to their seniors with sheepish looks.

"I know, I know. You told us to stay back." Ahsoka casually said.

"But we couldn't stand back any longer." Barriss added in while giving a brief 'sorry' shortly afterwards.

Releasing a frustrated but understanding sigh, both Luminara and Rhodey shared an understanding look.

"Well since you two are here." Luminara said as the four readied themselves for the next round against the Gen'Dai bounty hunter who had now regrown his damaged body.

"You know, it's been over a _century_ since I killed a Jedi." Durge stated with a hidden smile. "And now I get to make up for it starting with three today."

"Stay on your toes, you two." Rhodey warned. "This guy is incredible strong and unpredictable."

"Copy that." Ahsoka replied, holding up her lightsaber with Barriss only silently nodding.

All went still and silent for the briefest of moments with the far off sounds of flames and alarms being the only sounds being heard.

Then, in a snap second, the two sides ran forward at each other.

Durge's form pulsated and bulged before he threw out his elongated arms his charging enemies.

All four expertly dodged the attacks, with Luminara and Barriss slicing through the limbs.

Rhodey opted to take to the skies, firing his wrist mounted machine guns.

A few hit Durge yet the hunter rolled out of the way and grabbed a nearby destroyed Starfighter and threw it at the Aviator.

Rhodey flew beneath the fighter and rocketed forward at Durge with the hunter rearing back ready to strike.

At the last second, Rhodey halted in mid-air dropping a small cylinder at the Gen'Dai.

"CLOSE YOUR EYES." Rhodey shouted at his comrades.

Getting into close proximity of Durge, the cylinder exploded in a bright flash of light.

Durge shouted in anger, his eyes blinded.

His healing factor quickly took care of the temporary sightlessness yet he jolted suddenly with his eyesight clearing allowing him to see the azure blade protruding from his chest.

Slowly looking behind him, he saw Barriss Offee clutching her lightsaber impaled through his body.

What the young Jedi did not expect was the Bounty Hunter to begin chuckling lowly.

"Heh~ cute." Durge then turned and smacked the Padawan away like she was nothing. "Like _**that's**_ never happened before, child."

Stumbling across the floor, Barriss gritted her teeth while her hood fell to the floor. "H-How are you still standing? I hit your spine-"

"Girl, I have little to no bones; much less a central nervous system." Durge said cockily. "You really think after everything I've been through, a lightsaber through the chest would do me in? You truly are naïve."

In a stunning burst of speed, Durge was upon the young Mirialan Jedi and grabbed her by her hair.

Crying out in pain, Barriss, in a vain attempt tried to use her hands to release herself from Durges grasp.

"BARRISS!" Ahsoka cried out.

Holding out her arm, Luminara channeled the force and spoke. "You will let her go this instant."

Tilting his head, Durge released a laugh. "You think a mind trick will work on _**me**_? I came here to stomp on you Jedi, and you think I'm some weak-minded thug? News flash, I'm a walking nerve cluster."

"Don't you dare harm her!" Ahsoka yelled out from a vantage point, flipping in the air and slicing his wrist to release her fellow Padawan.

Durge didn't let out an ounce of pain by this; merely chuckled instead. "After a hundred years and you Jedi haven't learned any new tricks." Picking up his severed limb, the muscles and nerves rejoined together. "I can feel your heartbeat from 200 meters away. And you think you can sneak up on me." Seeing Ahsoka pull Barriss away to a safer distance, he charged forward. "You're all outclassed!"

Rhodey abruptly flew down feet first, stomping Durge down.

The bounty hunter growled in genuine anger this time.

"You know, you're proving to be a greater pain in the ass than I thought you'd be." Durge hissed from his position beneath War Machines' boot.

"Thanks." Rhodey quipped, grinding his heel into the Gen'Dais chest. "Gotta have that kind of talent to be an Avenger."

Durge snorted when he puffed his chest up, absorbing Rhodey's foot into his body.

"Shit." Rhodey acted fast, activating his thrusters at full power in order to fly out from Durges grasp.

"Get back here." Durge roared out.

"Hey ugly, don't forget about us!"

Durge whirled round to see the three Jedi women all running at him.

He whipped out his extendable arms, making the ladies jump and dodge with Luminara able to clip his arms several times.

"Nice moves."

Suddenly, a part of Durge's extended arm shot out from the extension and ensnared the Luminara's arm like a cobra with its prey. With applied force, the Jedi Master groaned and hissed from the pain of her arm almost breaking.

"But to me, you're just moving in slow-motion."

"Slow-motion this you Bantha fodder!" Ahsoka exclaimed, cutting through his arm with Barriss' aide freeing Unduli.

The fight would have progressed had it not been for the interruption of Commander Gree over the comms.

"General Luminara." Gree spoke somewhat frantically. "Colonel Rhodes, we've got a situation up here. The Captain Argyus. He's a traitor! He's gotten Gunray free and is on the run right now."

"We've been deceived." Luminara exclaimed.

"It's about damn time." Durge said. "Now that he's gonna be out of the way, the fun can continue."

"Is this all a sick game to you?!" Ahsoka barked angrily.

"Of course it is, whelp." Durge yelled back manically.

Rhodey on the other hand has had enough.

"Alright, you know what." Rhodey held out his hand and called forth a sleek a particularly deadly looking miniature missile. "Fuck it, Eat this. Tank Missile!"

The missile shot out from its slot and pierced through Durge who simply stood there, looking unimpressed.

"Really?" Durge mockingly asked. "Is… that… all…?"

Suddenly, Durge began to shake rapidly and violently expand with portions of his body puffing out only to deflate and another section to do the same until he realized what was about to occur.

"YOU BAST-"

_**KA-BOOOOM** _

Durge exploded from within, his chunks flying off in every direction with his bodily fluids splashing onto the Jedi and the Avenger.

"Ugh, Wha ish dat." Ahsoka said squeamishly, tongue sticking out with her hands flailing over it until she began to hack, cough and spit out the contents that managed to get into her mouth.

"I think I could suffice it to say that _that_ was _disgusting."_ Barriss declared, her face scrunching up at the smell emanating from her robes.

"Quite, my young Padawan." Luminara agreed, flicking off the gunk from her body. "Colonel Rhodes. You had such a weapon at your disposal. Why not use it from the start?"

"Cause it's limited." Rhodey explained, shaking his hands with the viscous leftovers of Durge flying off him. "I don't have a lot of those one me and they may not be easy to replace depending on the tech here. Maybe Scott and Hope could make more but for now I'm limited. Only got five more of those left."

A brief lull of silence befell the group with Rhodey clenching his fists in disappointment at the current situation.

"Dammit."

The four soon returned to the bridge of the damaged ship, sending out a signal for aid from nearby Republic forces as the ship had been badly damaged during the entire enemy raid.

After speaking with Yoda, Skywalker and Rogers in order to alleviate their worries on their current status they were all in the medical bay with many other injured clones who were lucky enough to survive the onslaught of Durge.

Luminara only looked at her company dejectedly, berating herself for being unable to stop this senseless violence from claiming the lives of so many of her loyal troopers.

Her thoughts were broken by her Padawans soft voice.

"Master, how badly are you injured?"

"I am still alive and well, my young Padawan." Luminara said appreciatively of her protégé's concern. "Though my arm will need time to heal."

Barriss stared at the arm, hesitantly raising her hands. "Master, if I may. There is a technique I wish to employ that Master T'ra Saa has taught me at the academy."

Brow raised in curiosity at this piece of information, Luminara allowed her Padawan to take her injured arm into her own hand while the other hovered over it.

Exhaling softly, Barriss closed her eyes in concentration calling upon the force to her aid.

Feeling the flow of the Omni-present power sweep through her body and down to her fingertips, Barriss used the gathered energy with a glowing energy emanating from her hand which began to surround Luminara's arm.

Ahsoka and Rhodey, who had been nearby along with Luminara all blinked in utter surprise as Luminara's injuries slowly began to fade away.

After several moments, Barriss stopped when she slumped back.

Ahsoka, who had been nearby managed to get up from bed and keep Barriss standing.

"That was amazing, Barriss." Ahsoka praised in awe. "Since when could you use the Force to heal?"

"It is something I have been practicing for some time during my stays in the temple." Barriss said, slightly more tired than usual. "Master T'ra Saa recognized my capabilities in utilizing this skill and assisted me in developing the power."

Rhodey whistled. "Damn. That's pretty awesome."

Luminara only beamed with pride at her Padawan. "Though this day was harsh, I am proud of you, Barriss. Both of you. The two of you are well on your way to becoming exemplary Jedi."

Barriss and Ahsoka shared looks of happiness at the praise with Rhodey smirking at their child-like air at being complimented.

"General, Colonel."

Both Luminara and Rhodey turned to see Gree standing before the two with his helmet off.

"Commander Gree." Luminara greeted. "I hope you aren't to injured after todays escapades."

"I'm alive and breathing, General." Gree replied. "Which is more than I could say for my brothers."

"I'm sorry, Commander." Luminara said earnestly. "I did not expect such an enemy to attack us."

"You don't have to apologize, General." Gree said calmly. "Next time he comes around, me and Green company will be ready for that bounty hunter scum."

"Next time?" Ahsoka perked up. "What are you talking about next time? Rhodey blew that Durge guy up into pieces."

Gree frowned, holding out his hand with a holo-device resting in his palm.

"About that, Commander." Gree said, activating the device.

What it showed was none other than a reformed Durge standing before an escape pod.

"You've gotta be kidding me." Rhodey bemoaned.

"It appears our enemies are not so easily stamped out as meager battle droids." Luminara grudgingly admitted.

"Who is that guy?" Ahsoka bitterly asked, glaring at the visage of Durge.

"I think that's a question we would all like to know." Barriss answered for her, leaving a rather sullen air over the group after learning just how much this mission had gone south.

**Whew, in two days, that's all it took got another one done.**

**I don't know what it is about this story but me and Jebest got like some kind of mind meld between the two of us cause whenever we work together on Infinite Wars, we churn these chapters out like clockwork.**

**Anywho, that's right motherfuckers, DURGE IS HERE.**

**And he's gonna be here for a helluva long time so the Avengers and Jedi now have a much more deadlier enemy then just the Sith and their acolytes.**

**Oh, I'm gonna have so much fun with Durge.**

**Originally, I had planned on introducing Durge at a later date in Season 2. Specifically around the time of the Mandalore arc which gives a greater narrative standpoint but honestly throwing him in now will greatly put the Avengers and Jedi on notice of a threat that managed to stand up to three Jedi and an Avenger meaning he's not to be taken lightly.**

**But for now, I'm done rambling about this chapter that was a breeze after I got my good comrade Jebest to help me out.**

**So until next time.**

**Rate Read and Review and as Always Have Nice Day.**


	14. Sure is Cold Here

**Alrighty then, Durge is here to play and he's gonna be the bane of the Jedi, Clones and the Avengers.**

**Like I said in a previous authors note, I had intended on holding the Gen'Dai off until we get to Mandalore but decided he would make a perfect shot in the system now before we get to the seasons end.**

**Really, got about maybe 5 or 6 chapters max left in the season before we get to the transition between seasons 1 and 2 and then things start kicking off into a higher gear with greater madness across the galaxy.**

**Lot of questions being asked that I unfortunately will not answer for the time being. The only things I can answer are the obvious questions. Like where's Tony? Back on Earth of course. We'll see him again soon enough. All I can say is wait and read.**

**And with that being said.**

**Rate Read and Review and as Always Have Nice Day.**

Avengers Infinite Wars Chapter 14: Sure is Cold Here

"Jesus Christ, Rhodey, what the hell were you fighting?" Scott exclaimed in disbelief, looking over the damaged War Machine armor.

"A major jackass, Scott." Rhodey replied frustratedly. "Now can you fix it up?"

"Not as well as Stark does, but it'll still be functional." Scott admitted, hands grazing over the armors scorched arm. "Ammo still seems good. For now at least."

Rhodey had returned the day before with a heavily damaged Venator and an entire crew of injured Clones with Luminara, Ahsoka and Barriss.

The battle with the bounty hunter known as Durge had been a lengthy one yet miraculously, Rhodey had not sustained as much injury nor damage to his suit as one would have expected from fighting a near immortal regenerative being.

Yet even though they had survived the clash, this fight with Durge was a serious reality check for the Avengers overall.

Unlike Cap, Vision, Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver, the rest of the Avengers are fully aware that they utilize technology to go about their hero business. And should their tech get damaged, that leaves them in a great degree of vulnerability.

Now Hope and Scott are able to fix up their own tech as well as Sam's and Rhodey's, but only to an extent.

Hope's father, Hank, had instilled in his two pupils the wherewithal to always go out prepared on any given mission thus the duo always keeping the necessary tools on them.

But now they had no access to Avengers HQ.

And they were in space where they didn't exactly understand the present elements and equipment needed to help keep their own tech in check.

So it was going to be a difficult learning curve in figuring out how to attune their tech to this galaxy's and vice versa.

It was a daunting task to say the least.

Another problem that just seemed to continually stack itself on top of the Avengers already long list of issues.

Thankfully, the great saving grace of this whole situation was the generous accommodation of the Jedi temple and their resources along with a growing list of Clone forces who were more than willing to offer their help.

The Avengers of course took this with open gratitude, learning everything they can in the free time they had.

Anakin, Obi-wan, Ahsoka and several other Jedi they had become friends with had been a source of great assistance in slowly adjusting to the slightly maddening reality of being out in space, possibly another galaxy altogether.

Captain Rex along with the 501st had been the most openly friendly of the Clone legions with list growing to include the 327th and Green company.

Currently, they were in a makeshift work station within the Jedi temple that had been needing some renovations as it was originally an area for Jedi to better learn of technology maintenance. However after assisting the Republic several times now, it was gifted as a temporary area where the Avengers could go about tech repairs and getting a better grasp on the technology and workings of the galaxy.

Steve and Sam where elsewhere in the temple, leaving Hope, Scott and Rhodey to their own devices.

"There's gotta be some way to make more ammo." Rhodey said grumpily, holding a few bullets for his shoulder mounted gun in his hand.

"You know, I always thought that your armor just makes its own ammo before joining up." Scott commented, using a welding torch to being repairing Rhodey's armor.

"I wish." Rhodey remarked. "I mean I've still got a decent amount. Tony never goes small when it comes to his armors. It'll last for a while unless I keep getting into fights like that Durge freak. Then it'll only take one or two more rounds until I need a new suit."

"Feels like we're missing something." Hope said from her end, holding up a vial of Pym particles making sure it's the proper dosage for her suit. "Stark is a lot like my dad. He usually has contingencies for certain situations."

"You're right on that account." Rhodey said, walking over to where his helmet was being kept separately from the rest of his armor. "Tony isn't one to do things in half-measures. Just gotta figure out…" Rhodey held up his helmet and looked in the interior. "How to get it…" He pressed on a few panels inside, turning the helmet on. "Working for us."

Rhodey took a moment to gaze at his helmet whilst contemplating on his best friend.

Tony was always one to have either a unique phrase, nickname, acronym or inside type of joke in relation to people he trusts and is close with.

His friend could never really think of an acronym for him so he settled for Roadie.

Closing his eyes and dreading whether or not this will work, Rhodey thought of a certain date between the two of them that they both swore to never speak of again.

"Tony." Rhodey said to himself. "You better not have put _that_ as the safe word to the armor."

Taking a breath, Rhodey readied himself and closed his eyes. "Tijuana, June of 1999."

Hearing no response, Rhodey peeked one eye open and saw nothing happen.

Even though he got no confirmation, Rhodey couldn't fight the relieved smile that Tony wouldn't bring up that day as his code for his armor.

"Alright." Rhodey mused when his eyes lit up.

Grinning, Rhodey knew exactly what to say. "WAR MACHINE ROX with and X."

What he got in return was a Russian accent replying to his password.

"Greetings, Comrade Rhodey, it is good to hear you are well."

Rhodey blinked until gaping in surprise a motion shared by Hope and Scott.

"Tap? Is that you?"

"Yes, Comrade Rhodey." Tap spoke through Rhodey's helmet. "Has something occurred, Comrade? I am detecting we are not on the Quinjet. Or anywhere my sensors can recognize."

It was truly astonishing but incredibly relieving for the three Avengers to hear the Russian accented voice of their own personal AI that Tony had made for them after the formation of the new team. They had all been so focused and overwhelmed by their current situation that none of the currently found Avengers had thought of bringing up Tap.

"A lot has happened, Tap." Scott said a bit ecstatically. "You have no idea what we've been through."

"I am detecting multiple elements and energies I do not recognize, comrades." Tap spoke diligently. "What has happened? Where are we? How may I assist you?"

"Tap, all you need to know is that it's good to hear your voice again." Hope stated with a beaming smile. "…But yeah, we've got a lot to tell you."

_Scene Cut._

_Republic Cruiser Resolute_

_Hangar Bay._

"Alright, so when you're trying to throw someone, always use your hip." Steve instructed a small group of Clone Troopers with Sam on the side along with Captain Rex and Domino squad and Obi-wan Kenobi.

"This seems simple in practice but I've seen it hasn't been employed as often as it could be in close quarters." Steve said, standing in front of his volunteering Clone Trooper. "When you're in the heat of battle, enemies can get close to you without expecting it so it is incredibly important to develop these snap reflexes."

Without warning, Steve surprised all present with a burst of speed quickly grabbing the trooper and with practiced ease hefted him over and the Clone found himself being deposited roughly onto the ground.

"What's this fighting style called again?" Captain Rex inquired.

"Judo." Sam answered. "But there's many variations that all stem from grappling and wrestling back on Earth."

"Fascinating." Obi-wan said aloud with great intrigue. "How many fighting styles are there back on your home world are there?"

"Too many to count really." Sam stated, scratching his head in thought. "Each corner of the world developed their own and new ones keep propping up."

"Yeah, I remember when I began learning." Steve remarked, recalling his training under SHIELD.

"How many are there?" Echo couldn't help but ask.

"Let's see." Sam mused. "There's Hapkido, Aikido, Karate, Sambo, Judo, Ju-Jitsu, Kung-Fu, Muay Thai, Krav Maga, Tae Kwon Do, Tai Chi, Capoeira…"

"My word, you certainly didn't short change the variety." Obi-wan remarked in amusement.

"That's only the base level." Steve said, helping up the downed Clone Trooper. "Hand to hand. When you start incorporating weapons, either you randomize what you already have or completely create a new fighting style to suit your needs."

"Like you with your shield." Rex noted getting a nod out of the Super Soldier.

"All this talk of these fighting styles reminds of my time as a Jedi youngling." Obi-wan mused with a slight fond expression.

"You mean those Lightsaber forms your order uses, right?" Steve asked.

Obi-wan blinked. "Yes, how did you know of this?"

"Aayla told me about them after our return from Maridun." Steve elaborated, remembering their small interactions in regards to Jedi combat.

_Flashback._

" _Lightsaber forms?" Steve inquired in intrigue._

" _The foundations of those who wield a Lightsaber." Aayla Secura said in a lecture-like manner while brandishing a low energy lightsaber. "It's a rather convoluted matter but to put it simply, there are seven variations of a lightsaber form with most Jedi usually specializing in one or two and Masters being more refined in a greater deal of all seven." Aayla then offered the blade up to Steve which he took gently._

" _We have some similar elements like that back on Earth." Steve said, holding up the blade in front of him. "Then again, instead of seven we half ten times that amount. Probably more considering how many styles are constantly mixing."_

" _Sounds similar to Lightsaber forms." Aayla remarked._

" _How many Lightsaber forms are there?" Steve asked, taking a few practice swings with the blade._

" _Seven with several variants depending on the form." Aayla said. "Shii-Cho is the base form, where all Jedi have their start in. It's the oldest known form in the history of our order."_

" _So if I were to use Lightsabers, Shii-Cho would be my go to?"_

" _Essentially." Aayla said._

_Steve hummed aloud, recalling the several times he had seen Jedi use their Lightsabers during combat._

_Spreading his legs shoulder length apart, Steve gripped the hilt with both arms and angled the Lightsaber up to his torso while keeping the saber entirely vertical._

" _Here." Aayla stepped forward, her hands gently adjusting parts of Steve's body to get in a more proper Shii-Cho starting stance. "There, that's better."_

" _Feels a bit simple." Steve said._

" _Simplicity is often the best offense and defense." Aayla plainly stated. "Though I am by no means a master of this form. Mine is Form V, Shien and Djem-So."_

" _Huh." Steve said, twirling the saber in his hand now trying to get a better feel of the blade. "Is there like a book or data pad that portray these forms?"_

" _Oh? You wish to learn how to wield a Lightsaber?" Aayla asked with a slight mischievous tone._

" _Maybe." Steve shot back with a grin. "Hmmm, but… it's more like getting an idea of the functions of these forms. Maybe incorporate them into my own fighting style."_

_Aayla put on a thoughtful expression, thinking over Steve's words. "Why do you wish to learn?"_

_Steve shrugged. "As a soldier and being a leader, you can never stop learning. I know I've definitely pissed off this Dooku guy and his cohorts who all use Lightsabers." He said, referring to Ventress and Grievous. "I'd be an idiot if I don't learn something on lightsaber combat."_

_Aayla couldn't help but smirk slightly at Steve's adherence to his own set of standards._

" _Alright." Aayla said. "Let's begin with the standard Shii-Cho stance."_

" _Right now?" Steve asked in slight surprise._

" _No time like the present." Aayla stated._

_Steve stared at her for a brief moment until he smirked in amusement. "Alright, so this Shii-Cho then…"_

" _Form 1." Aayla instructed. "The Determination Form, the way of the Sarlacc."_

_Flashback end_

"Alright everyone."

The small display of Earth based combat halted as Anakin Skywalker had arrived.

"Coordinates are locked in and we're en route to Orto Plutonia." Anakin announced until he noticed the considerably large presence of Clones surrounding the area. "Uh… Did I miss some kind of meeting?"

A small titter of chuckles were shared amongst the clones while Anakin was approached by Steve, Sam, Rex and Kenobi.

"So, care to share?"

"Captain Rogers and Sam here were displaying their worlds vast knowledge of combat." Obi-wan answered. "It appears to be quite extensive."

"Really?" Anakin said with obvious interest.

"Yes sir." Rex spoke up. "It was very informative."

"Well then, I guess I have a better reason to speed up coordination next time." Anakin remarked.

"You didn't miss much." Sam waved off. "Just some standard boot training mixed in with our own takes."

"Still, a Jedi's duty is to be a constant learner as much as they can be a teacher."

"Oh my, the first words of wisdom I've heard from you in quite some time, Anakin." Obi-wan quipped.

Anakin only rolled his eyes, though retained a good natured grin on his face.

"Please master. I constantly have to hold myself back from my utilizing my vast pool of knowledge. Otherwise I'd make you look bad in front of the other Jedi."

"Far be it from me to keep you from expressing your pool of knowledge."

"Well, if you insist." Anakin threw his hands up in mock surrender earning an amused smirk from his former master.

"So, now that that's been done." Sam said good naturedly. "Where exactly are we going? Noticed a couple of Clones carrying some winter outfits. And not like a walk out the front door to throw out your garbage, I'm talking like traversing the arctic here."

Anakin turned to Rex who wordlessly held out a hand held holo-projector of a planet for a few short seconds before morphing into a winter tundra.

"Orto Plutonia." Rex said straight away. "Our current mission objective."

"It's in the Pantoran system, home to the Senator Riyo Chuchi." Obi-wan further elaborated.

"Chuchi." Sam repeated the name, crossing his arms in thought. "Have we heard that name before?"

"She was with Senator Amidala on Naboo when we first arrived." Steve explained for Sam. "The young blue skinned girl."

"Oh yeah, her." Sam said with a snap of his fingers. "Geez, she must be around Pietro and Wanda's age to be a Senator. Maybe even younger."

"So why ask us to come along?" Steve inquired.

"Well it doesn't hurt to have extra help." Anakin plainly stated. "That, and we've had a string of luck in encountering some of your lost comrades on wayward planets we hadn't even considered looking for, especially after finding Hope Van Dyne on Maridun. Figured we could try our luck again."

At this, both present Avengers gave Skywalker grateful expressions at the gesture of good faith and him adhering to the promise he made to Steve and his team.

"Thanks for the thought and effort, Anakin." Steve said appreciatively. "We'll help you guys out on this mission in any way we can."

"No problem."

Soon enough, after some extended period of time within Hyperspace the Venator pulled out of FTL and neared the planet destination with a good chunk of Anakin's legion being all armored up in heavy winter gear.

Many began boarding the LAAT gunships, Steve and Sam riding with Kenobi, Skywalker, Rex and Domino Squad. Along for the ride was Anakin's trusted Astromech R2-D2 and Padme's personal protocol droid C-3PO.

"So, what exactly is the Republic and Jedi being sent all the way out here for anyway?" Sam asked the Jedi.

"The people of Pantora are part of the Republic." Obi-wan answered. "In being a member, a Republic base was stationed on the primary planet or Orto Plutonia. But recently, from both the planet and the moon Pantora, the base has not been heard from for a number of days now."

"We've been requested to come investigate and act as a security detail in case of Separatist forces being on the planet."

"And if there's no threat?" Steve asked an obvious question. "Could it be something else?"

"Can't be, sir." Rex said. "Last that was checked, that planets uninhabited."

Sam and Steve shared a look, thinking over those words.

"Well, who knows." Sam said after a moment of silence. "Life always finds a way."

Before anyone could say anything in return, the gunships landed with its doors opening to give the occupants a full blast of the icy winds of the planet.

Stepping out, the assembled crew was buffeted by cold winds.

"And this is the planet's tropical zone." Obi-wan said in mirth.

"It sure isn't Tatooine, that's for sure." Anakin wryly commented, looking back to his first in command. "Captain Rex, have your men survey the area and set up as many sensor beacons as you can before dark."

"Right away sir." Rex responded. "You heard the general, boys. Spread out and stay in sight. This blizzard can get you lost in an instant."

As Sam and Steve trudged through the snow behind the Jedi, the former of the two couldn't help but bring this up.

"Hey Cap, you sure you're ok with being here?" Sam asked jokingly. "Don't wanna wind up having to unfreeze your ass again."

Steve took in stride. "Funny Sam. It's lucky there's no giant plane for me to crash, so I should be good."

Sam only chuckled.

Off to the side, the two droids spoke with one another in regards to their current situation.

"Why would the Republic want to have an outpost all the way out here?" 3PO inquired, not at all comfortable with the blistering cold. It messed with his joints.

R2-D2 let out a few beeps and whistles.

"The chairman of Orto Plutonia requested it?!" 3PO said in bewilderment. "Why?"

Speaking of said chairman, another LAAT gunship landed not far from them with a familiar young Pantoran being accompanied by three other older gentlemen from her species with two Clone guards.

Obi-wan noticed their arrival, turning to address them.

"Chairman Cho, Senator Chuchi." Obi-wan said respectfully. "I suggest you wait here until we can secure the area."

The Chairman however had other ideas in mind. "I respect your judgement, General Kenobi, but I will go where I choose. This is Sovereign Pantoran territory."

Right off the bat, Sam found himself frowning, finding the chairman's rather brash statement to Kenobi a bit rude.

"I thought this place was uninhabited, therefore unaligned." Anakin pointed out.

"Our moon of Pantora is the only civilization in this system." Chairman Cho countered. "I'm the one who asked the senate to protect this planet. This wasteland belongs to us."

"This wasteland belongs to them?" Sam scoffed a bit. "Jeez, get a load of this guy Cap."

Steve only remained silent, watching the exchange go on.

"With all due respect Chairman, this is for the Senate to decide not us." Kenobi said, remaining cordial.

"Ah, but the Jedi report to the senate, do they not?" Cho said, gesturing to Riyo beside him. "Which is Senator Chuchi right here."

Said Senator stepped forward. "Technically speaking, Master Jedi, The Chairman is correct. Since the planet is uninhabited, the moon of Pantora reserves the right to continue as a protectorate."

Anakin and Obi-wan shared a brief look with the latter of the two acquiescing to the Chairman's point of view.

"Point taken, Senator." Obi-wan turned to address Anakin when Chairman Cho spoke up once more.

"Begging your pardon, Master Jedi. But might I inquire who those two men may be?" Cho asked, giving Sam and Steve a suspicious gaze.

Chuchi recognized them right away and with a much more, lighter tone answered for the Jedi.

"Those are the men who saved the lives of many senators and civilians on Naboo when the Separatists attacked, including my own." Chuchi said with a smile. "They are members of the Avengers. That's Captain Rogers and Lieutenant Wilson."

Hearing their names, both Avengers stepped forward.

"It's good to see you once more, Senator Chuchi." Steve said respectfully.

"Looks like you're all the way out here in this frigid weather." Sam said, much more casually to the Senator which rather irked the Chairman a bit.

"I am relieved to see you here with the Jedi and Troopers." Chuchi admitted honestly. "With all of you here, I feel our time spent in this Tundra will be considerably shortened."

"We plan on it." Kenobi cut in. "Anakin, stay with the Senator for now while we secure the area and the base."

"I'll tag along." Sam stepped forward. "Red wing can help scout the deeper parts of this base."

"Much appreciated, Sam." Kenobi said.

Sam, Obi-wan, Rex and the Chairman Cho all stood before the entrance to the Republic base with the metal doors opening after one of the clones bypassed the security codes.

The soldiers all held their weapons at the ready in case of anything coming out to attack them.

Obi-wan on the other hand had his eyes set on a rather ominous display before them.

Within the base was a line of poles embedded into the ground with clone trooper helmets on each one.

"Nice housewarming gift." Sam remarked, grimacing at the thought of how these troopers perished.

"I don't get it." Rex stated. "What's the point of this?"

"It must have been the Separatists." Cho declared confidently.

"I don't believe so." Obi-wan said.

"Never seen droids do something like this." Sam commented while wordlessly deploying Redwing and sent it out to fly deeper into the base, telling the Clones to follow behind the drone and stay at a distance. "This is some tribal type crap."

They began to walk further into the base with Sam's drone relaying him information in regards to the base.

There were no Clones left alive.

Disgruntled and somewhat angered by this information, the Republic forces soon arrived at the main control room of the base.

"No survivors." Rex said dejectedly, looking down at a fallen Clone.

"Is it possible that the Separatists are building a forward base to attack Pantora?" Cho inquired from the elevated control panel of the room.

"Not likely. Look at the computers." Obi-wan gestured around. "They are completely untouched with no traces of data being taken. We're not dealing with Separatists."

"Then what are dealing with here, Obi?" Sam asked. "We've got a base full of dead troopers."

The Jedi didn't have time to respond as Rex –who had left the room momentarily- returned.

"General Kenobi, my scouts have spotted a Droid base on the other side of the ice ridge." Rex reported. "It looks abandoned."

Outside, Chuchi and Rogers had caught up with one another since their last encounter at the Senate building.

"I've been hearing about some of your most recent exploits, Captain Rogers." Chuchi said pleasantly. "You've been quite busy."

"It appears you're just as busy as I am." Steve remarked. "Didn't expect to run into a familiar face out here of all places."

"The galaxy can be a small place." Chuchi simply stated, looking over to Anakin momentarily. "Master Skywalker, correct?"

Anakin's head perked up at his name being spoken by the Senator. "Senator Chuchi?"

"Padme has spoken about you." Chuchi said friendly. "When she had heard that you along with Obi-wan Kenobi had been selected in accompanying me and the Chairman to Orto Plutonia, she was both relieved and exasperated."

"Exasperated?" Anakin said in amusement. "How?"

"She mentioned something about having your usual plans immediately fall apart and resulting in improvisation." Chuchi said. "Constantly."

Anakin couldn't help but snort at the statement with Steve giving him a wry smile which made him laugh.

"Yeah, I just have that kind of luck." Anakin said.

"Anakin. Steve."

Both men turned to see Obi-wan had returned with the others.

"The BARC speeders are being prepped right now." Kenobi informed them. "A droid base was spotted not far from here."

"What's the status of this base?" Anakin asked.

"All dead." Sam said grimly. "But secure for now."

Obi-wan then addressed the Pantoran Senator. "Senator, it is better you stay here for now with the rest of the men and the chairman. We shall be back in a short amount of time."

Chuchi simply nodded in agreement to the suggestion while the Jedi, Avengers and a squadron of Clones rode across the snowy plains over to the Droid base.

Upon arriving at the base, they were immediately greeted to a familiar sight of droid heads being propped up on pikes.

"Well… least they didn't discriminate." Sam said dryly.

"Looks like we're dealing with the same attackers as our base." Anakin said.

"So they attacked both bases." Steve surmised. "Not playing for either side."

"Then we'll need to find out why and what do these potential enemies want." Obi-wan mused. "Let's not rush in and get ourselves into another galactic conflict."

"I hear that." Anakin concurred. "Rex, let's set up some more sensor beacons. Steve, mind coming with me?"

Steve nodded, walking around the base with Rex.

"Guess we'll do the same sweep again." Sam said, deploying Redwing once more.

"Indeed." Obi-wan nodded. "Torrent squad, with me."

Breaking off into their groups, the base was found relatively unscathed though with the caveat being that all of its personnel were destroyed.

Rex, Anakin and Steve entered the base soon after with everyone noticing the droids in the base all missing their heads and bodies frozen solid in place.

More pikes were littered in a similar manner to the clone base with heads on the tips.

"Whoever did all this was thorough." Steve noted.

"And skilled." Rex added. "No other bodies other than the droids here. No casualties then."

"So a surprise attack." Anakin surmised.

Up ahead, the Jedi Knight saw Obi-wan and Sam exiting an elevated door.

"Did you find anything?" Obi-wan called out to them.

"Nothing outside." Anakin said, glancing down to the ground where he saw a particularly strange shape indented in the snow. "But there's a large footprint here."

"Have one of your men make a cast." Obi-wan said.

Soon enough, they were assembled in the main control room of the droid base with Obi-wan fiddling with the security footage.

"Sensors are all in place." Anakin notified his former master.

"Good." Kenobi said, entering some commands. "I think I found something."

Looking up, the Jedi was annoyed to see nothing working as he pressed a few more buttons until Anakin simply hit the transmitter with his fist, activating the footage.

" _685 to command!"_ Was the first thing they heard, displaying a droid firing at many different directions. _"There are too many of them! They've overrun the base! We need reinforcements AAAUUGH."_

The final clip showed a large furry creature pounce upon the droid from behind, ending the footage.

"What was that?" Steve asked in bewilderment.

"Looked kinda furry." Sam noted.

"Our attacker it appears, and a good one at that." Obi-wan said.

"The Droid's log indicates they were investigating the southern canyon." Rex spoke up.

"Then that's a good place to start." Kenobi said, pulling his hood over his head once more. "Rex, return to base and notify the Chairman and Senator of our findings."

"Right away sir."

"I'll head back with them." Sam announced. "Be their eye in the sky in case whatever that was in footage comes back."

"You sure, Sam?" Steve asked.

"I'll be fine Cap, you just keep those two safe." Sam said, shooting a teasing grin at Anakin who only rolled his eyes though smirked nonetheless.

With the trio departing the droid base for the southern canyon, Sam, Rex and the rest of the Clones returned to their own base.

Upon returning to their base, they saw most of the 501st already working to re-establish the base in working order.

Chairman Cho was directing the troops whilst Chuchi stood off to the side looking rather despondently.

"Hey." Sam greeted her, snapping the senator out of her stupor.

"Oh, lieutenant Wilson, you've returned." Chuchi said. "Hmmm? Where are the Jedi and Captain Rogers?"

"We found out what attacked both our bases." Sam said making Chuchi's eyes widen at the information. "They went out to investigate who or what it was."

"So it wasn't the Separatists then?" Chuchi asked getting a shake of the head from Sam. "I knew it. Chairman Cho was determined that it was the Confederacy."

"Well, whatever it was must be from around here." Sam said, looking out into the endless snowy tundra. "My guess is… either they were defending their territory from foreign invaders or expanding. But my guess is on the former."

"So there is a chance for peace then?" Chuchi said determinedly.

"Hope so." Sam agreed. "Don't want any more soldiers dying for nothing."

"Dying for nothing?" An outraged voice said from behind.

The Avenger turned to see Cho approaching with a scowl on his face.

"How is this dying for nothing?" Chairman Cho said, gesturing his arm over to several clones moving one of their deceased brothers to be buried. "It is clear to me that whatever it was that attacked these men that they wish for nothing, but violence against the Republic and the people of Pantora. What makes you so certain that this will be brushed aside so easily?"

Sam didn't like how the man brazenly went up to his face so challengingly, stepping up to the Pantoran.

"I don't like these men dying anymore then you do, but if there is a chance for this to be settled without any more bloodshed, I'm all for it." Sam shot back.

"Are you not a soldier, _Lieutenant Wilson."_ Cho countered. "I thought you of all people here aside from the Clone Troopers would understand the need for retaliation against a clearly aggressive species."

"I was, but now I'm an Avenger." Sam rebuked. "Which means I adhere to a different set of standards. _And_ that I don't have to take orders from _you_."

"Gentlemen, please." Chuchi stepped forward in between them both. "We are all on edge here. We do not need to turn on one another here."

Chairman Cho only sneered in aggravation, whirling around to leave with a flourish of his cape.

"So that jackass is the leader of your kind?" Sam bluntly said, making Chuchi gasp slightly at the Avengers' crude description of her elder Pantoran.

"Lieutenant Wilson, please." Chuchi said. "Chairman Cho has been leading my people long before my own birth."

"Oh yeah? Then why is he not the Senator that represents your race?" Sam asked in return actually making Chuchi pause with a serious look of contemplation on her face.

"I… was chosen… because…" Chuchi was at a momentary loss for words.

Now that she really considered those words and her position, why was it that she -a young upstart of a Pantoran- was selected to be the representative of her entire sector over so many other, in her opinion more qualified individuals.

It honestly bothered her for some time as while accepting the position with great humility, there were times of self-doubt.

Thankfully, she had made friends like Senators Amidala, Organa and Mothma who had been very supportive of her political career but they were not here right now.

She was glad that she was accompanied by Chairman Cho yet the moment she second guessed the cause of the Clones deaths, Cho shot her down rather harshly.

He was all for war and conflict with those that did not align with the Pantoran people yet she felt it in her heart that a better more peaceful way was possible.

All the while, Sam stood beside her and felt himself cringe a bit.

"Look, Senator." Sam said sheepishly. "I didn't mean to put you on the spot like that."

Chuchi blinked, hearing his apologetic tone making her quickly shaking her head.

"No, Lieutenant Sam, you have given me a great deal to think about in regards to my position of Senator of Pantora." Chuchi said with a now more determined expression. "Though, if I may, Lieutenant. I would like to hear if you have another thought in regards to this situation."

Now Sam was put on the spot, surprised by the young Senators forwardness with the question.

Crossing his arms, Sam thought for several moments until finding an answer.

"The way I see it, he represents your people at home but you speak on behalf of your race to the galaxy as a whole." Sam stated firmly. "That means… you have a greater duty to this conflict then he does."

Chuchi smiled up at the Avenger. "Thank you, Lieutenant. You have given me much to think about."

"You could thank me by dropping the Lieutenant." Sam said good naturedly. "Call me Sam."

The Senators smile widened in return. "Then I insist on you calling me Chuchi."

"Deal." Sam said with a grin.

Meanwhile, Steve, Anakin and Obi-wan went about investigating the southern canyon.

The trio stood together in the center of two large icy canyons all with their binoculars in hand.

"There's some sort of reflection up there."

Pulling up his own set of binoculars, Anakin looked towards Obi-wan's line of sight. And sure enough, he saw the same thing.

Wanting to see for himself, Steve was about to look when his eyes caught onto something reflective as well… in a totally different direction.

"They're signaling each other." Steve said, pointing to where he spotted the reflection.

"What do you mean?" Obi-wan asked.

"Look." Steve helped position Obi-wan's viewpoint to be able to spot the other reflective light in the distance and no sooner had he done so, the Jedi Master spotted another one.

"Well, they know we're coming." Obi-wan said.

"Haven't attacked us yet." Anakin added.

"I guess we have yet to make ourselves a threat to them." Kenobi surmised.

"Let's keep it that way."

Hopping back onto their speeders, the three rode across the snowy terrain for quite some time.

In what felt like forever, the trio turned and entered a darkened canyon. And once making halfway through a rocky bridge, they saw signs of a village on the other side.

"I think we found what attacked the bases." Steve said, spotting several of these large furry bipedal and dual set of eyes creatures wielding spears.

"Talz?" Obi-wan said in complete surprise. "I was unaware that they have a settlement here."

"Sorry if I'm not fully knowledgeable in your galaxy's… vast array of species, but mind filling me in on what's going on?" Steve asked.

"The Talz are a species native to Alzoc III, it's actually a substantial distance from this sector." Anakin explained. "Wonder how they got here."

"And better yet, how long have they been here for?" Kenobi asked, with the three men dismounting their speeders and walking into the village.

Passing by a good number of huts and the surrounding residents, Steve voiced a guess. "By the look of things, maybe a century… or more. I don't see a lick of tech around here at all."

"Force knows the answer, sadly." Anakin remarked. "Should've bought 3PO with us. He speaks their language."

They soon stood before the largest of the huts in the village.

"Question: how are we gonna talk with them?" Questioned the Skywalker.

"We'll have to improvise." Steve said with a shrug.

"Ah, one of Anakin's favorite forms of action." Obi-wan couldn't help but quip.

"Oh, haha."

A moment later, a large Talz exited the hut and gauged the three men before him.

After a few seconds of silence, the Talz before them spoke through a series of clicks and warbles while holding his spear over his head until slamming it into the ground.

"Well… say something."

"Oh shut up."

Steve merely rolled his eyes at their small banter. "Let me try something."

Grabbing his shield, Steve figured that they would understand a similar gesture and slammed his shield down in front of the spear.

The Talz appeared satisfied with the action and gestured for them to enter into the hutt.

Kenobi gave Steve an approving nod with Anakin doing the same and the three men entered into the hutt.

It took some time for some communication barriers to collapse for the three humans, but they ended up getting what they needed; starting out with the resident chief's name being Tie-sen.

Several of the Talz held up drawings of the droids and clones and showed an illustration of them provoking the village into attacking in retaliation. Moreso of the droids while the clones were dragged into the fallout.

"What do you think?" Steve asked the two Jedi.

"They may have figured if one base was willing to attack, the other could do the same." Anakin guessed.

"Seems to be a solid theory." Kenobi said, looking back to the apparent head Talz of the village. "All we want is peace between us."

Taking a page out of their book, Steve put his artistic skills to use and quickly made a rough sketch of a human and Talz shaking hands.

"Peace." Steve said, holding out the drawing for the Talz chief to take.

Taking a moment to study the picture, the Talz nodded in agreement.

By the time the three humans left the hut, it was really dark outside with only the fire's lighting up the area.

Turning to bid farewell to the Talz, Obi-wan was surprised when the village leader pulled him into a bear hug, greatly amusing Anakin and Steve.

"Aw, you made a new friend, Obi-wan." Anakin remarked.

"Would you like to be in my spot, then?"

Anakin didn't have a chance to respond as he too was then hugged by the Talz with Steve sharing the same fate.

Once back onto their feet, Steve had to rub his lower back. "Not as bad as one of Hulks' or Thor's hugs, but still…"

They now stood around their BARC speeders, preparing themselves for the journey back to base.

"We're gonna need to report this back to the others." Anakin clicked his tongue as he fiddled with his console. "Too bad long range communication isn't working, due to the storm brewing."

"Then we must get going." Obi-wan said. "Sooner, the better."

_-Scene Cut-_

Chuchi was pacing about the base's command center with utmost worry.

"If you keep walking like that, we'll see a trench here made by you." Sam joked, hoping to ease the tension in the air.

"Apologies." Chuchi said. "I'm just worried for the Jedi and Captain Rogers."

"You're not the only one." Rex commented as he kept checking the comms for anything. "They should've reported back a while ago."

"You guys have got nothing to worry about." Sam said assuredly. "Then again, Steve hasn't had the best luck when it comes to snow."

Both Rex and Chuchi shared a look at the joking tone of the Avenger when the base comm sent out an announcement of the return of the Jedi and Cap.

"See? What'd I tell ya?"

Making their way to the hangar, the trio was soon met with Chairman Cho as he too wanted to speak with the returned humans.

Rex was the first to greet them as soon as they started coming out of their speeders.

"Glad you made it back, sir." Rex said to his commanding general. "It's getting worse out there."

"You don't know the half of it."

"Hey Cap, made it back not in a block of ice." Sam said with a grin.

"Like I said before, no plane for me to crash." Steve shot back.

"Master Jedi, Captain Rogers." Chuchi greeted. "I am glad to see you all have returned from this blizzard."

Before any of them could respond, the head of the Pantoran government made his presence known.

Being rather demanding -as usual- Chairman Cho spoke. "What did you find?"

"It seems we have stumbled upon an inhabited planet."

"Excuse me? _Inhabited_?" Cho spat out. "Impossible."

"It is not." Anakin spoke up. "There's a settlement of Talz here on this planet."

"What are the Talz doing here?" Chuchi asked aloud in utmost confusion. "They don't have any colonies registered this far away from Alzoc III."

"They appear to have inhabited this planet for some time now." Kenobi said.

"That is utterly ridiculous." Cho spoke up frustratedly. "The people of Pantora have been exploring this desolate rock for centuries, never once finding any lifeforms here."

"Then I think your explorers didn't look hard enough." Steve commented. "Despite the utmost lack of technology and outside communication, they're rather smart in not wanting to talk with your people… until now, that is."

Cho's brow twitched at the statement, finding the Captains words rather infuriating.

"Be that as it may, these savages have invaded Pantoran space and attacked a base of the Republic." Cho snapped. "Captain Rex, ready your men for combat."

"Whoa, Whoa, Whoa, hold on a second." Sam stepped forward. "This isn't something that's gonna fix whatever problem this is."

"This planet belongs to us!" Cho spoke out. "Everything within this whole system belongs to us!"

"The Talz don't belong to you. They are a free people, Chairman, not property." Anakin said with a surprisingly tense tone. "They've been here for some time now, probably before your people became space worthy, and haven't bothered you since."

"They still stand upon sovereign Pantoran land and attacked our base with spears and stones." Cho vehemently argued. "It is clear to see that these savages are unaware of the rest of the galaxies conventions of civilization. Being apart from their kin must have degenerated their thought process."

"That's out of line, Chairman." Steve now said in a louder voice.

"We promised the Talz their will be no further retaliation and they wish to make peace." Anakin added. "They even wished to make amends to the Clones and give them their own proper burial as amends for their mistaken attack."

Before anything else could be said, Chuchi stepped in. "Chairman Cho, if what is said to be true, the senate has to decide what's to be done with the Talz here. Even the representative from Alcoz III needs to learn of this before anything else could-"

Yet the Pantoran Chairman wasn't having any of this, interrupting his people's senator. "Are you questioning your superior, Senator?"

"But Chairman-"

"I will not ask again. Are you questioning me, Senator?"

At this point, Sam had grown increasingly annoyed with the Chairman's disrespectful attitude.

"What the hell is your deal?!" Sam asked, now getting in Cho's face. "She wants peace. We all do here. There's no point in provoking a damn fight for no reason."

"How dare you-"

"As much as I disagree with Sam's tactics in speaking to you, I do concur with his mentality." Obi-wan said in an even tone that brokered no argument. "We will not send out our troops to die in a pointless battle that will leave both sides with loss. You will go out to the meeting location and you will make peace with the Talz."

Yet the Pantoran Chairman once more showed his undying stubbornness and pride.

"It's obvious _this_ Talz colony are nothing more than animals. As such, they can't be trusted. Therefore, they are not covered by the Convention of Civilized Systems."

"The Talz are a species recognized to be a part of the Republic, recognized colony or not." Obi-wan said with a more curt tone now. "As such, this falls upon the shoulders of the Jedi and Senator Chuchi more so than your own, Chairman."

"We are in my sector Jedi." The Pantoran was unrelenting. "Therefore, this falls under my jurisdiction, not yours."

"Be that as it may, you will come to the talks between Tie-Sen, leader of the Talz." Kenobi stated. "We must leave now if we can make it to the arranged time."

"Good." Cho snorted. "That'll give me ample time to put these savages in place."

With that said, Cho went off to prepare for the eventual meeting.

"That guy must have the biggest stick up his ass." Sam said the second Cho was out of earshot.

"Couldn't help but think the same way, Sam." Rex said in agreement.

"Here, here." Anakin also said. "Rex, prep the boys but under no circumstances are we attacking. If Chairman Cho wants to go to war, he can do it himself."

"Of course, general."

"With the snow storm brewing outside, we won't be able to take out any of the gunships." Sam said, before looking over the speeders. "And there's not enough bikes to take all of us at the present time."

"We'll make do." Anakin said. "Leave the rest of the men here in the base in case the storm lets up."

_-Scene Cut-_

The storm was starting to get worse and worse with time passing by. Not a lot of light was brightening up the land by the time of the arranged meeting.

The large contingent of speeders soon arrived at the meeting point with the location being the former droid base.

Chairman Cho immediately got out to survey the area.

"Captain." Spoke the Chairman towards Rex. "Have your men station by that ice ridge. Once the savages arrive, we'll open fire on all of them."

"What the hell is the matter with you?!" Sam yelled, stomping right up to Cho. "Are you really so determined to get us all killed?! All so you can keep this planet uninhabited?!"

"He is right, Chairman." Obi-wan said much more sternly. "There will be no battle or war. We are here to make peace and we will do so."

"YOU WILL DO AS I COMMAND! EVERYTHING WITHIN THIS SYSTEM IS UNDER MY JURISDICTION!"

"Not everything can be controlled, Chairman."

"Besides, the Talz are already here." Anakin said, and true enough Talz mounted upon their quadrupedal mounts arrived over the many snow hills surrounding them with more of them popping out from the snow itself in between the troopers.

"So I believe your little _ambush_ will not be happening anytime soon." Steve stated.

"Rex, have our men lower your weapons." Anakin ordered. "We're not here for a fight."

The Clone captain nodded as he quickly gave out the order while also retelling them to not follow any coming from Cho's mouth.

With gritted teeth, the Pantoran Chairman walked beside his armed escort up towards the Talz chief with C3-PO following not far behind. All the while, Senator Chuchi was growing more and more worried about her superior's current string of actions.

Anakin and Obi-wan came into the Droid base first, greeting the Chieftain respectfully. Steve did the same a moment later.

The Chieftain nodded at the three of them, thumping his fist to his chest in recognition of keeping their word of the promised meeting.

"Chieftain Tie-sen." Obi-wan said with a bow. "We've returned with Senator Chuchi and Chairman Cho as promised."

Chuchi walked forward with 3PO by her side but Cho walked forward and cut her off from making the first greeting.

Thankfully, 3PO beat him to the punch and spoke with the Talz leader in his language.

"Chieftain Tie-sen welcomes you to his home and hopes that you have come in peace." Relayed the protocol droid. "He wishes that you can be good neighbors, but hopes you can vacate the planet in a timely manner."

"These savages have no rights here." Cho snarled under his breath.

The Talz head spoke once more with 3PO translating.

"He is aware now of the war that is plaguing the galaxy and wishes to remain neutral and live in peace away from the conflict."

Cho -however- was having none of that.

Roughly grabbing and turning the droid to face him, Cho spoke in an aggressive manner while glaring at the Talz. "Listen here, droid. You are to repeat _every_ word I say."

Hearing this, Chuchi spoke. "Chairman, we need to be delicate here. I can be more than willing to represent our people here on this matter. We can't afford to-"

"Not on your life, Senator." Cho harshly said. "There will be no diplomacy this time."

Cho went to walk forward but was stopped when Steve Rogers placed a strong arm against the Chairman's chest.

"Take your hand off me, Captain Rogers."

"You will not instigate a war here, Chairman." Steve said with a fiery look in his eyes. "Master Kenobi has said it before, the Talz are recognized by the Republic."

"And that means, Senator Chuchi here represents your people, not _you_." Sam added, crossing his arms defiantly.

"He is correct in that matter, Chairman." Obi-wan said cordially.

"Well no longer." Cho roughly shoved Cap's arm away. "This is now an internal Pantoran matter meaning the Republic nor the Jedi have a say in this matter."

"We do however." Sam said, glaring at the Chairman as he now stood beside the Chieftain Talz.

"Consider us a third party." Steve now stood by the Talz as well, basically daring the Chairman to make a move.

Cho growled before shoving his way past the Avengers and harshly speaking towards Tie-sen. "Listen here, you savage. This planet belongs to the moon of Pantora. And as the supreme chairman and exalted ruler of Pantora, you do not command me to leave this planet or do anything else. If you do, then I'll do whatever it takes to remove you all."

Chairman Cho left after his impassioned rant leaving a rather dumbstruck Chuchi and disgruntled Jedi and Avengers.

"Alright, that guy is just asking for a foot up his ass." Sam grunted.

"Question is, who will deliver it first?" Anakin said. "You or I?"

"Maybe the Talz could oblige." Even Obi-wan was finding the Chairman's actions utterly deplorable.

Hearing all this, Chuchi turned back to Tie-Sen who seemed ready to leave after hearing C3-PO's translation.

"Chieftain Tie-Sen." Chuchi spoke out to the Talz leader. "Please, allow me one more moment."

The protocol quickly relayed the message, halting Tie-sen and his guards in their tracks. Turning around, they saw the Pantorian senator approach them.

Looking at the C3-PO, she spoke a quick command for him to translate for her.

"What Chairman Cho had spoken to you was out of bounds and shouldn't have been said." Chuchi began. "He does not speak for all of my people. Please, allow me more time and we will depart this planet in peace."

The Talz regarded her for a moment as 3PO spoke on her behalf when he nodded before departing.

Stepping back outside, the others saw Cho was already barking out orders to the troopers.

"So now what do we do?" Sam asked aloud.

"The Chairman wishing to attack is highly illegal and immoral." Obi-wan said. "We shall require someone to supercede his authority as it appears he refuses to heed Senator Chuchi's advice or role in the matter overall."

Chuchi contemplated for a few seconds when her eyes lit up in realization. "The head speaker of the assembly. He has the power to overrule the Chairman's decisions."

Looking towards the sky, Steve spoke up. "Then we better contact him _now_ while the weather is letting up."

"Agreed." Obi-wan said. "We must get back to base, posthaste."

"General." Rex addressed Skywalker. "What should we do for now?"

"Stay with the Chairman but _do not_ engage under any circumstances." Anakin instructed. "Set your weapons to stun and be sure to be on the defense. We'll get this mess sorted out in the meantime."

"Yes sir." Rex relayed the orders to the rest of the 501st whilst the others left to hastily return to base.

_-Scene Cut-_

Chairman Cho rode at the head of the contingent of Clones, eyes scanning the terrain for any Talz.

Behind him, some of the Clones privately spoke with one another.

"Wait, why are we doing this again?" Fives asked.

"Because blue head there wants a fight." Hevy said.

"We're not here for a fight." Captain Rex firmly stated towards his younger clone brothers. "We are to keep the Chairman alive and only use stun. The general's orders were clear. We are not to provoke the Talz any more than they already have been. Do you understand?"

A chorus of "Yes Sir" was echoed by the clone squadron just as the Talz made themselves known.

"Defensive maneuvers." Rex shouted, the clones all using their speeders to create a defensive perimeter.

"What are you doing, Captain?!" Cho asked in anger.

"Following Orders." Rex retorted, firing a stun shot at a Talz that attempted to pounce on him.

Back with the Jedi and Avengers, they stood back as Senator Chuchi spoke with the head of the Pantoran Assembly.

" _In light of recent events, the Assembly has decided Chairman Cho's actions are out of order. Therefore, his position as Chairman is suspended for an allotted amount of time."_ Spoke the Pantoran Assembly Speaker. _"Senator Chuchi, you have been given the authority to negotiate a settlement for peace between the Sovereign planet of Pantora and that of the Talz colony."_

"Of course, Speaker. I will not let you down."

As the transmission ended, Obi-wan ordered the pilot to speed up as he hoped they could make it back towards the others in time.

"Senator," Steve spoke, getting Chuchi's attention, "Now that you've gotten the authority, how will you settle this problem with the Talz?"

Fumbling her hands a little, Chuchi eyed the Jedi first before the Avengers. "Well… I was hoping for one of you to do so, in Pantora's behalf. Each of you have much greater experience than I do."

"Sorry Chuchi, but that's not why we're here." Sam spoke up, making Chuchi frown in worry.

"He's right, Senator." Anakin said respectfully. "We may be peacekeepers but this is something you must resolve yourself."

"It's your people, despite how few it is, that are having conflicts with the Talz colony." Obi-wan pointed out. "Therefore, this falls upon your shoulders to resolve."

It was a bitter pill to swallow, but Chuchi knew they were right.

"Remember, you represent your people on a galactic scale." Sam said, making her eyes widened momentarily until steeling herself with resolve giving the aviator a nod of thanks and appreciation.

Arriving where the conflict is at, the gunships landed not far away as everything _seemed_ to die down.

Stepping out, the assembly of clones, Jedi and Avengers approached the main platoon where many clones were wounded… and slowly dying… all because of one man's actions.

"Stand down everyone." Anakin ordered aloud. "Get the wounded onto the gunships now!"

One of the wounded was none other Chairman Cho who was trying desperately to remain standing and face the Talz.

Despite his blurred vision, Cho spotted the senator walking up to him. Reaching out for her, he spoke. "You… You must… avenge me. As… As Chairman, I order you… to destroy-"

"I'm sorry, Chairman, but I shall do no such thing." Chuchi said calmly and determinedly. "Under orders of the Assembly, you are hereby removed from office due to negligent and erratic behavior that does not reflect the Pantoran people whatsoever."

Cho couldn't form any words coming out from his mouth, either from the shock or the bloodloss he was having. But all he could mutter out one word. "I-Impossible."

It wasn't long after did he fall limp in the snow and lay unmoving. A clone bent down and checked his pulse, only to find nothing at all before stating that the former Chairman of Pantora is now dead.

Seeing Cho dead was not a pleasant thing to see for the young senator, but she had to look away and focus on what needed to be done.

Turning to the nearest clone, Chuchi asked for the rifle of a clone and pulled out a ceremonial garment from her coat and wrapped it around the barrel of the rifle.

Walking past the defensive line of speeders, she approached the waiting Tie-Sen who held up his hands for his people to stay in their places.

Accompanying Chuchi was 3PO.

The two species representatives now stood before one another.

Not waiting for anything more, Chuchi held the rifle she had taken aloft. The Talz Chieftain eyed her warily until she slammed the rifle down into the snow.

"To die for one's people is great sacrifice." Chuchi said cordially though her tone carried a strength to it that Tie-Sen noted. "But to _live_ for one's people, is an even greater sacrifice. I choose to live for my people and shoulder the burden that they have entrusted to me. What do you choose, Chieftain Tie-Sen?"

After a series of clicks and grunts, Tie-sen rose up his spear and appeared to possibly strike down the young senator. Chuchi held her ground and was unmoving in order to show she will not abandon her beliefs.

Instead of attacking her, Tie-Sen promptly struck the spear down next to the rifle.

"Chieftain Tie-Sen also chooses to live for the sake of his people." 3PO stated, bringing a smile to Chuchi's face.

"From this day forward, the people of Pantora recognize the sovereignty of the Talz on the planet of Orto Plutonia and entrust its leader Tie-Sen to a prosperous relationship between our people." Chuchi said with great relief.

Tie-sen responded in kind, 3PO translating. "Chieftain Tie-Sen wishes the same for your people and hopes of a long and peaceful relationship."

The Talz then surprised Chuchi with a crushing hug, though she found herself laughing at the gesture, patting him in return. Setting her down, Tie-Sen said one last thing which 3PO translated again in a more humorous voice.

"The chieftain says that should the Senator wish to visit, she is free to do so at any given time. The Talz will always welcome your presence here."

Chuchi only beamed at Tie-Sen.

Stepping back, the two people bowed to each other as the contingent of Talz forces prompted their steeds to bow for them.

Raising back up, the two groups went their separate ways with peace being forged through this brief conflict.

Once Chuchi made it back to the Republic forces, she saw the last of the clones piling on the wounded into the gunships with the handful of dead clones set aside to be properly buried elsewhere.

"You did a good thing over there, Chuchi."

"Thank you, Sam. It's something that had to be done for the future of our people."

As the group headed towards a gunship to depart the planet, Obi-wan spoke a piece of advice. "Now that you have made peace between your people and this Talz colony, you need to know one crucial thing."

"Which is what, Master Kenobi?"

"Making it last. And being a good example for others so that this war and others will be done with less conflict than it needs to be."

Chuchi straightened her posture, a determined glint in her eyes.

"I will do everything in my power, Maser Jedi."

**Alright woo, let's keep sending them out.**

**Jebest as per usual was instrumental in helping me get this chapter done so a big thank you to him.**

**Lot happened here but there is one thing I know many of you may be excited for so I will ask you personally.**

**Of all the Avengers, regardless of how they fight which of the Lightsaber forms suit them best? And I mean, involve all the heroes from Earth both current roster and soon to come. Go nuts with them and be creative and detailed why you think so… or not, that's ok. It would be fun to see what you guys would believe best suit each Avenger if they used a Lightsaber form. And they can have more than one of course.**

_-Omake-_

"So tell us again why we're here?" Hevy asked as he and many of his clone brothers of Domino Squad and the 501st stood nearby.

"Real simple you guys." Scott said confidently, walking around a rectangular table with a green pasture of some kind, six holes, a triangle with nine brightly colored balls inside and one white ball. "This here, is called billiards."

"Or pool if you're one of the cool kids." Sam spoke up, holding out his stick.

Cutup scratched his head in response. "I don't get it."

"It's probably something the Earthers say." Fives jotted in.

"Yeah, I don't really know how the 'pool' name came around, but it just stuck." Rhodey stated as he polished the stick tip with a piece of chalk.

"So what is _this_ then?" A random Clone asked.

"This s a game that forges the bond of brothers in bromanship that dates back to the dawn of civilization." Scott said dramatically.

"Oh like that game dated back that far back."

Scott merely rolled his eyes. "Ignore Sam and lets get into this, shall we?"

"What's the objective of the game then?" Hevy asked.

"It's real simple." Rhodey said, removing the triangle that held the colorful spheres in place and shape. "The more you play it really. You gotta use the white ball to knock the other balls into the pockets."

Bending down, the War Machine readied his pool stick and carefully lined up the shot. Pulling back, he shot forward as the sticks end struck the white ball with it soon colliding against the fifteen colored balls. They rolled all over the place and spread out accordingly.

"Trajectory, calculations, power and procesion can be either your best friend or worst enemy in this game." Sam said as he took his turn next and struck the white ball to hit the solid yellow '1' ball into rolling into a corner pocket. He then went after the solid blue 2 ball, but he couldn't make it roll away from it's previous spot.

"Yeah, it's all about the angles really." Scott added. "And it isn't just about knocking the balls in."

"There's more to this game?" Echo asked.

"There's a lot of variations to it that you learn on the go." Sam said. "The main one being the use of colors and the dreaded 8 ball."

All clones looked to said 8 black ball which remained in its original place by some miracle.

"What's so special about it?"

"That ball makes or breaks the game." Sam stated. "You can be on a streak and just by chance you knock the 8 ball before it's time to do so."

"Instant loss." Rhodey said with finality. "The 8 ball pretty much needs to go in last for your set, whether your stripes or solids."

"And you gotta need to calculate your shots in order to move around the 8 ball so you don't screw yourself over."

To emphasise the point, Scott bent down and saw his designated ball was right behind the 8 ball. Turning a little, he eyed an available opening before striking the ball in the right precision. Once hit from a certain spot, the white ball swerved around the 8 ball and struck the striped yellow 9 ball as it rolled away and almost went into a nearby pocket.

The clones processed this information until Sam merely tapped the bottom of stick on the ground to gain their attention.

"How about you guys just watch the first round or so then we'll see who here is a hidden talent."

_-Scene Cut-_

Anakin walked with his Padawan Ahsoka and former Master Obi-wan and Captain Rogers, with the older three recounting their recent tale in Orto Plutonia.

"Sounded like a hassle with a guy like that Chairman." Ahsoka stated sympathetically.

"You don't know the half of it, Snips." Anakin said in annoyance at the memory of the Chairman. "That guy had no consideration for our men, ready to throw their lives away even after seeing how many of them were killed by the Talz."

"I'm just grateful Senator Chuchi resolved the problem."

"There will always be politicians out there who will be so focused on their line of thinking that they'll believe anything else is beneath them." Steve stated.

Steve then heard something in the distance, tilting his head up.

"Do you guys hear that?"

The Jedi looked to him until they too heard a rather strange sound.

Cheers and laughter.

"Is there a celebration we missed or something?" Anakin asked in bemusement.

"And we weren't invited!" Ahsoka said with puffed out cheeks yet her eyes were playful.

"Let's see what this is about then."

Once reaching the source of it all, the four of them saw a peculiar site with a large grouping of clones placing bets with either credit chips or rations they had on hand.

"FIVES, FIVES, FIVES."

"RHODEY, RHODEY, RHODEY."

"Come on, Rhodey, this is our game." Sam cheered on. "You can't let this upstart beat you just cause he's got a lucky strike going on."

"You got this, Fives." Hevy patted his fellow squadmates shoulder encouragingly. "Show them why the 501st is the best in the galaxy."

Coming up to the lot, Ahsoka voiced the resounding question in Anakin's and Steve's mind. "What's going on here?"

Standing off to the side, Scott was counting off the credit chips and rations before addressing the new arrivals. "Oh hey guys. You're just joining in on something special."

"Which is?" Anakin asked.

"Billiards."

The three Jedi adopted questioning looks before hearing Steve snort.

"And when did you guys get all this set up?"

"Been working on it for a bit now, actually." Scott admitted bashfully. "Hope and Tap helped me out with the schematics and got the first one done. Plan on making more for the other clones to enjoy."

"It seems to be quite an interesting game." Obi-wan said with intrigue.

"And you guys made this for the Clones?" Ahsoka asked with an approving grin. "How thoughtful of you."

"They need something else to do to kill time in between missions here and there."

"And it's not just for them." Sam said, walking up to them. "Been thinking a lot about our Earth games and…" Sam adopted a mischievous grin. "Well, since none of them exist out here in space, maybe we could licence and sell the rights to make more to get ourselves some credits of our own."

"Like what exactly?" Anakin asked, now interested in what other games and entertainment there may be on Earth.

"Too many to list down at the moment." Sam said as he eyed the game before jotting down the other credits and rations. "Would've done poker, but you guys already had a version of that here; so that's out."

"Selling ideas, eh? How very _Stark_ of you." Steve said with a wry grin.

"Hey gotta stay alive somehow Cap." Sam said with a shit-eating grin now. "Gotta represent our nations' capitalistic way of life somehow."

Steve couldn't help but laugh aloud at the statement.

"Wonder if I could have a go at it." Anakin said as he saw Rhodey pocketing a solid red 7 ball into a corner pocket. "Seems rather fun with how hyped everyone is."

"You could, but there's a list waiting on you." Sam said. "Oh, and no Force powers allowed."

"And why not?" Anakin said, slightly pouting.

"Cheating, obviously." Sam deadpanned.

"That and it wouldn't be all that fun if you used it as a crutch all the time."

"What?" Anakin gasped in false offense. "Cheating? Me? Pfft, Sam come on, I wouldn't cheat to win."

Looking over, the Skywalker saw Obi-wan and Ahsoka looking at him with deadpanned stares.

"You know Snips, I get Obi-wan but you're the last person to give me that face." Anakin said knowingly.

Ahsoka gaped, puffing her cheeks out. "Hey, I wouldn't cheating against the boys."

"Sure you wouldn't." Anakin said with teasing grin.

"Please sky guy, the only person I'd cheat against would be you cause I know you'd do the same."

"Aha! So you admit it."

"Master!"

"And that's game!" Fives bellowed out as he laughed after pocketing the 8 ball before Rhodey making the colonel groan while the Clones who bet on him cheered.

"Alright, as general of the 501st, I call next."

"Boo, no cutting in line."

"And where's my credits?"

"And my rations!"

Scott laughed as the clones came over to him as new bets were made with the credits and rations handed over as the new players were set.

**Thanks again to Jebest for helping finish this chapter and also write out the Omake.**

**Until next time.**

**Rate Read and Review and as Always Have Nice Day.**


	15. Ryloth Calling

**Rate Read and Review and as Always Have Nice Day.**

Avengers Infinite Wars Chapter 15: Ryloth Calling

Steve sat back in his chair in a relaxed posture while looking over the 7 lightsaber forms of the Jedi, studying the movements and instructions extensively.

He sat within a spacious room shared by the current five Avengers with Rhodey taking a nap on a couch nearby while Sam, Scott and Hope were going over a set of materials that Tap had brought to their attention that would undoubtedly be useful to them in the future.

"You sure these materials will work, Tap?" Hope asked, sifting through them.

"They will indeed, comrade Hope." Tap assured. "I have done extensive scans and compared chemicals and elements back to the ones on Earth. These will go well in mixing with your equipment and armor."

"But we still gotta figure out how to make more ammo." Sam said, moving a bullet between his fingers.

"I think we can figure something out." Scott said. "Thanks to Tap, I got some billiards schematics out and now we've got some money coming our way."

Hope, Steve and Sam paused in what they were doing, slowly turning to the ex-convict with blank stares that silently told him to elaborate.

"Oh, right." Scott nudged the side of his head. "So, I was thinking about how to keep us supplied and I know you guys all talked about not relying entirely on the Jedi and taking advantage of them so I kinda was brainstorming on how to make mon- I mean credits here."

"He did indeed comrades." Tap spoke up for Scott.

"And I remember Hope talking about her old business days running Hanks old company and really supplying the world with something new that they hadn't seen before." Scott said more excitedly. "So when I saw that this galaxy doesn't know about Earth's entertainment I figured that would be the best bet to start some income…. Well, honestly that was entirely Taps ideas. I was just spit balling the whole thing."

Hope and Sam's jaws dropped slightly while Steve arched a brow, all three at a momentary loss for words at the rather crazy news they had just heard.

"Well… shit, nice work Tic Tac." Sam appraised with a slightly breathless laugh.

"You've been busy." Steve said, clearly impressed with Scott's thinking in regards to their situation.

Hope simply walked up to her boyfriend and kissed him something fierce leaving him in a daze and out of breath.

"I'm so proud of you." Hope said earnestly with Scott only managing dopey smile.

"I see I'm interrupting something personal here then." Drawled a voice from the exit of the room.

Everyone, save for a napping Rhodey, turned to see Anakin Skywalker and Ahsoka Tano standing at the door.

"Hey sky-guy." Sam greeted with a shit-eating grin that made Anakin deadpan at the aviator with Ahsoka smiling cheekily at her master.

"I find it ironic that _you_ of all people would call me that, _Falcon_." Anakin dryly said making Sam shrug.

"What's up Anakin?" Sam asked.

"The Jedi council has just received a transmission from Ryloth." Anakin informed them. "It's a Republic world that's currently held by the Separatists. We thought all our forces were wiped out when we received a message that Jedi General Di and a handful of his men are still alive and assisting the Freedom fighters on the planet and resisting the droids."

"That's good to hear." Steve said. "Why are you telling us though?"

"It's what came in the message that may interest you all." Anakin held up a Holo-projector and activated the transmission sent from Ryloth.

There, they watched a new alien they had no seen before next to Clone Captain who had his back turned with his guns up, firing at unseen enemy forces.

" _This is Jedi General Ima-Gun Di."_ The Nikto Jedi Master spoke somewhat frantically though he kept a steady tone. _"I, along with my men and Cham's forces, have been holding out on the ground here but we are losing men and supplies. To any and all, we need relief now. The separatists are taking many Twi'leks hostage and holding them in enslavement. We-"_

There were explosions heard in the background, with both men nearly losing their balance and just before the transmission ended, the two men seemingly vanished before being consumed by flames.

At first the Avengers didn't know what to make of it but to Steve's trained and enhanced eyes he saw something a bit unusual.

"Can you playback the message and slow it down?" Steve asked.

Anakin nodded and went back to replay the message once more, where Steve asked him to slow down the last few seconds before the background explosion ended the message. It was a bit difficult to make out what they were looking at but what was clear to them was that something had taken the Jedi and the Clone out of frame.

Something that wasn't clearly seen.

"What was that?" Scott asked, looking up at Anakin in confusion.

"I don't know." Anakin said, sharing Scott's expression. "But Master Yoda reached out to the Force and felt that Master Di had not perished. Something saved him. Something that he couldn't detect."

"Any idea who or what?" Sam asked

"No clue, sadly."

Steve on the other hand contemplated for a brief moment, going over what he watched and trying to get an idea as to what that last message had revealed.

If Grandmaster Yoda spoke of this General not being dead, then that meant that something or maybe someone had saved them. Someone with abilities that can protect them from explosions or heavy damage or better yet, someone that was capable of outrunning explosions and flames.

He prayed for anyone of those descriptions to be true.

His thought process was interrupted when Obi-wan Kenobi had entered the room.

"There you are, Anakin." Kenobi said.

"Obi-Wan?" Anakin greeted in an inquisitive tone.

"Everyone." Obi-wan added, nodding to the Avengers and Tano. "I had come for Anakin at first but I would invite you to come speak with the Council. We have just received word that General Di has re-established contact with us."

At this point, they heard a grunt from the corner of the room and everyone turned to see Rhodey had awoken with a tired yawn.

Rubbing the sleep out of his eyes, Rhodey looked around and saw his team and the three Jedi they usually associated with standing at the front of the room.

"...What did I miss?"

_-Scene Cut-_

The three Jedi led the Avengers to the main meeting room within the Jedi temple of all Jedi, walking into a room filled with most of the Council, several other high ranking Jedi Knights and masters along with their Clone Commanders and Captains. Some were here via holo-projection as they were in other sectors of the galaxy

"Can you hear us, Master Di?" Jedi Master Mace Windu spoke to the transmission.

Bits of static could be heard over the transmission, even with the holo-com fritzing out every other moment.

"I repeat, can you hear us?"

" _Lo_ ▃▄ _and clear, Mas_ _ndu."_ The image of general Di fizzled in and out along with whoever it was that stood beside him.

"Is there anyway for us to boost his signal?" Plo Koon inquired.

"Let me give it a try." Kenobi said, announcing his arrival to the meeting room with the rest of his group.

Stepping forward, Obi-wan began to punch in several commands and changes into the link between here and Ryloth.

After a few seconds, the fritzing steadied out and showed a more clear visual of Di along with his Clone Captain and a Twi'lek beside him yet a few times it glitched and fizzled.

"Master Di." Yoda stepped forward. "Hear us, you can?"

" _Yes, but I am un_ _▄e for how lon_ ▄ _"_ Di replied, his image flickering. _"The Droids have been jamming our signals f_ _▄te some time now."_

"We're just glad to see you're alive and breathing, Di." Master Eeth Koth remarked from his own transmission in his part of the galaxy. "We had feared the worst when we had lost contact with the Republic Garrison stationed on Ryloth."

" _We've been hol_ _▄ out for as long as we can, my friends."_ Di answered.

" _But the Droids are st_ _ting to mount up more sturdier defenses."_ Captain Keeli added with grim countenance. _"We can't do_ _▄ more hit and run tactics without throwing away lives and_ _sources."_

"Don't worry, we plan on heading over there as soon as possible." Obi-wan said. "You have our word on that."

" _We would like it if you could come_ sooner _than l_ _r."_ The Twi'lek now spoke with a more curt tone.

" _Apologies, masters."_ Di spoke with a bow of his head. _"_ _▄s is Cham Syndulla, the leader of the Twi'lek Res_ _▄ance force. They've been aiding us in staying alive and k_ _▄ing_ _rale high."_

" _Greetings to you ▄_ _."_

"Likewise." Windu said. "We greatly appreciate your assistance."

" _This is not assistance, M_ _ster Jedi."_ Cham brushed off. " _This is me merely doing my duty to my people."_

"Where are you all right now?" Plo Koon inquired.

" _Underground."_ General Di answered. _"Though we are constantly m_ _ing."_

"Best to remain undetected by the Separatists." Keeli added. "Though it _n't help with the signals."_

"You still managed to get your message and transmission to us." Windu said with underlying praise. "And we will come to relieve you of the Separatist forces on Ryloth immediately. We promise."

Di nodded. _"We shall await your-"_

" _General Di!"_

A clone from off-screen called out to the general before stepping into the transmission, saluting his superior.

" _Sergeant Grit."_

" _Sir,_ _ro Ma_ _ff has returned with supplies!"_

Over the holo transmission, Master Di and Syndulla shown great relief upon hearing this.

" _This is great news."_ Syndulla gladfully said.

"Who is that who came?" Anakin couldn't help but ask.

" _The one who has been a_ _ting in keeping our forces alive and well."_ Captain Keeli spoke. _"Fast one, really. Seps can't even touch him."_

At this statement, the Avengers glanced at one another sharing startled looks.

"You don't think…" Sam muttered.

"I don't know." Hope replied.

Steve looked to the transmission determinedly. "General Di."

The Nikto general looked to Captain Rogers, tilting his head a bit as he does not know who he is.

" _Apologies, and you are?"_ Di asked politely.

"Captain Rogers." Steve introduced himself noting a strange look on the Jedi's expression when he heard his name "That person who has just come back, he wouldn't happen to be-"

The transmission abruptly cut out, making everyone pause momentarily before Scott couldn't help himself.

"Alright, what kind of bullshit timing was that?!" He yelled out frustratedly.

"...Putting aside Scott's crass words on the situation," Plo Koon began, "that was a rather unfortunate turn of events."

"Is there any way we could get the signal back?" Aayla Secura had asked.

"Probably but not for a while." Obi-wan admitted, already attempting said action.

"Better is to act now, then dwell on what has passed." Yoda said. "Help our Jedi brother and troopers, we must."

"Indeed." Windu simply said.

"Since as we're all here." Captain Rogers started out. "We're dealing with a planet under Separatist control, right? What are we dealing with?"

Anakin came to the console and typed a series of commands to pull up the current status of Ryloth. "As you may know, a blockade is stationed around the planet and from what our scouts were able to relay back to us, a tight one at that."

On the holo-display they saw at least half a dozen Lucrehulk battleships, and over a few dozen more Munificent-class frigates with several Dreadnoughts.

"It's a stacked blockade with very little room for entry points." Anakin said. "Right now though, judging by their positioning, the right flank appear to be the least reinforced. That's gonna be our primary entry point to aim for."

"But this is still a sizeable blockade, Skywalker." Plo stated. "Not one that can be so easily broken."

"Alone he will not go." Yoda said. "Requires a strong force, this does. Masters Windu and Kenobi with Knight Secura will make up the strike force. Plan with Master Skywalker, you will all do."

"We're going to." Steve stepped forward, with the Avengers all nodding.

"Are you certain for this one, Captain Rogers?" Kenobi asked with Steve only nodding in conviction.

"For the assistance, as always, we thank you." Spoke the Grandmaster. "A part of the planning we ask you to be with."

Steve only nodded and with the now assigned Jedi, the two groups were left alone save for Yoda and several of the currently present Council members that were not off planet.

_-Scene Cut-_

"Blast." Master Di grunted out. "Signal's lost. Force knows how long it'll take now to get back with the others."

"Let's just hope they'll arrive in a timely manner." Commented Syndulla.

Di only nodded when he heard a familiar light-hearted accent.

"Sorry I'm late, friends." Pietro spoke as he munched on a small portion of a ration bar. "You would not believe the clankers out there. Man, they're annoying."

"We can imagine, Pietro." Syndulla said as he gave the silver haired man a warm smile.

"Cham." Pietro saluted jokingly making the Twi'lek roll his eyes at the Sokovian's attitude. "So what's going on? Looked like you were talking with someone."

"We just were, but the transmission was cut short at an inopportune moment."

"And who would that be?"

"The Jedi council, of course." Master Di responded.

"More guys like you?" Pietro said in interest. "Hey, since I've been helping out, think they'll reward me with one of those lightsabers you all have?"

"Highly doubt that could ever happen." Commented the Twi'lek. "Hate to imagine seeing you of all people wielding one."

"Heeey~ I resent that."

"A lightsaber is not something to be rewarded." Di stated. "Usually. But exceptions can be made."

"General Di, you can't be serious?" Keeli asked in faux-exasperation. "Maximoff would cleave most of us in half by accident if he got one of your sabers

"Great support, Keeli." Pietro said with a deadpan. "So glad that we have established such a good relationship. Come on, I'll be careful."

All he got in return was a couple of dry looks aimed at his general direction.

"Wow... tough crowd. Tough crowd."

"Still, it is relieving to hear that help is at long last coming." Cham said, steering the conversation back to the more pressing matter at hand.

"Question is, how long it will take for them to breach Ryloth's blockade?" Keeli asked the obvious question.

"Something tells me it won't be that long."

"Still... there was someone strange amongst the Jedi Council." Di spoke up, crossing his arms in thought. "He was not a man I recognize nor was he a Jedi from the looks of his attire. For that matter, he was not alone."

"Whatcha mean, Di?" Pietro asked.

Di was about to open his mouth when someone pushed past Pietro's leg and ran up to Cham.

"Dad!"

"Hera." Cham greeted with a loving smile, hoisting her up in the air.

"Dad, look." the young green skinned Twi'lek child waved a small doll in her hands. "Pietro got this for me and everyone else at the camp.

"Did he now?" Cham looked at the Sokovian with an amused smirk, who merely shrugged.

"Thought it would at least brighten up the kids' moods."

"As long as the young are at least cheerful, then many of us parents will feel better in this conflict."

_-Scene Cut-_

It didn't take long for the assembled fleets of the chosen Jedi to get their ships in order and up into space and Hyperspace, en route to Ryloth.

The plan was simple, on paper or data pads, with Anakin being the first to arrive and strike the blockade. Hopefully by the time the fleets run by Obi-wan, Windu and Aayla arrived to Ryloth, the blockade will be weakened enough or at least caught off guard that they won't be able to hold. Once done, the fleets will spread out to various points on the planet and liberate major strongholds.

"We'll be dealing with heavy amounts of Droid fighters." Kenobi said speaking from his ship. "Are you certain this is the right course of action, Anakin?"

"We're not gonna be doing anything heavy, just lighting up the load." Anakin said from the Resolute. "It'll be harassment tactics. Rhodey and Sam showed us a few new fighter formations and plans from Earth and will definitely keep the Seps on their toes.

"Hopefully their methods will work here."

"We'll just have to wait and see, Master." Anakin said with his usual confident grin. The transmission between himself and Obi-wan was joined by Secura and Windu with Rhodey, Sam and Steve standing beside Anakin.

"So what exactly is this new plan of yours, Skywalker?" Windu asked, crossing his arms.

"We're dealing with Lucrehulk ships which means we're gonna get swarmed with fighters." Anakin said, recalling the many times he has taken on these ships. "Those Munificent frigates aren't known for holding that much fighters but it's the dreadnoughts we really need to worry about."

"That's where Colonel Rhodes and his new formation comes into play." Captain Rex spoke up, pressing down a button that brought up ships aligned in three diagonals with two finger four formations below and above the Diagonal lined bombers.

"If the dreadnoughts are the powerhouse of the fleet, then I'll lead this assault with an overlapped formation." Rhodey explained. "Use those V-19's to keep the vultures and Hyenas off their backs while the Y-wing bombs focus on disabling the weapons and shields of the ship."

"Leaving Ahsoka time to lead a few squadrons with her squadron to take on the Lucrehulk battleship." Anakin added.

Windu, Aayla and Obi-wan all exchanged wary glances at one another.

"Are you certain your Padawan is ready for such a dangerous task?" Windu asked tensely.

"She's not going to be going in just head on and blind." Steve quickly cut in. "We're gonna be using luring tactics, get some of the fighters and frigates to break their formations and get in range of the turbo guns."

"Just get here in time before you miss out on all the fun." Anakin remarked with a grin.

"And I'll bring the snacks!" Scott sounded off from Obi-wan's ship.

"Very well Anakin." Obi-wan said. "We'll see you soon."

With the transmission ending, Anakin made his way towards the hanger to check up on his Padawan.

"You sure Ahsoka is ready for something like this, Anakin?" Steve asked in total seriousness, not really liking the idea of the young teen going off by herself into the middle of a dogfight.

"She's been training vigorously and she needs to start applying it more on her own." Anakin said determinedly. "Besides, she's not alone. She's got Sam and Rhodey out there with her

"Be that as it may, the experiences from training and being on the given field are vastly different." Steve argued back. "Most of her missions have been carried out with you right by her side. And on the ground, for that matter."

"I am right by her side." Anakin said. "Well… behind her but she will have our support. Don't you trust my Padawan?"

"I do." Steve answered straight away. "Believe me, but… I just want to make sure that you do. And that she trusts herself to do this and doesn't do anything cocky or stupid."

"...Feels like that's a jab at me somewhere."

"Anakin."

"I know Steve, I get it." Anakin placed a friendly hand on the Super soldiers shoulder.

Upon entering the hangar, they made their way towards Ahsoka's ship. Nearby, Rhodey and Sam along with Broadside and clone Pilot Axe conversed with her. There they overheard her talking to her Astromech.

"This is my first time commanding my own squadron, R7." Ahsoka said absentmindedly. "Let's make a good impression."

"Nervous at all?" Sam asked rather stoically.

"Of course I'm not nerv-" Ahsoka cut herself off at the expectant look given to her by Rhodey and Sam.

"Why does everyone keep asking me that?" She asked after a moment of silence.

"Cause this is a big deal, kid." Rhodey said. "You said it yourself, it's your _first_ time leading your own squadron."

"But-"

"Hey Snips." Anakin caught her attention, leaning on her Starfighter with an encouraging smile. Steve stood in the background giving a more neutral look. "This is it, your first command. Don't be nervous."

"I wish everyone would stop saying that." Ahsoka said, glancing down a bit.

"It's ok to be nervous." Sam said placatingly.

"You just need to keep calm and remember your training." Anakin said. "The men are depending on you to lead them. With their lives."

"Thanks master that just takes all the pressure right off." Ahsoka deadpanned. "If I wasn't nervous before I sure am now."

"Hey, you can do this, Snips." Anakin assured her. "I have faith in you. I wouldn't be putting you in charge if I didn't."

Anakin walked away after, with Steve staying behind.

"Let the Force be with you."

"I won't let you down." Ahsoka murmured. "I hope."

"Trust your instincts, Ahsoka." Steve advised.

"And don't do anything reckless." Rhodey tacked on. "Or too reckless at least."

"We best get moving." Sam stated, signaling the others. "Don't wanna be left behind from the rest."

Departing from Ahsoka's Starfighter, the young Padawan exhaled heavily while trying to steady heart rate and steel her nerves.

"Alright. You got this, you got this. Just remember your training." Ahsoka said to herself before addressing her squadron. "You boys ready for this?"

"This is 2-Ax, waiting on you Skipper."

"Radio on three, this is Skipper, over."

"This is Slava, ready when you are."

"Radio on four, Kickback checking in."

"Suit to Blue Leader, Group 2 is standing by, over."

"Techo to Mother Bird, over."

"Alright." Ahsoka said narrowing her eyes. "Let's do this."

Anakin's fleet exited Hyperspace, comprising of three Venators and three Acclamator.

Admiral Yularen stood on the bridge of the flagship _Resolute,_ looking straight ahead at the Confederate blockade.

"Launch all fighters, prep the shields and guns." Yularen instructed the pilots.

Zooming across the field, the Republic fighters saw the enemy being released and heading towards their positions.

Ahsoka lead her own squadron while Rhodey along with Sam's own set of fighters flew past her. More Starfighters joined in and were racing across the emptiness of space right towards the CIS ships.

"Ok boys, remember finger four formations." Ahsoka instructed. "Three sets on the left and three on the right."

"You got it."

"Roger that."

The clones aligned themselves behind their commander and had their fingers trailing their guns as they drew closer to the Seps.

Aboard the capital ship of the Separatist blockade, one Neimoidian Captain Mar Tuuk had just finished conversing with Separatist leader Wat Tambor when he saw the arrival of the Republic fleet and them launching their fighters.

A shrewd tactician, the first thing he noticed was the rather unusual formation that the republic fighters were getting into. This rather confused the captain as he had not seen these kinds of tactics from any Republic force he had faced before. However, there was one known Jedi general who was known for his unorthodox and even daring tactics in battle.

Wanting to confirm his suspicions as to who he was currently facing, he ordered a droid to run through the ship registry to see what Star Destroyer was before him. Wasn't long to confirm that it was the _Resolute_ , hence the infamous Anakin Skywalker was leading this offence against him.

From what he knows of the Jedi, his tactics were often unusual than the norm. A means of keeping people on their toes.

'What are you planning, Skywalker?'

Mar Tuuk analyzed the fighter formation while ordering the release of all fighters.

He saw many vulture, hyena and tri Starfighters fly straight at the oncoming Republic fighters.

Back aboard the Resolute, Anakin and Steve returned to the Bridge, standing by Yularen as they watched the eventual clash between their forces.

"Attention Red and Green squadron, form up and defend the fleet." Anakin ordered out. "Blue Squadron, Shadow Squadron, Torrent Squadron you're all cleared to engage."

"Copy that, Master." Ahsoka responded.

"Copy Skywalker." Rhodey said, piloting his own Jedi Starfighter that Anakin had given to him to use for this battle.

"Here we go." Steve murmured.

Ahsoka was flying straight ahead, hands tightening around her controls.

"Alright boys, you ready for some action?"

"You know it, Skipper." Ax replied getting a chorus of agreement from the rest of the squadron.

As they drew closer, Ahsoka gave out her first order. "Open fire."

The squadrons began firing at the oncoming swarm of droid Starfighters.

"Let them pass between us." Ahsoka said as they were only a few meters away. "Pick your targets, stay in formation. The fleet and back up squads will pick off the rest."

On their end, Rhodey and Sam lead their squads and engaged the closest Dreadnought and the Munificent frigates and their fighters.

They had already engaged the enemy, losing several of their own fighters while basically blowing out every Vulture, Hyena and Tri fighter out of the way of their own guns.

"Do these guys ever use defensive tactics?" Sam said with a shake of his head, piloting a V-19.

"I don't think it's in their programming, sir." Broadside said with a joking tone as his ship flew on Sam's side.

"It is not in their programming." Said a Russian accented voice that none of the clones recognized.

"Uh… What was that?"

"Greetings Comrades, I am The Avengers Personal AI, Tap."

There was a lull of silence as the Clone pilots weren't exactly sure on how to respond.

"Thank you for that, Tap." Rhodey said with a drawl of annoyance. "I'll tell you about it later boys, focus up. We're nearing the dreadnought. V-19's stay in tight formation. We gotta keep the fighters off the bombers for their run."

"Copy Shadow Leader." Was the echoing response of the Clones.

Pivoting his ship to the side, Rhodey lead the charge against the oncoming wave of Sep Starfighters shooting down a handful with his group doing the same.

The Y-Wing bombers shot at the droid forces as well but maintained their courses to their assigned targets.

On the other side of the dreadnought, Sam was leading Torrent squadron with him engaging the droid Starfighters along with his Clone pilots.

"Watch those guns, Torrent Squad." Sam advised, clenching his controls tightly as he pivoted them to perform a mixture of a Barrel Roll(A REAL AVIATION BASED BARREL ROLL) and Aileron roll(The True Barrel Roll), avoiding several Tri-fighters and the defensive guns of the targeted dreadnought.

"Sir, the nearby Munificent Frigates are starting to move in to reinforce the Dreadnought." One of his pilots informed him.

"All fighters, on me." Sam instructed. "We'll target their engines and leave them stranded then pull out. Get into bombing formation."

"Yes sir." Was the collective response.

The V-19's flew above a set of Y-wing bombers and flew past the hangar bay of the dreadnought, going straight at the engines.

Picking off a few stray Vultures and Hyenas, Sam and his V-19's angled upwards to clear the way for the first two sets of bombing runs.

All the while, Mar Tuuk sat back and observed the ensuing battle.

The Republic appeared to have lead a very coordinated and precision based attack, with most of their forces primarily hitting the right flank which to them appeared to be the weakest. Their Venators and Acclamators were firing at the more fragile frigates of the blockade with two squads targeting one of their only dreadnoughts.

Then there was the one large squadron of Republic V-19 fighters being led by one Jedi Starfighter headed right for his ship.

Strange really. It was precise yet scattered. Focused yet flexible it seemed.

This was highly unorthodox but that was to be expected of Skywalker.

"Sir." One of the droids walked up to him. "We've received word from Dreadnought cruiser Beta-3 that they are sustaining heavy damage. The Republic fighters are proving difficult to bring down."

Mar Tuuk brought up the currently damaged Dreadnought and paid attention to the fighter formation of the Republic fighters.

Getting a better look at it, their formation while appearing stacked on top of one another then aligned seemed give the illusion of an easier target to hit. However, to the trained eye it was clear to see that this was done intentional as it was made to give off five levels of fire powers while also being spaced apart enough to scatter on a dime if given the order while also being able to reform upon notice. Truly an ingenious method of flying Mar Tuuk had not seen before.

"Bring in our reinforcements." Mar Tuuk ordered. "Let us push the Republic back."

Anakin's fleet had been pressing their attack for several minutes now, the sight of Republic and CIS fighters zipping back and forth in front of them in order to keep them from being overwhelmed.

He had received word that Aayla and Obi-wans fleet would be arriving at any moment now and would smash through their left flank that had slowly been repositioning themselves to engage his fleet and reinforce the right flank.

Of course, that's what it seemed to be.

"Sir." One of the Clones spoke up from his post. "We're detecting five new enemy ships coming out of Hyperspace."

"What?" Yularen said in alarm.

"Looks like they made the Right flank a baited target." Steve said, disgruntled by the news even though the Resolute just shot down and destroyed a Munificent Frigate.

"We must warn the fighter squadrons." Anakin said, running to the holo table behind him with Steve joining him.

"All fighters, this is general Skywalker." Anakin spoke through the comm links. "The Separatists are calling in reinforcements. Fall back within our guns range and wait for the other fleets to come in to back us up. I repeat, fall back within range of ours guns now!"

Out in space, Rhodey heard the commands though he was closing in on one of the main turbo lasers of the Dreadnought.

"Bombers, get that gun and pull back."

"Copy Shadow Leader." Broadside said with gritted teeth. "Ion cannons away."

The group of Y-wing bombers unleashed a torrent of purple sphere that went smashed through the metals of the turbo laser, destroying it entirely.

"Good shooting, Shadow Squadron." Rhodey praised just as several Munificent Frigates appeared out of Hyperspace. "Pull back now."

The Squadron scattered quickly and all made a beeline back to the friendly space while droid Starfighters moved in to pursue them.

Suddenly, at the corner of his eye Rhodey saw a fiery explosion from the backside of the Dreadnought they had been targeting with the ship now angling down.

"Hold on Rhodey, we're on our way." Sam Wilson said, his ship in view on the horizon with Torrent squad behind him as they moved in to alleviate Shadow team from the pursuing fighters.

"Nice timing, Sam." Rhodey praised.

On the Resolute, Steve and Anakin grinned at seeing the Dreadnought get taken out of commission at the very least before the full arrival of the Seps reinforcements.

"Ahsoka, where are you?" Anakin said worriedly, noticing she had not returned.

"We're getting harried here, Master." Ahsoka admitted, desperately avoiding the guns and fighter of the Lucrehulk battleship that Mar Tuuk commanded. "We can't exactly break off otherwise we'll be open to getting shot down. There's to many of them."

Anakin clenched his fist upon hearing that but Steve moved quickly.

"Sam, Rhodey, you hear that?" Steve asked.

"Loud and clear Cap." Rhodey said.

"Hold on Snips, we're coming." Sam said. "Torrents V-19's on me. Rhodey you'll be the second defense."

"Copy that." Rhodey said.

Sam guided twelve V-19's towards Ahsoka's squadron who were fighting and dodging frantically from the newly arrived CIS Starfighters and frigates.

Suddenly, just when they were needed, Obi-wan and Aayla Secura's fleets had arrived.

"Impeccable timing, Obi-wan." Anakin said in relief, watching the newly arrived Republic ships begin firing upon the blockade and deploying their own Starfighters.

"It appears I must pull you out of every situation you're in, Anakin." Obi-wan wryly said as he observed the battle from his bridge.

"Gentlemen, save it for another time." Aayla lightly admonished. "We have men that need our aid."

Both Jedi men agreed as they began to position themselves to deliver critical blows upon the Separatist fleet blockade.

Mar Tuuk was now worried.

Not one, but two Republic fleets had arrived to reinforce the attack on his ships and immediately they were feeling the effects.

Several Munificent frigates were beginning to sustain heavy damage while the four other dreadnoughts they had fired everything they had at the fresh Republic enemies. One the other Lucrehulk battleships was also begin to get fired upon.

It was considerably even on both ends in terms of firepower. The Confederate Captain was well aware that while the Republic usually did not deploy as many ships as his own faction did, they more than made up for it in superior firepower. The Venators always had a better edge on the typical CIS ship, though not always the case but still he was aware that many naval engagements over the past few months had been primarily Republic having fewer numbers but better firepower with the CIS relying on numbers. Which was natural of course considering just how long they had been building up their force well before the start of the Clone Wars, going back as far as before the crisis of Naboo.

"Bring up deflector shields." Mar Tuuk instructed rapidly. "I will not have the Republic just walk all over us."

"Roger, Roger."

The battle had intensified considerably now with the arrival of two Republic fleets.

Ahsoka had now been joined by Sam and Rhodey's squadron that were now assisting them in taking on the main Lucrehulk flagship.

Ax who had been by Ahsoka's side was clipped.

"I'm hit." Ax said, trying to keep his ship steady.

Before he was shot down, Ahsoka pulled up behind him taking out his pursuers.

"Are you alright, Ax?" Ahsoka asked in concern.

"Just a scratch, boss." Ax assured. "I'm still in the air."

"We need to start hitting the ship." Ahsoka said to her squadron.

"How skipper?" Kickback asked. "Their shields are still up."

"Leave that to us." Rhodey chimed in. "We'll focus on their shields and when we get 'em down, you guys hit them hard."

"Copy that, Rhodey." Ahsoka said appreciatively. "You heard him Blue squadron. Now form up behind me."

"Copy blue leader."

Ahsoka couldn't deny she was starting to get shaky in resolve. She had lost several pilots by this point, most of which had been right in front of her. And now she was leading her men right towards more enemy fire.

Quickly shaking her head back and forth to rid herself of negative thoughts, Ahsoka accelerated her ship with the rest of her squadron doing the same.

Just as they flew over one of the cylindrical center of the Lucrehulk ship, another one of her pilots were shot down.

"Guys." Ahsoka said worriedly. "We need those shields down."

"Working on it." Sam said, firing torpedo's while his Y-wing squad dropped Ion bombs.

The shields were decreasing fast but not fast enough as several more Republic Starfighters were shot down.

To make matters worse, Rhodey was beginning to get swarmed by Vultures on all sides.

Now he wasn't an ace pilot in his own right for nothing but even he knew when he was being overwhelmed. They were pursuing him all around the Lucrehulk ship, clearly marking him as a priority target.

"Son of a bitch." Rhodey said, the side of his ship getting clipped by some stray blaster fire. "They're all over me."

"Hold on sir, we're coming." Broadside said, guiding Shadow squadron to back up their commanding officer.

"Negative, Broadside." Rhodey ordered. "Stay focused on the objective, you need to give Blue squadron a path."

"But sir-"

"Don't worry about me, trooper." Rhodey said through clenched teeth, jolting to the side sharply to avoid several missiles that were directed at him.

He flew past the hangar bay of the Lucrehulk and got a bit of a crazy idea.

"Tap, think you can analyze a flight path towards the center of the ship?" Rhodey inquired.

"Right away, comrade."

"Rhodey." Sam chimed in. "Please don't tell me you're doing what I think you're doing."

"Afraid so." Rhodye said with a roguish grin, his helmet forming around his head and snapping shut. There was a decompression of air as the suit completely went air-tight.

"What are you guys talking about?" Ahsoka asked over the comms.

"Something stupid, Ahsoka, just get ready for your bombing run." Rhodey assured, repositioning himself and flying directly at the hangar bay now with all of his pursuers with him.

"I swear, Tony rubbed off on you more than you know." Sam muttered out while face palming.

"Hark who's talking." Rhodey said, using his HUD to time it right.

The timing then had to speed up as his ship got a direct hit from the Starfighters tailing behind him.

"Dammit." Using his repulsors, Rhodey fired off his canopy and flew out into the vacuum of space while dropping in some detonation charges from his armor into his pilot's seat.

Whirling around, he used his enhanced strength of the armor to kick the ship into the oncoming swarm of Starfighters and turned round to fly right into the Lucrehulk's hangar bay.

"Did he just-"

"Kamikaze the shit out of those fighters? Yes he did." Sam spoke before adjusting his comm signal. "You good, Rhodey?"

"More than good." Rhodey declared, landing in the Hangary bay and immediately unleashing his built in arsenal at all the unsuspecting droids when Tap warned him to duck.

Crouching down, Rhodey saw the wreckages of the ships that had blown up behind him fly right into the hangar bay and crash into the many ships and other control panels causing many droids to panic.

"Tap."

"Path has been laid out for you."

"Alright, Sam? Gonna do a run, just need you waiting for me on the other side to get a fly by pick-up."

"Easier said than done, Rhodey." Sam grunted , spinning through space while gunning down two Vultures he had been pursuing.

Shaking his head, Rhodey activated his thrusters and rocketed forward at full speed, deeper into the battle-ship while occasionally sprinkling a few explosives here and there.

Within the bridge of the ship, Mar Tuuk was notified of the interior damage his ship began to sustain.

"What is the meaning of this?!" Mar barked out.

"It appears we have an intruder, sir." One of the droids informed him, bringing up security footage of one War Machine flying through the ship at top speed.

Mar Tuuks jaw dropped, wondering just what in the hell he was looking at.

He certainly was unaware of the Republic employing the uses of such powerful battle droids.

Back at the _Resolute_ , Anakin looked on with a raised brow at Rhodey's actions and hearing it as well over the comms.

'Feels like deja vu seeing that.' Thought the Jedi, remembering his first space battle prior to becoming a Padawan.

"Rhodey, Rhodey." Steve contacted his fellow Avenger. "Are you alright in there?"

"I'm good, Cap." Rhodey said with a grunt, punching a Vulture droid that hung suspended from the ceiling down to the ground.

He flew deeper and deeper into the Lucrehulk ship, firing his repulsors left and right at targeted areas that would cause the greatest amount of damage.

By this point, he reached the center of the ship.

"Now where is the ship's core?"

Tap thankfully brought up the answer, showing an outline of where he needed to go.

"Thank you~"

Readjusting himself, he blasted off and followed the trail.

Back in the Lucrehulk ship's bridge, Mar Tuuks was freaking out upon seeing the live feed. Knowing the layout of his ship, he soon realized the direction the Republic _droid_ was heading towards, given the amount of destruction it left behind so far.

"DESTROY THAT DROID BEFORE IT KILLS US ALL!"

Rhodey flew unimpeded even with so many droids now firing their blasters at him.

He knew he only had one chance for this, so he had no choice but to utilize one of his stronger arsenal's.

Raising his arm and calling forth his ordinance of chose, Rhodey's armor targeted the core and with the right angle he was right in front of it for a brief moment.

"Tank missile." Rhodey called out, firing the explosive right at the center of the core.

"Oh yeah, you really took on Tony's humor a bit more than you realize."

_**KABOOM-KRRISH** _

"Oh shut up, Falcon." Rhodey called out, pushing his thrusters faster and faster, zooming away from the explosive blast. "I'm trying to focus here on escaping. Just fly by the other hangar entrance."

"Working on it. Just be patient man."

"PATIENCE WAS THROWN OUT OF THE WINDOW! NOW HURRY UP!"

"I'M IN A DOGFIGHT OUTSIDE THE SHIP, SHUT UP."

Weaving through the falling debris, the War Machine pushed his suit harder and harder with the explosions becoming louder and louder.

He saw the exit up ahead, making Tap divert all power to the thrusters.

Zooming out of the now defunct Sep ship, Rhodey ended up whirling around due to him being hit by the blast's shockwave. It freaked him out for a few moments before getting back into the hang of things.

He then flew out into the vast expanse of space once more, witnessing the ongoing battle before him.

"Rhodey!" Sam called out through the comms. "Behind you."

Spinning around, the War Machine immediately fired off a repulsor blast dead center of the droid fighter. The attack punched a hole right through it, due to not only the force given by Rhodey, but also the speed the fighter came right at him.

"Hold on, coming in from your left."

Turning to said direction, Rhodey saw Sam in his V-19 making a beeline right towards him at full speed.

Rhodey angled himself upwards more and outstretched his hand, grabbing the passing V-19.

"Thanks for the lift."

"Yeah, try not to do that to often."

"Gonna be a bit for me to get used to flying like this -in my suit- in the vacuum of space." War Machine grunted out as he used his thrusters to stabilize himself and get a proper hold of Sam's ship. Taking a moment, Rhodey watched the continuing dogfight with a rather somber face.

"Jeez, Tony had the worst anxiety after New York..."

"Yeah, enough to create Ultron." Sam grimley commented.

From their respective ships, the Jedi generals shared a questioning look in wondering who or what this Ultron was. And Anakin caught the rather dark look from Steve at the mention of this Ultron. Whoever this old foe was, it wasn't very good at all.

They knew one thing for sure, the Jedi will want to talk about this at some point.

Mar Tuuk all the while was in a panic.

"What is the status of the ship?" Mar inquired.

"Our shields and engines are down." His main commanding droid answered.

"Get all ships and begin defensive fire." Mar rapidly ordered. "I need all ships to focus on protecting this ship. Get those Republic Fighters out of our space."

"Roger Roger."

Ahsoka meanwhile was now leading her men down for what appeared to be their final assault on the ship.

"Hold steady boys, we've got our chance." Ahsoka with a now confident grin as she gunned it forward with her squadron right on her tail.

Blue Squadron did their best to stay in formation, but it was starting to get rather hard with the heavy fire now coming upon them.

"Ax, your thrusters are smoking." Kickback called out to him.

"I'm fine, Kickback."

"Ax, break off and return to the Resolute."Ahsoka ordered.

"Negative Commander, I'd never make it." Ax countered. "I'm seeing this one through with you."

Ahsoka looked back momentarily, wanting to argue further but knew now wasn't the time for such a thing. "Just stay close to me."

Blue Squadron was tearing through the vast swarms of Vultures and Hyena Starfighters with one target in mind.

With the rest of the blockade, it was beginning to get whittled down bit by bit from the constant onslaught of the Republic fleet with its Dreadnoughts all being taken out unfortunately for them.

"Ahsoka." Anakin contacted her via Comms. "You take down that battleship, the blockade is leaderless. We're counting on you."

"I know, master." Grunted out the Tortuga, having to spin around to avoid getting hit by enemy fire. "Just give me time."

"Enemy bridge, dead ahead boss." Techno informed her making the Padawan narrow her eyes in focus when she was hit by a blaster bolt from several Vultures flying in from above.

Looking up in panic, Ahsoka pivoted her ship to avoid more fire but the Vultures were now closing in on her.

2-Ax saw this and gripped his controls tightly. "Oh no you don't, you clankers."

Breaking off from formation, 2-Ax rushed on ahead.

"What are you doing, Ax?!" Slava bellowed out.

Hearing this, Ahsoka momentarily broke concentration from the fight before her and saw one of her clone troopers breaking away.

"Ax?"

"Go on ahead commander, I've got you covered." Ax declared, firing at the vultures successfully shooting down one when his own blaster blew out.

"Dammit." Ax said. Instead of turning tale, Ax shoved his controls forward and flew at full speed towards the last Vultures that were getting close to his commanding officer.

"AX!" Ahsoka cried out in horror just as the pilot crashed into the droids, taking both them and himself out.

Sitting back, Ahsoka growled in anger and anguish firing her torpedos at the bridge of the Lucrehulk landing a direct hit on the ship.

The rest of Blue squadron fired off their own collective wave of ion torpedo's directly at the bridge with rapid successions of one hit after the other.

Mar Tuuk had to steady himself as he was on his feet and tried running towards the doors. The recent attack shook the immediate area, almost causing him to fall down and hurt himself badly.

"I need to get out of here." Muttered the Neimodian.

The collective damage his ship had received from that war-like droid caused on top of the Republic fighter squadrons bombing run was close to the last nail in the coffin for his ship.

And he didn't want to stick around for the final one to be delivered.

From the Resolute, Anakin watched with great pride at seeing the Lucrehulk ship begin to fragment, ex and imploding.

That last attack was Ahsoka's and he felt it.

"Seems we'll finally be done before Mace shows up." Steve commented as his gaze was ever vigilant.

"This is Blue Squadron." Ahsoka's tired and dejected voice was heard over the intercom. "All squadrons, returning home."

Frowning, Anakin knew he could tell he'll need to talk to his Padawan once she gets back. Given the tone he heard from her, he knew something was clearly upsetting her.

Steve and Anakin made their way down to the Hangar bay just as the squadrons began to fly back in.

At the hangar, the different squadrons were landing in one by one, ship by ship. Though in Rhodey's case, he merely thrusted his way back down before unsealing his helmet for him inhale a bit of _fresh_ air.

They were met with cheers from their Clones, all congratulating them on a job well done with much of the adulation going towards Sam, Rhodey and Ahsoka.

Many were sent to rest or treat any wounds they might have gotten while the three soldiers of the Avengers conversed with each other along with Anakin.

Out of the corner of his eye, the Jedi knight spotted his Padawan who remained at her starfighter and sat upon its left wing in a slouched and depressed manner.

Excusing himself from the Avengers, Anakin approached his downtrodden Padawn who had her eyes fixed to the floor.

"You alright, Ahsoka?"

"Yes… No, not really."

Sighing, he asked the obvious question. "What happened?"

"I got men killed out there." Ahsoka said softly, more to herself than to Anakin. "You put me in charge of Blue squadron and I got half of them killed under my command. Ax had to sacrifice himself just to give me a clear shot."

Anakin frowned at his apprentices attitude, understanding what she was feeling.

"...I understand what you're going through right now." Ahsoka didn't say anything, prompting her Jedi master to sit beside her and continue. "Shortly after the War began, I was given a squadron of my own. At the time I didn't care much about them and just focused on the mission as my men died left and right. I didn't think much about them, at first, but afterwards I started to feel absolutely horrible on it; making me want to better myself on the others I lead into battle."

This made the Padawan tilt her head a little back towards Anakin's direction.

"It's good that you feel this way, Ahsoka." Anakin said, placing a hand on her shoulder. "It shows how much you care for the men beneath you. You know it, I know it and they know it, especially."

Anakin gestured his head over to where Blue squadrons remaining pilots currently stood.

Looking over to them, Ahsoka was surprised to see a rather heartwarming sight of them scrabbling the names of their fallen brethren while also marking their helms to the color of her skin.

"You need to know this now that losing men under you, those that you started getting close to, will be a _very_ bitter pill to swallow. You'll hate it, no doubt, but at least you got the chance to know them and you'll want to fight on for their sakes."

Ahsoka slumped once more when Anakin this time pulled her into a side hug. "Which is why you gotta make their sacrifices and loyalty towards you count for something."

Ahsoka lips quivered though she kept her emotions in check. Letting out a shaky breath, she gave her master an appreciative smile before getting up and going over to Blue squadron.

Giving them a boisterous congratulation, Anakin smiled as he watched the Clones and his Padawan converse with each other.

Over yonder, Steve was able to hear the conversation between Anakin and his Padawan student. He formed a sad, bitter smile as he knew quite well how Ahsoka was feeling right now.

When he lead the Howling Commandos, the First Avenger never lost a single man in his squad. They always looked out for each other and pulled each other out when fighting against HYDRAS forces. And after each mission, they'd all celebrate a job well done.

But after losing Bucky that fateful day, it devastated them all; moreso with Steve as he knew him the longest. Sure he turned out to have survived… and brainwashed not long after being rescued by HYDRA, but neither of them knew this at the time.

It took time for them to recover from that incident, which they used that misplaced emotion to avenge their fallen comrade the best way they could.

Walking over to Anakin, Steve sat down beside him.

"How is she?"

Anakin let out a sigh. "You know how she can be but she's strong. She'll pull through."

"I could see that. Takes a lot after you, you know?"

"Does she?"

"Oh yeah. Arrogant, cocky, self-centered, totally sure of themselves to an absurd degree."

A snort escaped from Skywalker's lips. "Yeah, thanks~ Really insightful there, Cap."

"But strong-willed. Kind and compassionate to her friends and cares for those she leads. A trait she picked up from you. You should be proud."

"I am." Anakin said right away smiling with pride at his Padawan who was now sharing a laugh with Blue Squadron. "She's shaping up to be a great Jedi."

"General Skywalker." Admiral Yularen's voice came from Anakin's comms. "Master Windu has arrived with his fleet."

"I hear you Admiral." Anakin responded, turning to Steve. "From one fight to another. Right then, time to begin phase two."

Steve only nodded, getting up to follow after Anakin, knowing that the liberation of Ryloth was just getting started.

**Whew, this was a marathon of a chapter.**

**Thanks again to Jebest for helping me run through yet another one making these chapters like clockwork.**

**That's right folks, we've reached Ryloth marking the beginning of the end for Season 1 and we're getting closer to the crazier stuff to come.**

**Oh I could only tease so much until the time comes and when it does it will be a beautiful mad house.**

**Until next time friends.**

**Jebest is my main partner in this story and…**

**Rate Read and Review and as Always Have Nice Day.**


	16. Battle Of Ryloth

**Let's keep this ball rolling and get down planet side.**

**Been having a blast with this one and we're only a short distance away from the tail end of season 1 as well as the gap in between.**

**Got a lot laid out within the upcoming seasons with so many insane things in store but in all honesty, let's just keep this show on the road and get down to nitty gritty of this war.**

**Also, keep up reviews in regards to the lightsaber forms that the Avengers, even Defenders could have. I love seeing how diverse the answers are and the few I have seen have been pretty awesome. So please, more reviews on lightsaber forms for the Avengers and other heroes soon to come(Within the MCU both movies, shows, Netflix ETC.)**

**Rate Read and Review and as Always Have Nice Day.**

Avengers Infinite Wars Chapter 16: Battle of Ryloth.

Pietro Maximoff AKA Quicksilver was known to be a rash, hot-headed and impulsive man.

After gaining his powers via the Mind Stone, this only doubled down on his reckless tendencies making him a headache to deal with at times back at Avengers HQ.

However, where he was a headache to his friends, Pietro was a nightmare to his enemies.

"What was that?!"

"It's that blur again!"

"Quick, call in reinforc-GAH"

"Oh no, not- _CRACK"_

"Clones!"

Pietro skidded to a halt, overlooking the small droid base that he had just cleared out with the help of the surviving members of the 71st clone battalion.

Grinning at their latest victory, Pietro casually walked over to a droid head and picked it up to make funny noises out of them.

"Roger, roger." Pietro mocked, bouncing the head up and down. "How is it that these guys make up an army? All they do is complain and say the same thing _over_ and _over_ again."

"Easy for you to say, speedy." Sergeant Grit dryly stated. "How _can_ they be a threat if they can't even _touch_ you?"

Pietro only shrugged his shoulders, cocky smirk clear to see while casually tossing away the droid head.

"That takes care of this base then." Pietro said, hands on his shoulders. "But there wasn't that many to begin with."

"It was almost too easy." Grit said, walking over to terminal finding easy access to it. "What is a Separatist base even doing out here?"

"What do you mean?" Pietro asked, strolling over to the Clone sergeant and resting his arm on his shoulder.

Grit would normally shrug off the speedsters arm but he was currently looking over some of the data that didn't exactly make sense to him.

When he was looking over the purpose as to why the Seps invaded Ryloth. There were a plethora of reasons why this planet held such importance. It's strategic value being one point, with it being directly near the hyperspace lane that led directly to the core worlds of the Republic. And let's not forget the countless millennia where the Twi'leks of Ryloth has had the unfortunate reputation as being one of the most enslaved species across the galaxy.

Easy, disposable workforce labor for the Seps and slavers.

So that begs the questions right now, what were the Seps doing out here a village surrounded by dead trees. The place itself was abandoned with only several Twi'lek prisoners being a few families that fled to this location.

Apparently until up to a year ago, this abandoned village was very much populated with a sizeable population of Twi'leks.

But that's just it. It _was_ populated.

And now it wasn't. Which in turn begged the question, why exactly are the Separatists here?

Looking over the many sectors, this location had no great significance to it. No strategic vantage point to launch an attack on an operating base. No distinct cover, be as it may be from having a forest surrounding the village. Too much open area in between the trees to begin with.

"Are we missing something here?" Sixer asked aloud. "I'm getting no data that can help us here with the clankers."

Pietro hummed in thought, taking a moment to look out the window of the makeshift base. There was nothing in front of them of note or significance other than the Twi'lek village.

However…

Squinting his eyes slightly, Pietro leaned forward to get a better look at…

"Hey guys." Pietro called out to the Clones in the base. "You see that?"

"See what?" Grit asked, standing beside Pietro.

"That." Pietro pointed above the roofs of the Twi'lek home and towards the forest. "There's something in those trees there. Something… I dunno, it looks blue."

Grit turned to the closest trooper. "Sixer."

Sixer wordlessly handed the sergeant a pair of scopes and Grit looked through them with Pietro giving him the exact spot to look.

"There, you see it now?"

"Yeah." Grit murmured, zooming in on the object. "What the heck is that supposed to be?"

"Wanna go check it out?" Pietro asked.

"Wouldn't that take to-WAAAAH!"

The Clones in the base only saw a blur of silver, blue and white run past them all.

"Huh." Sixer remarked. "Didn't know the Sarge could scream that loud."

"Doesn't that mean technically we all can?" A nearby clone asked.

"Don't tempt the idea, Royce." Sixer said. "Otherwise speedy will just go through with it for the laugh."

Said speedster stopped in the forest with Sergeant Grit immediately walking over to a tree and removing his helmet for some air.

"You alright there, Sergeant?" Pietro asked with teasing grin.

"Don't *COUGH* do that." Grit dry heaved, feeling the contents of his rations about to spill out.

Chortling to himself, Pietro looked up to their destination and frowned upon seeing just what it was.

Cautiously approaching the thing while leaving Grit to recover, Pietro walked over to what he could only describe to be some sort of organic mass.

"What the hell is this supposed to be?" Pietro asked himself finding the blue coloring of this mass a bit strange.

It almost looked like it should be alive.

"What the heck is this?"

Pietro looked back to Grit was more or less steady on his feet, giving a confused look at the mass before them.

"I don't know." Pietro said with a shrug. "Thought maybe you'd have an idea."

Grit only shook his head as he looked up, noticing how distinctly large this mass was.

"Never seen anything like this before." Grit said.

"Any idea on what it is?" Pietro asked, getting closer to it.

"Can't say I do I- Pietro, wait! Don't touch it, we don't even know what it is!"

Grit called out in vain as Pietro carefully placed his hand against the mass. It was a bit soft and malleable as he pressed his hand with a pit more strength against… whatever this was.

Pietro's face scrunched up in concentration as he focused on an unusual thumping noise. Almost like… no! It was a heartbeat. This thing was a living organism.

"So…"

Pietro looked back to Grit who was waiting on him with anticipation. "What is it?"

Pietro rolled his eyes. "Grit, all I did was put my hand on the damn thing. That doesn't answer… any…"

Grit was silent as Maximoffs face went from relaxed to intense suddenly before it flinched as he looked to his hand on the mass that slowly began to be sucked into the mass.

"I-I can't let go." Pietro said in a slightly higher tone, tugging his hand back only to be unable to do so. "My hand."

Grit was a bit privy to Pietro's knack for trouble making and fooling around, but…

"Hey, now's not the time to fool around."

"I can't let go." Pietro said with gritted teeth, now trying to pull his hand away.

Grit didn't hesitate in grabbing the Pietro's arm and began to pull along with the enhanced only to find his hand not budging.

"What the hell?!" Both Grit and Pietro were now trying to pull back with all their might as the speedsters arm was starting to sink deeper into the blue mass.

"Hang on Grit, let go." Pietro said, trying to shove the Clone sergeant off of him.

"What?"

"Just let go, I don't want you to feel this." Pietro stated more firmly this time when his arm began to vibrate at an intense frequency.

Grit felt the vibrations through his own body and started to feel numb as this was different then the usual whiplash of Pietro carrying him via sonic speeds.

Reluctantly stepping back, Grit watched as Pietro glared and concentrated on his powers. His arm began to become a complete blur and after a literal second, the Avenger burst his arm free and flew back landing on his backside.

"OWOWOWOWOWOW!" Pietro bellowed, massaging his blaring red appendage. "The fuck is that made of?!"

"You okay, speedy?"

"What does it look like?" Hissed the Avenger. "God it stings like a mother…"

Grit only warily looked back at the blue mass and noticed that Pietro's handprint was visible and _glowing_ with blue veins pulsing and spreading from the handprint until it eventually died down.

"Yeah~ Let's step away from this and stay that way with a fifty mile pole."

"I hear that." Pietro said, giving an appreciative nod at the Sergeant's offered hand of help and was hefted back up. "And it's fifty foot pole, Grit."

"I think fifty miles is better suited for this situation, Maximoff." Grit said. "Probably should report this to the others."

"Let's get back then." Pietro said, shaking his numb arm.

"Once this place is returned to Twi'lek hands, don't want them to stumble upon this place on accident and something bad happens as a result."

"Think you should bomb this place to hell?

"Honestly? Wouldn't discard the idea." Grit admitted.

"Right." Pietro clenched and unclenched his hand several times, regaining proper feeling with the pain slowly fading.

Wrapping his arm around Grit, Pietro zipped off away from the pulsating blue mass until it subsided from activity entirely, being motionless and silent.

_-Scene Cut-_

The Republic fleet flew high and mighty over the skies of Ryloth with their forces preparing for their ground assault on the planet.

Landing would've been easier had it not been for the many stationed Anti-Aircraft guns scattered across strategic locations preventing them from landing their Acclamators. It didn't help that the Separatist also had a heavy contingent of Starfighters that harried their ships constantly.

So they had to devise a new plan.

During their brief meeting, their assignments were simple but undoubtedly difficult.

Aayla Secura would lead her 327th corps being supported by Captain Rogers and Lieutenant Wilson in taking out the Anti-aircraft guns of the city of Kritka while also rescuing the Twi'leks being used as a slave labor force to manage the makeshift base they had constructed.

For Master Kenobi, his current task is for him and his squadron -consisting Ghost Company and both Ant-man and the Wasp- to retake the city of Nabat. It would be only then will Republic forces have a good landing zone for their ground assault. Anywhere else at the current time has very low chances of that happening.

Mace Windu remained with the fleet with Anakin, Ahsoka and Rhodey leading the Starfighter squadrons in keeping the Confederate fighters from striking crippling blows to the fleets.

It would only be then once a lot of ground has been taken will Mace join them on the planet's surface.

Mace currently stood within the bridge of his ship at the holo table, addressing the two strike teams gathered to take down their targeted cities.

"Those guns are just gonna keep shredding through our ships." Mace said grimly as he had already seen several Acclamators get shot down. "Until then, we can't land any of our troops."

"We'll get it done, Master Windu." Aayla assured on her end. "We're approaching our landing zone now."

"Same on our end." Kenobi informed.

"Then I'll leave you all to it." Windu said with a nod. "The force be with you."

The transmission was cut off and Obi-wan looked to address his soldiers.

"Remember people, we're here to liberate the Twi'leks home; not destroy it." Reminded the Jedi General.

"Would not be great that once freed, their homes are totaled." Scott muttered out, checking his equipment for their current mission.

Obi-wan nodded before gesturing Cody to speak up.

"With this all happening, we'll be doing this the hard way." Spoke the clone commander. "Minimalist destruction with blasters and droid poppers _only_. Which means no rockets or bombs of any kind. And while out there, be careful if you come across any of the locals."

"Sir, Yes Sir!" The Clones said in response.

Several of the Clones of Ghost Company had distinct markings on their armor, sporting the orange accents that is now popular amongst the 212th battalion.

Two clones on the opposite end from Cody and Obi-wan had a brief conversation about the mission.

"Eh, we're here to rescue the Tail-heads." Boil, a clone with a bit of a scruff said to Waxer in irritation. "The least they could is to stay out of our way."

A dozen LAAT gunships flew through the air at full speed towards their designated city.

As they drew closer, Ghost Company heard a massive series of explosions filling the air. Peeking through the cracks, Scott and Hope saw many Republic ships being shot down from the sky.

From his wrist comm, Kenobi quickly answered it. "Kenobi, here."

" _We're taking heavy fire up here."_ Came Windu's voice over the line. _"Those guns have greater range than anticipated. We need you to take out them out now. We can't make any landings with them operational."_

"Pull back the fleet, Windu." Obi-wan said, looking to his men. "You hear that? We're not getting any reinforcements until we take out those guns."

Scott gulped to himself, giving an appreciative glance at Hope who had noticed his nervousness and reached out to hold his hand. She too was just as nervous but right now, she needed to concentrate. The Avengers were here in force to liberate an oppressed planet and by god, they will get the job done.

With their transport speeding up on their decent, both Shrinking Avengers quickly equipped their helmets and readied themselves to bolt out in the open.

Obi-wan steeled his nerves, looking at the two Avengers out of the corner of his eye.

"Are you two ready for this?" Obi-wan asked softly, noticing the two holding hands.

"We'll get this done." Hope assured determinedly.

"Yeah." Scott played off his nervousness with a smile portraying bravado. "Cap trusted us with you so we got this."

The Jedi general nodded in understanding as he soon felt their transport shake upon their landing.

With the doors opening, each and every squadron member ran out and entered the forest for cover; proceeding forward with the next step of their mission.

Sadly, half of the Gunships were shot down so already they were at half their numbers but that didn't deter the Clone forces that made it to ground side.

Running through the forests, red blaster bolts began to rain down on them from up ahead with the droid battalion firing upon them.

"Really wish this forest was thicker." Ant-man spoke out to some nearby clones.

"Why's that?"

"Oh, I don't know." Scott then dodged incoming blaster fire. "Just a small thought for better cover, that's all I'm asking."

The various clones quickly ducked behind the tree trunks and returned fire.

In the meantime, Hope pulled out her blaster and assisted them in this current debacle of theirs. Her normal wrist blaster only had a short range. So her borrowed blaster had to make due for now.

Obi-wan ignited his lightsabers and quickly deflected a wave of bolts that were fired right at him.

Ant-man had already shrank down, jumping from tree branch to tree branch as he made his way towards the wall where the Droids stationed themselves upon.

Waxer and Boil managed to get in the closest at the edge of the forests exit, firing at the droids though finding it difficult as they were targeted by an MG nest.

"That bunker's gonna be a problem, general." Cody said, rushing up behind his two Clone troopers with Kenobi coming in from the side.

"Leave that to me." Obi-wan responded. "Bring in your men on my signal. Scott, where are you?"

Ant-man had by this point landed at the front of the bunker and with a well-timed explosion from a grenade thrown by the droids, rode upon a piece of rubble up to the top of the base.

The minute he jumped off the pebble, Ant-man fell and kicked a Droids neck bending it in sharp angle.

"Just entering the bunker, clearing up a way for you and the others." Scott said, leaping to the next droid and punching it right in the face.

"I appreciate that, Scott."

"No prob." Ant-man punched another droid before grabbing and battering it around at the other enemies. "Do hurry though. Getting a little cramped in here."

"We'll need to move in." Obi-wan said, looking over to Waxer and Boil. "You two wanted action? Follow me."

Waxer and Boil followed after their Jedi general on the left side while over on the right, Hope had shrunken down and flew up to the bunker in order to assist her boyfriend.

She had told the Clone nearby her to go in on her signal.

Flying up to one of the droids, the B1 noticed her.

"Hey look, a small humanoid life form."

"What are you talking about?"

"There." the droid pointed to Wasp. "This little flying-GURK."

Wasp delivered a flying kick to the droids head, denting and disabling it.

"Huh?" The other B1's panicked momentarily, what was that.

No sooner had the question been asked had they been taken out by the combined assault of Wasp and the Clone troopers using her distraction, shooting down a cluster of droids.

"Don't see what you're stressing over, Scott." Hope weaved through the B1's as she started damaging them at a fast rate. "I'm doing fine here."

"First off, you joined the little party late as I took most of the fun." Scott began, performing a judo throw on a Sep droid to collide against another. "And second, there were more droids in here in the confined space than I would've liked."

Meanwhile, Obi-wan led Waxer and Boil closer to the left wall of the bunker.

"Let's take them out." Kenobi said, the three utilizing a large crop of rocks as cover.

Waxer tossed a droid popper only for it to just miss the mark.

"I can't reach it from here."

"Try again." Kenobi instructed. "I'll give you some help."

Waxer pulled out another popper and threw it at the wall.

Obi-wan held out his hand and with the force gave the popper the needed boost to get over the wall and into the small MG nest of the droids, taking them out with an EMP burst.

A moment later, the other MG nest suffered the same fate.

Cody -seeing that both flanks were greatly weakened- was about to call on his troops to push their assault when suddenly, the defensive wall exploded violently. Many of the clones remained behind the cover of the tree as the debris and dust flew forward.

After a moment, they peaked out to see an AAT tank coming out of the hole made in the bunker wall with a large infantry of B1's and Super Battle droids.

"Supers!" A Clone yelled out.

"Watch those wrist rockets!" Cody shouted, diving down in time as several wrist rockets sailed over his head.

The Droid infantry began to fire upon the clones who tried to desperately regroup.

Obi-wan ignited his lightsaber and dashed forward with Waxer and boil running from behind to support him.

Deflecting several bolts back at their senders, Obi-wan slashed through two B1's at once before spinning his blade around to diagonally impale a Super that had ran past behind him.

The super stumbled until it was shot down by Waxer and Boil, the two now firing at the droid infantry.

"Cody." Kenobi called out to the Commander. "Fall back and regroup. We can't risk anymore casualties."

The AAT tank however whirled its cannon directly at Cody, the sound of a charging round getting ready to annihilate the Commander being heard.

Kenobi's eyes widened in fear, moving to save his first-in-command only for the droid to concentrate their fire on the Jedi.

Then, without warning, the AAT tank vanished.

The shooting stopped for the moment, with all the droids and clones looking to where the tank once was.

"Uh… where did the tank go?" One of the battle droids asked.

"Oh, right here."

The droids looked over and saw Ant-man tossing up and down something small at the palm of his hand.

"Want it back?"

"We already have one." Wasp added, revealing from her belt several shrunken vehicles one of them being an AAT tank.

"Uh." the droids looked at one another. "Yes."

"Then here ya go!"

Tossing the shrunk tank towards the droids, Scott then threw one of his size disks at it. The results were instant, enlarging the captured tank and having it crash onto the enemy forces. And with the Separatist tank flipped upside down upon landing, it was basically inoperable, especially with the tank barrel all bent out of shape from said landing.

The Clones were slack-jawed and bug-eyed beneath their helmets as they tried to wrap their minds around what they had just seen. Sure they witnessed the two's capabilities in shrinking and growing, using those powers to sow chaos and discord amongst small groups of droids.

But many had not seen anything like that.

"That's… something you don't see every day." Boil commented, trying to process what occurred.

"I had almost forgotten they could do that." Obi-wan murmured, just as surprised as his men were.

"Are you alright, Cody?" Wasp asked, going over to the Clone who simply sat on the ground staring at the tank.

"Uh… yes, I think I am." Cody said, a rare case of his professional stoicism being broken.

"Right." Wasp offered a hand which he accepted and was hefted up to his feet.

"Whelp, seems the wall's secure, Obi-wan." Scott spoke out as he surveyed the area.

"Indeed." Kenobi said airily, crossing his arms with one of his hands brushing his beard.

"What's our next course of action, sir?" Cody inquired. "Are we going for the guns?"

"That tank shows we need to know what they are planning and what the droids have in store for us." Kenobi mused. "Send your best men to scout ahead while the rest of the men recuperate."

"Will do sir." Cody said, looking to his soldiers. "Waxer, Boil, come with me."

"I guess we're the best." Boil said in slight surprise.

"What of us?" Hope inquired, gesturing towards herself and Scott.

"Given what I read on the reports on the Lurmen colony, you two would do well to scout _further_ ahead."

"You go with them, Hope." Scott said. "I'll stay behind with Obi-wan in case we get any surprises."

_-Scene Cut-_

Concurrently while Obi-wan and Ghost Company began their assault on the city of Nabat **,** Aayla along with Steve and Sam flew down to the much more spacious plains surrounding their city of Kritka.

Due to the more open terrain, the LAAT gunships were subjected to being sitting ducks as they landed the troops onto the ground. Several were destroyed in an instant.

However, the plains also gave the Republic the advantage of landing AT-TE's along with their soldiers and AT-RT's for fast action mobility.

As they descended down to the battlefield, Sam and Steve were quiet and focused with their eyes conveying nothing.

Aayla had stood in front of them with Commander Bly by her side.

Around them was Jack-knife squadron composed of a few dozen Clones in their gunship as well as others flying down to the ground.

Among the Clones were three familiar ones Steve had worked with back on Maridun with Domino squad.

Flash, Cameron and Lucky.

The three Clones were no longer shinnies like he had met them just a few short days ago. Their armors were now colored the sandy-yellow accents of the 327th corps, with the trio sporting them proudly.

There was one thing however Cap noticed though he wasn't sure what it was.

On the right pauldron of Lucky, there was a star scratched on with a circle surrounding it. As a matter of fact, Cameron and Flash had the same star.

Passing it off as just them adding their own flare to their armor, Steve saw Aayla look back at him and the two locked eyes briefly.

It was short, but it was enough to convey between the two that they were both ready with Cap slightly nodding which Aayla returned.

Their silent exchange ended when their LAAT reached the ground.

Igniting her lightsaber, the gunship doors opened and she jumped out with Bly, Cap and the rest Jack-knife squadron with Falcon taking to the skies.

Immediately, Aayla had already deflected nearly a dozen blaster bolts as she saw the entrenched enemy ahead.

There were AAT tanks and spider-walkers that supported the ground defenses for the droids and STAPs zooming about in the air.

All around, many Clones stuck by the AT-TE's for cover as they were also their best firepower on the field.

Steve ran ahead and ducked beneath some rocks for cover with Bly, Aayla and a few clones of Jack-knife crouching down with him.

"We need to find a way to punch through one of their flanks." Cap said straight away. "Soften up one side and sweep through the rest."

"Those spider land tanks aren't gonna be easy to get around, Captain Rogers." Said Commander Bly, peeking out of cover to return fire to some droids that were encroaching upon their position.

"That's what we have these for." Cap pulled out some cylindrical grenades. "Smoke grenades. Sam will drop a few and we'll charge in on the right flank. That looks to be the most unguarded."

"Sounds like a plan." Aayla said, impressed with how quick of an idea Steve formed.

"We'll need covering fire, throw them off."

"I'll take care of that." Aayla said, holding up her wrist comms. "Bulk, you and your men concentrate fire on the right flank until you see smoke."

"Yes General."

A moment later, a few dozen clones along with two AT-TE's and several running AT-RT's all were firing upon the right side of the droids defenses. The Droids naturally returned fire but with such a concentrated wave of fire on their least reinforced side, they were quickly beginning to get shot down bit by bit.

More droids began filtering out of the city walls, moving to reinforce the right flank.

This was when Cap signaled Sam to drop the smoke cover while using his own.

A large cloud of hazy smoke burst out and covered a large portion of the empty gap between the Republic forces and Separatists.

"Jack-knife, move in." Commander Bly ordered with him running out of cover towards the smoke, Aayla and Steve leading the charge, at least thirty or so clones right behind them.

With his enhanced strength, Captain America began to sprint further ahead of Aayla through the hazy smoke until running out right in front of several B1 droids.

Moving on instinct, Steve raised his shield and put more strength into his run while tensing up his arms. Plowing through the droids with ease, Steve kept his shield up while Droids fired at him with their shots ricocheting off his shield.

There was a brief lull of droids not firing at him which Cap seized, rearing his arm back and flinging at full force at the droids in his path. It curved downward into the trenches that the droids were using as cover and soon began bouncing in between them, cutting through every droid.

The shield eventually hit an angled beam which made it bounce back toward Cap, just in time to as an AAT tank turned its cannon in his direction.

Just as it locked onto him, it was struck by several missiles from the side with on hitting the rotary axle of the cannon. The AAT tank slumped down and went up in a blaze of fire.

Steve looked back to see Aayla Secura sprinting towards the droids. She sung her blade horizontally several times to clear the first row of droids that stood before her and her corps rushing in to fire at the clankers, finishing off a Super with a graceful flip and downward saber strike.

Bly stood still and raised his rifle to fire upon the droids that were clearly taken off guard by such a vicious forward attack, directing his men to take the trenches to clean out and use as cover.

Up above, Falcon was flying with practiced ease but obvious concentration.

He was doing double duty in taking care of the STAPs the droids used while occasionally swooping down to the ground to assist the Clones that were about to get shot down.

Flying head on at an oncoming STAP, Falcon pivoted his body to spin rapidly in the air as the droid flying the STAP fired at him in hopes of shooting him down. Once he got close enough, Sam simply held his right wing out horizontally and let momentum and physical force do the rest of the work.

Thus far, their blitz upon Kritka was going well.

_-Scene Cut-_

It was an unpleasant feeling for Cody's group walking through the deserted city. Once blooming with life, only withering with nothing left to spare.

"Buildings are just buildings." Commander Cody began, remaining vigilant of his surroundings. "What really makes a city are the inhabitants living in it."

"Question is: where are they?" Questioned the Wasp.

Stopping at a crossroad-like intersection, Cody gave a command. "Alright, we'll need to split up." The Clone commander pointed towards himself and the clone beside him. "We'll go to the Courtyard." He then pointed towards Hope, Waxer and Boil. "You three check the South Sector. And be back by 0620."

"You got it." Came Hope's response as she followed her temporary partners.

Heading towards their destination, the Wasp kept her eyes out for anything out of the ordinary… from the ruined buildings and empty streets. Even picking up any sounds that'll warn them for enemy troops coming near.

Yet this was a little hard to do so with the two clones talking.

"This is quite unsettling, Boil." Waxer whispered. "You think they… killed all of them?"

"We would've seen their bodies if they did." Boil responded.

"Sadly true." Hope added in agreement. "They'll most likely kept somewhere else."

"Like where?"

"Labor camps, most likely." Hope kept looking around with her blaster ready. "If not, hiding."

"Driven out of their homes, they'd most likely-"

Suddenly, sliding of rocks echoed throughout the area. The small team went on alert, quickly holding up their weapons.

"You think it's the clankers?"

"Would've heard them a mile away with how they walk."

Being on guard now, the three kept moving forward, but at a more guarded formation.

Venturing further and further into the South Sector, the rustle of rocks became louder for them to hear. The group silently agreed to locate the source of it as they had no luck finding anything else on their recent task.

Coming across one alleyway, they hugged the outer walls. Hope was the one who held up her hand, signaling a countdown when they'll jump in and strike. The moment the last finger went down, the three quickly ran in with their blasters raised right at-

"A little girl?" Wasp said in surprise.

"What's she doing out here?" The source of the noise they were searching for was a small, Twi'lek child. The turquoise colored girl could not be older than six, seven at most; wearing rags and looked malnourished and frightened.

"What are we gonna do with her?" Waxer questioned, pulling back his blaster.

Boil waved his hands at this. "Whoa whoa whoa whoa. Who said we had to do anything?"

"Us and it's common courtesy in the current circumstances." Hope quickly answered, kneeling down towards the child's level. "Hey, we're not gonna hurt ya."

In response, the child quickly ducked behind a canister; still spooked from moments ago.

"We need to get going." Boil said, heading out of the alley. "We've got a mission to finish."

"We can't just leave her here." Waxer said, still with Hope.

"We can take her with us."

The two Clones whirled towards the Wasp with mixed reactions. Waxer seemed happy on hearing the suggestion while Boil felt peeved.

"You can't be serious, Ms. Van Dyne. She'll only slow us down."

"It's a price I'm willing to take, Boil."

Before any further response could be made, a particular sound filled the air. Whirling around, the three adults saw something float through the sector; which they realized was an enemy drone.

"Get to cover." Waxer whispered as they quickly ducked behind something for each of them. From a broken pillar, a wall to even a container.

They waited for several moments for the drone to pass on by before they peaked out and saw it was gone.

"That was a recon droid." Boil noted. "We gotta get moving, _now_."

"And we will." Hope said, still crouched down near the Twi'lek child in order to protect her. "But not without her."

As the Wasp came back around to get closer, the child backed away from her.

"She's scared of us."

"Probably because we look like droids to her."

Hope nodded, her helmet retracting to reveal her face to the girl.

"Hey there." Hope said, kneeling down to her level.

"We can't leave her here." Waxer said to his Clone brother. "Not with that Droid flying around. She'll get found and thrown in prison. Or worse."

Hope in the meantime had turned to the little girl, giving her a soft smile in order to convey to her that she didn't mean any harm.

"It's going to be ok, little one." Hope said kindly.

"Look the more time we spend here, the more time we lose on the mission." Boil argued pragmatically. "We're here to take the city and save the tail heads, right?

"Exactly." Hope said with a knowing grin, giving the Clone an expectant look as he soon realized what he had just said.

"Ugh, fine, she can come with us." Boil went right up to the Twi'lek child and crouched down to her.

"Hey, be careful."

"Relax, Waxer." Boil said lazily. "I don't think she's armed."

_**CHOMP** _

"Ow." Boil said, shaking his finger more in shock than in pain. "Little tail-head bit me!"

The "little tail-head" only went closer to Wasp.

"Stop, stop, you're scaring her Boil." Waxer admonished his brother whilst Hope chortled at the scene she had just seen.

"She probably thinks we're droids." Now Waxer kneeled down to eye level with the Twi'lek, removing his helmet. "See. Flesh and blood, just like you."

The young Twi'lek only looked between Hope, Waxer and Boil in trepidation moving away from them.

"She looks like she hasn't eaten in days." Hope said sadly.

"Yeah, those rags aren't that pretty to look at either." Waxer said.

Boil instead reached into his belt and pulled out a rations stick. "Uh, here."

Giving a thankful nod at his brother, Waxer held out the food for the girl who sniffed it tentatively before taking it and biting out a huge chunk of the stick.

Hope and Waxer smiled at her while Boil removed his own helmet, staring down at her with mixed emotions.

Finishing off the ration stick, the young Twi'lek eyed the three before pointing towards them.

"Nerra, Nerra, Numa."

"No, no, I'm Waxer. This is Boil and that's Hope… or Wasp."

"Nerra, Nerra, Numa." The young girl said with more finality, smiling at them.

"Ah, you made a friend, mission accomplished." Boil said sarcastically, placing his helmet back on. "Can we go now?"

Placing his own helmet back on, Waxer rose up and held out his hand for the girl.

She stared at him and then at Hope who gave her an encouraging nod.

"Come on kid." Waxer said.

"Look, she doesn't even want to go with us." Boil said somewhat impatiently. "The little monster was fine before we found her."

"Seriously Boil?" Wasp said dryly, standing up while patting down some dust from herself.

After some moments of hesitation, the young Twi'lek slowly held out her hand and grasped onto Waxers hand while also taking Wasps.

"Better keep handing more of those rations to her," Hope suggested. "Don't want her to fall over and pass out."

Boil didn't say anything as he kept pulling out his rations and handed them to the little girl as they kept moving forward.

_-Scene Cut-_

Zooming across the area, a recon droid picked up on some audio nearby. Searching for the source, the droid landed on a nearby roof and crawled towards the opening. Peering inside, it saw several clones conversing with Obi-wan Kenobi and the Ant-man along with a holo-communication towards Mace Windu. And between them all was a holographic layout of a particular area.

Seeing this, the droid started transmitting a live feed towards the droid commander where the cannons were being stationed.

"-which the cannons are stationed at these particular spots." Cody pointed out on the holo-map. "But there are complications. The captured Twi'leks are being kept there as living shields."

Obi-wan narrowed his eyes, not liking the variable presented to them. "The prisoners will make this difficult, but not impossible. I might have a plan to get them out of there."

The holographic form of Mace added in his thoughts. _"Getting those villagers out of there needs to be our first priority."_

It was at this moment did the recon drone adjusted it's lenses to zoom in closer and focused all of its audio towards the conversation down below. Any and all planning the Republic forces are about to make will become their undoing.

Yet before anything could proceed, a force knocked it out from its perch on the rooftop.

The noise startled the Jedi General and the few clones down below. Looking up, they saw Scott quickly grow to his normal size before snagging onto a Separatist recon droid.

"Thought you could ease in on us, huh?" Scott struggled out, holding onto the flying droid. "Well you thought wrong."

Seeing the Ant-man needing some help, Commander Cody quickly drew his blaster and carefully shot at the droid which tried to escape. After a few well-placed shots, the droid ceased moving within Scott's embrace.

"...Be glad you had a good shot or else I'd be haunting your ass."

Tossing the droid away, the Republic forces became weary as they decided they need to act on whatever Obi-wan has planned _immediately_.

_-Scene Cut-_

Waxer and Hope continued to walk through the abandoned city with Boil lagging behind. Between the two was the Twi'lek child who held Waxer and Hopes hands tightly as she kept looking around nervously.

"What do you think happened to her family?' Waxer asked, looking down at her.

"Probably dead." Boil said plainly. "Though, hopeful _she'll_ survive this mess."

"Then what happens to her?" Waxer asked in concern. "After we leave?"

"I don't know. I- wait, don't get any ideas Waxer." Boil said blithely. "We're not taking her with us if that's what you think will happen."

"Ah, you hear that little one." Hope said in a joking tone. "If anything happens, you'll at least have uncle Waxer here to take care of you."

Boil rolled his eyes, staring blandly up at the sky trying to figure out how he had gotten into this situation.

Suddenly, the young girl perked up. Letting go of Waxer and Hopes hands, she stepped forward to look around before turning to Waxer and grabbing his hand again.

"Nera! Nera!" She exclaimed, tugging on his hand while pointing ahead.

She then let go and ran forward, stopping for a moment to turn back to them and waited for them to follow after.

"Don't wander off." Wasp said when the little girl ran ahead. "Hey wait!"

"Don't go there." Waxer called out to her. "That's where the Recon droid went."

"Waxer, Hope, just let her go." Boil said.

"Boil, we can't just let the droids get her." Wasp admonished with a small glare with her and Waxer running after her.

"I'm just trying to keep the two of you alive." Boil said in annoyance, quickly jogging to keep up. "Don't know why though."

The young Twi'lek girl sprinted ahead of the three adults.

"She's fast." Waxer remarked.

"Where is she even going?"

Passing through small canyon passage way, they saw her run around a corner and disappear.

"No, wait!" Waxer said in concern.

Running around the corner, Waxer and Hope saw the young girl standing alone in the center of a courtyard.

"Hey." Waxer said, a bit out of breath. He patted her head in relief. "There you are."

"Don't go running off like that." Hope criticized, concern etched on her face. The little Twi'lek only looked down to the ground in sorrow.

Boil caught up with the two.

"Good, you found her. You know I have binders if ya need 'em."

Waxer and Hope stared at Boil for his comment.

"What?"

Sniffling, the Twi'lek child reached out to grab Waxers hand again and gestured for him to come in to the house ahead of them.

"What are we even doing here?" Boil asked irritably. "We're way off our course."

"Boil, have some consideration for her." Hope said, hands on her hips in a disapproving manner. "We're here to help the Twi'leks."

"Yeah, all of them, not just this one girl."

"But she counts as them." Hope countered. "So she's part of the mission."

Boil grumbled under his breath as he did have to concede that Hope did have a point there.

The little Twi'lek opened the doors to the house, walking slowly with slumped shoulders.

Following inside, the three adults got a good look of the place. Seeing the expression on the child's face spoke a thousand words; especially with tears starting to form.

"This was her home." Waxer realized.

"She thought her family might've been here." Boil added in.

"Poor little thing. She lost it all."

Hope soon noticed something not far away from her. Crouching down, the Wasp saw it was a little toy. It was a little roughed up, but was in decent condition.

"Not everything." Hope muttered out, picking up the toy and handing it towards the Twi'lek child.

Seeing the doll, the girl grabbed it with a cry and held it close.

Waxers face fell with Hope wrapping an arm around the young ones shoulders.

"There there. Everything's gonna get better. You'll see."

"We're here to help." Waxer assured.

She surprised him when she then hugged him. Hope gave the Clone a sad smile while he simply hugged her back, gently patting her head.

At this point, even Boil couldn't help but walk over.

"Don't cry kid." Boil said softly. "We'll… We'll keep you safe. I-I promise."

The tender moment soon came to an abrupt end when their wrist comms started beeping in rapid succession.

"It's the commander." Boil spoke up.

"How do we explain this one?" Waxer murmured.

"We'll just tell them the truth." Wasp said plainly. "Really no way around it."

"And how will we make it back towards the others in time?" Boil inquired. "In case you haven't noticed, we're nowhere remotely close towards the rendezvous point. We're gonna be polishing R2 units for this."

"Come on, we can easily explain this."

"Oh really? How?"

"Droids are nearby. So they're just jamming our signals."

Boil only shook his head. "Fine it'll be worth a-

Before they could respond to the comms however, there was a soft thumping heard outside making all present tense up. Wasp stood up, her helmet quickly snapping on with Waxer and Boil silently moving over to their discarded helmets and putting them back on.

As this happened, the little Twi'lek was the first to move to inspect the source. Upon laying her eyes on it, she froze in her place.

"Gutkurr." She said in fear. "Gutkurr."

"Er…" Boil looked to Wasp and Waxer. "What's a Gutkurr?"

They soon heard a loud hissing noise and the trio of adults ran to the Twi'lek and saw what was outside. And seeing a large bipedal heavily armored insectoid certainly wasn't what they had expected.

"Oh… that's a Gutkurr…"

"I think I know why the kid never came back home." Boil griped. "This is why we never disobey orders."

"Boil, can you stop complaining for a few seconds?"

_-Scene Cut-_

Obi-wan and Commander Cody walked through the abandoned city with Scott shrunken down, flying above them on his Ant steed he's named Ullysus Gr-Ant the fifth.

"Where are they?" Cody said, looking around.

"It isn't like Waxer and Boil to not respond for so long." Obi-wan said in clear concern, looking up. "Scott, any word from Hope?"

"Nothing, Obi." Scott said a bit worriedly.

He knew that Hope was more than capable of taking care of herself; but right now they were on an alien planet swarming with robots that want to kill them.

Scott's train of thought came to an abrupt halt when he heard loud noises coming their way. It wasn't the normal clanking sounds of a droid battalion. This sounded more… organic… and in large numbers.

Obi-wan froze, holding up his hand to signal the rest of the men to do the same.

Narrowing his eyes, Obi-wan felt a warning coming from the force followed by light tremors which only grew in scale and noise.

"What is that?" Sergeant Wooly asked as the rest of the company began to notice the tremors.

"Whatever it is." Another Clone said, raising his gun up. "It doesn't sound friendly."

"Guys!" Scott bellowed out from above. "Something's coming!"

"Get against the walls and in the alleyways." Cody ordered. "Stay low and don't scatter."

The company quickly got into position as the trembling ground got closer until they all felt their own armor rattle.

This went on for what felt a lot longer than it seemed in the small amount of time it took for the source of the rumbling ground to arrive.

The creatures were large and bipedal looking between a mix of reptilian and insectoid features. Their legs were similar to that of jointed reptiles yet their hard shells, spiny carapace and sharp-mandible heads were distinctly insectoid in nature.

Their eyes were red and pissed off beyond imagination.

And they were apparently working as they spotted a few clones that were leaning against the wall in order to avoid their running rampage.

The new arrivals roared and hissed at Ghost Company, charging at them and started their assault. Blaster fire went towards the creatures in hopes of fending them off. Yet a good number of troopers were heavily hurt in the process.

Obi-wan grit his teeth and threw his hands up, calling upon the Force, the Jedi Master reached out to their rather instinctive based minds and took control of the beasts and guided them away from his company.

Once ensnaring them, Kenobi slowly backed away and headed towards a closed off alleyway.

One of the clones quickly drew up his blaster and was about to fire when Cody halted his action.

"Don't." Warned the clone commander. "Let him do his thing."

Walking deeper and deeper into the alleyway, Obi-wan saw the last of these bi-pedal creatures enter the space. Looking up, a thought quickly crossed his mind.

Once his back hit the wall, he called out to Cody.

"SHOOT THE BRIDGE!"

"You heard him, boys!"

Ghost company quickly aimed their blasters high and released a volley of blaster fire onto the rock bridge up above. The structure started to crumble, causing Obi-wan to release his hold on the rampaging beasts.

In an instant, they went nuts, trying to attack Obi-wan for what he did to them. Yet he evaded them as he jumped onto one of them and started leaping onto others before diving out of the way out of the alleyway; which quickly closed off.

As soon as he landed next to Cody, the two shared a nod when they heard another noise with Kenobi lighting up his lightsaber.

The company aimed their guns at a pothole that rattled about.

The manhole cover quickly moved out of the way, making way for familiar faces to Ghost company.

"Waxer, Boil, where have you two slackers been?" Cody said slightly admonishing.

"We've got a reasonable excuse."

"We were… sidetracked, sir."

Behind the two came Hope and with her, a young Twi-lek child she pulled out with her from the pothole.

"I didn't know we were adopting, Hope." Scott said faux seriousness, making Hope give him a slightly withering look. "Too soon?"

"We have Cassie, Scott." Hope stated. "Let's wait until getting home for that."

"Ah~ I can see you three have been busy." Obi-wan said, kneeling down and gently spoke to the child in her native language. And by the looks of things, the Twi'lek child soon relaxed as communication barriers were broken down.

"This little one knew her way around the tunnels, sir." Waxer reported to his clone commander.

Ending the conversation with the young Twi'lek, Obi-wan addressed the rest of Ghost company. "She can help lead us through the tunnels to where the rest of her people are located." The Jedi master then looked at his clones. "We will need a distraction, though, as a blockade of droids is along the way."

"Getting past the Droid garrison won't be easy, sir." Cody reminded. "They have several tanks stationed at the entrance to the village."

"Oh." Scott perked up excitedly. "I've got a distraction. We both do actually, right Hope?"

"You can leave that to us." Hope said confidently. "We've been wanting to test out our work from Earth that my father taught us."

"If you don't mind, sir." Waxer spoke, getting Obi-wan and Cody's attention. "But I'd like to volunteer in helping Hope and Scott out in this."

"Me too." Boil jumped in.

"Well, the thing is it's not really a sneak around distraction." Scott stated.

"Wait-What?" Waxer said.

"Yeah, if anything, you two will stick with me, Waxer." Hope added. "Scott's gonna be the one providing the distraction. Most likely, you two will be our support if anything happens."

"Alright then." Obi-wan said. "What is it you have in mind?"

_-Scene cut-_

Within a corridor of empty prison cells, a lone droid was kneeling down on the ground with a sponge in hand as he diligently scrubbed the floors of the Gutkurr's holding cells.

"Yeup… this is about the worst job in the droid army."

The droid then heard a humming sound which was followed by burning slashes. The droid looked over to see Obi-wan Kenobi standing there with a Twi'lek child in his arm and a woman in an odd uniform. Behind them were two clone troopers that jogged by.

"And it just went into overtime." It said depressed.

Obi-wan used the Force to trigger a switch on a nearby panel, closing and trapping the droid who soon began slumping his shoulder dejectedly.

Holding up his wrist communicator, he spoke. "Obi-wan here. Is everyone in position?"

After a few moments, Commander Cody was the first to respond. _"My party's ready, general."_

" _So is mine."_ Scott called in next.

"Let's get this started, then. On your signal, Scott."

Scott rubbed his hands together excitedly before pressing down on a command on his wrist piece.

In front of Scott and his assigned group from Ghost Company, a full-sized AT-TE grew before them making a few clones jump back in surprise.

"So who wants shotgun and who wants the turret?"

"Unbelievable." Sergeant Wooly murmured in disbelief, running to get into the main cockpit.

"Oh and don't worry." Ant-Man then placed three TX-130 tanks on the ground and quickly grew them back to normal size. "I've got another spare and one of those scout walker thingies."

With great enthusiasm, various clones quickly got to the tanks, getting things ready for the upcoming assault on the droid battalion.

Everyone was in position now and with Scott overhead with a swarm of ants in the sky, he overlooked the area.

"Alright, boys. Fire when ready."

The moment passed with tank rounds were heard across the canyon. Droids in the surrounding area were startled with what just occurred. Especially with several Sepratist driven tanks were starting to get demolished leading up to the prisoner encampment.

"Sir!" A B1 droid ran over to the tactician droid in charge of this battalion. "Republic Clones attacking with tanks!"

"What?" The tactical droid responded. "How is that possible? The chance of the Republic having tanks here are 3,004,890 to 1.

"I-I don't know!"

Before the tactical droid could start processing and accessing the given information, sounds of fighting were heard behind him. Turning around, he saw clone troopers starting their assault at their location.

"Get the prisoners out here." The Tactical Droid commanded. "Get the scout garrison back here, immediately."

"We're trying, but they're either not responding or too busy with what's happening at their location."

The droids began to fire back at the Clones yet they were getting shot down rapidly as the surprise appearance of tanks and Clones rushing at them caught them off guard.

With the Jedi Master, Obi-wan quickly decapitated the last of the droids guarding the prisoners with Hope, Waxer and Boil quickly checking their surroundings for any enemy reinforcements coming their way. And it wasn't all that long for droids falling back to stop the Republic forces in freeing the prisoners. This caused Hope and the two clone troopers to open fire upon them.

With their native language, Obi-wan guided the Twi'leks to safety using the underground tunnel they had come from as their passage way.

As he looked on to see them safely entering the tunnels, Kenobi saw one male Twi'lek quickly embracing the younger child who helped lead them to this location. As it turned out, the child has finally reunited with her father while the whereabouts of her mother is presently unknown.

Cody fired at a B1, getting it in the head when he ducked to avoid a blaster bolts in time. With a spinning swing, Cody knocked aside the droid to the ground and finish it off with a shot to the chest. Looking up, Cody saw the Anti-aircraft guns that originally hindered the Republic ships from landing.

"Sergeant Wooly, concentrate your fire on those guns." Cody ordered the Sergeant who was guiding the AT-TE.

"Copy that sir."

Positioning the tank around, Wooly got the main gun in the sights of the AA guns.

"Open fire." Wooly ordered the trooper manning the main cannon.

The Clone fired and got a direct hit on one of the droids AA guns.

Suddenly, one of the TX tanks beside the AT-TE exploded in a large fire with some of the nearby clones getting caught in the fire.

"What the Kriff was that?!" One of the clones yelled aloud.

"Droid Reinforcements!" Wooly shouted, spotting a large contingent of droids coming in being backed by an AAT from the right hand side.

"Droidekas!"

A small group of Droidekas rolled forwards before unfurling out from their ball forms and stood up, shields expanding out.

"Get to cover!" Cody ordered, getting behind one of the AT-TE legs.

Kenobi saw what was happening and wished to go and help yet when he saw the AA guns beginning to change their positioning to take aim at the remaining tanks, he knew that he needed to act fast.

"Waxer, Boil, come with me." Obi-wan ordered with his lightsaber ignited. "We need to take care of those cannons."

"We're with you, sir." Boil responded before looking at the Wasp.

"Go, I'll cover you." Hope called out, quickly shrinking and zooming across the area to attack incoming B1's and Super droids.

Coming in close, the Wasp landed on a Super's arm and grabbed hold onto it's arm. Using her strength, she was able to flip it over and harshly land onto one of its robotic companions. Quickly growing to normal size, Hope used her wrist blasters to shoot into the close opposition before shrinking once more to avoid enemy fire.

From overhead, Scott was quickly giving out warnings on where various droids were moving about in order to avoid surprise attacks from the clones' blind sides. Hovering over the area where the AA guns were located, Ant-man saw the number of droids Hope was facing and decided to go down there and assist her.

Flying down, he radioed in the clone sergeant and commander. "Hey, I'm bailing out. Our friends at the AA guns need more help."

"We can handle it here, Scott." Cody spoke out, avoiding droid blaster fire from a rocky ledge.

"You've given us all the help we can ask for." Wooly chimed in next.

Scott nodded, leaping down from his Ant steed, landing on a B1 droid. The droid jolted from the small human landing on it when its arm angled sharply from a barely visible force followed by its head being punted off.

Wasp flew around several droids, constantly zapping them with her stingers.

After getting in a good few hits that immobilized them, she systematically kicked and punched the droids apart until they were scrap metal.

Growing to full height she turned to shoot down a droid behind her when Scott grew to full size, kicking its head off.

"I had that." Hope said good naturedly.

"I know." Scott said. "But what's wrong with a boyfriend being chivalrous to his girlfriend."

Hope only shook her head, amused by her lovers antics.

"Hope." Scott said, looking past her to see Supers running at them.

Grasping her hand, Scott heaved and gave Hope an extra boost in the throw, zooming her straight to a few Supers. With her new momentum, the Wasp swung around and delivered spinning roundhouse kick, knocking the heavy built droid back quite a distance with part of its body caved in.

With Kenobi, he and the two clone troopers were starting to relieve a few AA guns of their assigned droids. Slicing and blasting through them before any of the weapons started firing at the Republic forces. Once that was done, Obi-wan quickly jumped onto the recently taken gun and started fiddling with the controls. Seeing this, Waxer and Boil heaved and lifted up a big cannon shell before loading it into the confiscated weapon.

Seeing AA gun primed and ready, Obi-wan fired at the farthest occupied weapon. The results were instant with the enemy force destroyed in a blaze of scrap heap. With one of the AA guns destroyed, Waxer and Boil did their best to quickly load up the weapon so Obi-wan can quickly fire upon the last of them.

Cody was fighting on two different fronts as the droids from the right side were much more numerous than anticipated while the droids that held the city and Twi'leks were reduced by half.

His company had suffered a dozen dead with the numbers growing as the droids pressed on.

The Commander was thankful for Scott and Hope in providing them the tanks for extra firepower and cover. How they accomplished this astonishing feat of shrinking tanks down was nothing short of amazing but he hated the fact that already two of the TX tanks were destroyed with only their AT-TE left and one more TX-130.

Moving out from his cover, Cody quickly shot down several B1s before going back behind the walker leg he was using as cover. The other Clones utilized the downed tanks, AT-TE's legs and rocky outcroppings as cover from the droids that kept marching towards them.

Pulling out a pair of droid poppers, Cody primed them and tossed them in between the front two rows of the closest droids.

After several seconds of charging, the EMP burst disabled a large group of droids.

"Press forward." Cody commanded. "Pick your shots."

Ghost Company ran out from their cover positions, quickly going on the offensive as they gained some ground on the Droid reinforcements when suddenly a very peculiar sight from the far back of the droid line caught their attention.

B1's were being flung high into the air with many of them in parts and then they saw the centerpiece of a Super being thrown towards the canyon walls.

"...What was that?"

"I don't know-"

"What the-"

"AAAAH!"

"FOR THE REPUBLIC!"

From above came a humanoid weilding a blue lightsaber as he jumped down and began slashing at the droids left and right.

"Is that… General Di?" Wooley muttered out with widened eyes.

"Go, Go, GO!"

Cody looked up and saw the welcoming sight of Clone Troopers and armed Twi'leks using ropes to rappel down the cliffside on both ends and fire at the droids.

"Now we're talkin!"

Whatever action the newly invigorated Ghost company was about to deploy was quickly halted in their tracks at a bluish silver blur which ran past them, leaving a wake of destroyed droids in its path.

"..."

"What the hell was that?"

Their answer came in the form of a young man who skidded to a halt in front of them while slamming down a Droideka hard. Wiping a bead sweat from his brow, the silver haired newcomer looked up to the 212th battalion and grinned wryly.

"Heh~ Sorry we're late folks." Spoke the new arrival. "Not easy running through enemy occupied territory. Well… not for everyone else really. I mean I can quite eas-"

"PIETRO?! IS THAT YOU?!"

Whirling around, Quicksilver was met with a humanoid missile that quickly grew in a span of a second. Once coming into contact, Pietro was met with a strong, embracing hug that almost knocked the enhanced human off his feet. Realizing who assaulted him, the Sakovian let out a bark of laughter.

"Scott? Scott!" Pietro cried out in elation, hugging the ex-con tightly back. "I can't believe it. You're here too?!"

"Pietro!"

Pietro looked up to see Hope appear before him with his already wide grinning nearly splitting his face.

"Hope!" She joined in on the group hug. "Holy shit, you're here too?!"

"Oh man Pietro, you have no idea what's been going on." Scott said, stepping back from the speedster with a beaming smile.

"Uhhhh~ I hate to spoil this… reunion of yours." Cody spoke out, making the three Avengers to look at him. "But we're still in a firefight right now."

"Well not for much longer."

Quicksilver grinned, cracking his neck and dashing off at full speed.

Commander Cody stared at the trail of blue energy before looking back to Scott and Hope.

"Is there any power or ability your team can't do?" Cody couldn't help but ask. "Be honest cause you guys shrinking and growing was enough."

Both insect themed Avengers merely chuckled as they watched Pietro zoom across the battlefield, assisting both the 71st legion, Cham's freedom fighters and Ghost Company with what was left of the Sepratist forces.

"Wait till we find Wanda and Vision." Scott said. "Those two are probably the strongest on our team."

Cody only shook his head, still trying to wrap his mind around what he had just witnessed. The Jedi's capabilities were crazy enough as it is and then came the Avengers and they just reminded him that _this_ wasn't the strength of the full team at the present time.

"I feel a growing headache coming along..."

"Come on Cody, let's get this mission done so we can get you some Motrin."

"What's Motrin?"

"...Never mind."

The battle went on for less than five minutes up to that point.

With the combined forces of all the Jedi, Clones, Avengers and Freedom Fighters the droids were all destroyed and scrapped. Things were starting to settle down with many being treated for both their wounds and hunger for clones and Twi'leks respectively.

And not far from the main group lied the now freed prisoners as they held up the dismembered pieces of the tactical droid which held them all in captivity. This went on as Republic ships soared overhead, making their descent towards the newly made landing zone.

"Di." Obi-wan said in relief. "I can barely describe how good it is to see you and your men alive and well."

"The feeling is mutual, Kenobi." Di said graciously as both Jedi Masters clasped the other's arms. "When we heard and then saw the Republic fleet in the air, we at long last knew the time was right for an all out offensive."

"Apologies, my friend, that it took so long." Kenobi said humbly, breaking the connection. "Aside from the war, the Republic has been quite busy with other more serious matters."

Obi-wan finished the statement by looking over to an ecstatic trio of Wasp, Ant-Man and Quicksilver all conversing with one another.

"Those are other Avengers, yes?" Di inquired, earning a surprised look from Kenobi. "Pietro has told me about this team that he's a part of."

"Indeed they are." Kenobi confirmed. "Captain Rogers is certainly going to be thrilled to see another of his comrades alive and well. And apparently he has been just as busy as they have, helping the Republic in our time of need."

"If they are all anything like Maximoff, I am certain we will get along grandly."

_-Scene Cut-_

As to what Kenobi expected, he looked on to see Steve embracing Pietro with Anakin and Ahsoka looking on. And it wasn't long after Rogers broke the hug did Sam and Rhodey greet their wayward companion after so long.

They had returned with their missions accomplished, accompanied by Anakin and Aayla.

"So." His former Padawan stood with him along with Mace Windu who had at long last joined them on the planets' surface. "That's Quicksilver?"

"I am surprised you memorized all the missing Avengers."

Anakin shrugged. "I've talked with Steve sometimes. He's told me about most of his team."

Tilting his head over, Pietro whispered to Sam's ear. "How the hell is Fury here? And with both eyes?"

"Doppelgangers." Came the simple response.

The Sakovian nodded in quick realization, knowing the concept before Fury's doppelganger approached them.

"Good to see that another one of your team has returned to you."

"Indeed it has, Mace." Said the Avenger leader.

"Sooo~ you're not Nick Fury." Pietro mused aloud, squinting at the Jedi Master.

Quirking a brow, he looked to Steve who only shrugged. "When I tell you you look astonishingly like someone we know, we're not lying."

"Right~" Mace nodded slowly. "Tell me, where is Cham Syndulla? I would like to speak with him on how to proceed with Ryloth's liberation."

"He's back at the resistance stronghold." Came Pietro's response. "Even though he wanted to help lead this recent assault, he was more needed back there."

"Can you contact him?" Windu asked. "I believe his help is needed if we are to finally free this planet and retake Lessu."

"Ask Didi." Pietro said, nodding his head at said General who was approaching them with Captain Keeli by his side.

"Didi?"

"His nickname for me." Di said with a small smirk. "Master Windu, it's good to see once more."

"He has some bits of humor to throw around." Keeli commented with a wry grin.

Off to the side, Hope, Waxer and Boil were bidding their farewells to little Numa -which was the little Twi'lek's name- who gave Hope a hug before looking to Waxer who kneeled down to her.

"See you later little one." Waxer said happily, rubbing her head affectionately.

She smiled up at him when Boil cleared his throat awkwardly.

"Hey Numa." He said softly. "Stay out of trouble."

Numa responded by hugging his leg, which in turn he patted her on the back goodbye.

"Don't worry, kid." Boil said. "If anything happens, we'll be back."

Leaving Numa to rejoin the rest of the Republic forces, Numa stayed with her father while waving goodbye.

"Nerra! Nerra! Numa!" she called out to them repeatedly.

"Sir, what is it that she keeps calling us?" Boil asked Kenobi who was walking with the rest of the men.

"Brother and sister." Obi-wan said fondly

Both clones and Hope blinked before looking back towards the young Twi'lek. Smiling underneath their helmets, they soon waved back which made Numa wave with even more glee in her actions.

Steve Rogers walked with the 327th corps, speaking with Aayla.

"So that makes six out of the nine." Aayla recounted, remembering Steve telling her about the current roster of Avengers. "Who is left to be found?"

"Wanda, Nat and Viz."

"It seems that they crop up when they're needed." Aayla noted.

Steve only hummed in thought, glancing around to keep track of his comrades who were spread out amongst the legions and battalions of Clone troopers.

"We'll find them, Steve. I don't know when and where, but we'll find them." Aayla said, subconsciously placing a comforting hand upon his arm.

The good Captain gave the Twi'lek Jedi an appreciative smile.

"I know, Aayla." Looking ahead, Captain Rogers could only hang onto hope for the safety of his wayward teammates. "I know."

**Huzzah, another one done and ready. Was honestly hoping me and J were able to finish this one sooner but as you know life can be a bit of a hindrance. From work to personal issues.**

**I also wanna tell people that I have been helping out my good comrade J on his new story A Song of Fire, Ice and Hearts for the past few weeks as well, so go check it out. It's a Kingdom Hearts and Game Of Thrones crossover something that we both have our own spins on. He got his out and mine is still in development. I of course have my other stories I will be returning to after the completion of this season and the gap in between.**

**Jebest4781: Which I'm gladfully able to still help out my buddy as we've been exchanging and supporting ideas for a good number of years by now. And yes certain story ideas have been collecting dust, but hopefully they'll be cleaned up and presented at a reasonable time when the opportunity presents itself.**

**Rate Read and Review and as Always Have Nice Day.**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Link to my friend, Jebest4781's story
> 
> https://www.fanfiction.net/s/13425922/1/A-Song-of-Fire-Ice-and-Hearts


	17. Liberation of Ryloth

**Rate Read and Review and as Always Have Nice Day**

Avengers Infinite Wars Chapter 17: Liberation of Ryloth

"You've been busy here, Pietro." Cap noted, walking through the liberated city of Nabat with Pietro.

Clones and Twi'lek citizens alike were doing their best to clean up the mess caused by the Separatist forces. The joint effort made things… rather fine. The scars of what occurred are still present, but over time they'll heal from all the hurt and suffering.

There were many Twi'leks that paused in their work and gave Pietro beaming smiles and waves with a few of the women none too shy about giving him more… incorrigible glances.

"You can say that, Cap." Pietro remarked, waggling his brows at a few ladies when someone wrapped his arms around his shoulders.

"There you are, Speedy!"

"Heya Grit." Pietro grinned, recognizing the Clone Sergeant immediately.

"The boys have been looking for ya, where'd you up and run off to?"

"Ah, just catching up with my own "Commanding Officer", so to speak." Pietro said, nodding his head over to Cap.

Grit looked by the man beside the resident speedster and took note of the Avenger's appearance. Holding out his hand, the clone smiled. "So you're this Captain America he told us about."

Grasping the clone's hand, Steve shook it with a returning smile. "A pleasure to meet you. Grit was it? How do you know this troublemaker?"

"Saved our hides a good number of times since he wound up on this planet. After that long, had to at least get to know him if he were friend or foe."

"Though with me helping you lot out every day, surprised you didn't consider the former right away."

"Doesn't help if one can't be too careful."

"Couldn't agree with you more." Came Steve's response, agreeing with the clone's words. With what happened back on Earth with HYDRA infiltrated SHIELD, the First Avenger had to be more careful on who to interact and trust. "Still, it's good to know Pietro was in good company down here."

"The 71st owes Pietro with our lives." Grit said in complete seriousness. "If it weren't for him, we would've been completely wiped from the face of this galaxy."

Pietro grinned bashfully, making Steve smirk and pat the runners shoulder.

"So then what's next, Cap?" Pietro asked.

"Well, first thing's first, we have to finish our job here on Ryloth." Steve said. "There's still a lot of villages under Separatist control and there's the capital city that needs to be retaken."

"Lessu." Grit said, getting a nod out of Rogers.

"Right, Lessu."

Pietro shuffled his feet a bit, eyes gazing down to the ground.

"Something wrong, Pietro?"

"Just wanna know if… Well, is Wanda-"

Steve sighed. "We haven't found her yet. So I can't confirm nor deny if she's safe and well."

Pietro only hung his head dejectedly.

"We still haven't found Nat or Viz either." Steve added on. "The six of us here on Ryloth is the team so far."

"That's good… That's good." The Sokovian muttered before earning a chuckle. "Knowing our two girls, their stubborn… in their own way."

"Neither will go down that easily without a fight."

"And Vision." Pietro chortled. "Don't know anything that could take him down."

"No doubt. I have a hard time imagining who or what can beat him."

"Sergeant Grit. Maximoff."

The three men turned to see another Clone, this one sporting a shoulder pauldron with brown armor paint.

"Captain Keeli." Grit saluted his superior officer.

"Been looking for you two." Keeli said. "Making the rounds on the boys."

"We're all good here, Keeli." Pietro said with a two finger salute. "Just introducing Grit here to Cap."

"The Captain Rogers you spoke of?" Keeli said with clear intrigue. "It's a pleasure to meet you sir. Speedy here never shut up about you and the rest of your team

"And what has he said about us?"

"Nothing but good things really. Stories too."

"Oh? Is that _all_?"

Pietro had to look away when Steve spoke those words. Whistling a little, knowing he's gonna get in trouble _now_.

"Well." Keeli gave the speedster a sly look. "There are the many times he said at how hopeless and lost the Avengers had been without him. Something about him being a shining beacon of leadership, right Pietro?"

"There it is." Steve said knowingly. "You know, you're lucky that we haven't found Wanda yet. She would show these guys the pecking order between _you_ and _her_."

The Speedster in the room hung his head at this.

"If it makes it feel any better, a lot of us thought his details were too exaggerated and were poodoo."

"There is one thing I wanna know." Grit spoke up. "Is it true that killer robot that lifted an _entire_ city from your home planet and wanted to use it as a meteor?"

Steve blinked. "You told him that?"

"It was a good story."

"You know, maybe most of Pietro's stories weren't as exaggerated as you think." Steve mused. "Considering our line of work."

"Wait, that was real?!" Keeli said in disbelief.

"More than you'd like to think." Steve sighed, grimacing at the battle that left a crater in the earth to remind everyone what had happened due to the Avengers own actions.

"Now I gotta know the whole story." Grit couldn't help but say aloud.

Steve nodded in understanding, seeing the enthusiasm on the clone's face.

"Alright, so you may wanna sit down for this one."

What began as an audience of two, soon grew to more of the 71st legion finding out about the story, the Twi'leks nearby and other Clone troopers who caught wind of Pietro and Steve's tale of their encounter with Ultron.

"A droid that thinks like a person?" Grit said with a shudder. "Bad enough those Clankers are mindless."

A sentiment that was shared by the Clones and the two Avengers.

"Well we lucked out with Vision." Pietro said. "So… they're not all bad."

_-Scene Cut-_

Inside of the war room at the Resistance Base on Ryloth, the heads of the current groups were present; from the Jedi generals, the Clone commanders, to the Avengers. Others, however, weren't present but were seen via hologram.

" _-And what's your progress, Skywalker."_ Spoke Palpatine from his office at Coruscant.

" _My fighters have control of the space around Ryloth."_ Anakin responded from the Resolute. _"We have the Separatist cruisers on the run."_

" _Very good, General Skywalker. Very good indeed."_

Stepping forward, Mace Windu had the projection of Ryloth come up. "Through our efforts so far, we have been able to retake the southern hemisphere. Master Kenobi has just finished securing the Jixuan desert."

" _Then, it is almost over."_ The Ryloth senator, Free Taa, spoke in relief in his voice.

"Not just yet, Senator." Mace said. "The capital city of Lessu is the last stronghold of the Separatist presence on Ryloth. Our spies believe that Separatist leader Wat Tambor, has his command center there."

Master Yoda who was present via hologram spoke on this matter. _"When taken the city we have, Capture Tambor we must."_

In the first time in this meeting, Cham Syndulla spoke. "It's not going to be easy. Tambor has chosen his stronghold well. Too well, in fact."

" _You would know this well enough, Cham."_ Free couldn't help but said with a rather low undertone of hostility.

"Better than you would, _Senator_ Taa." Cham said with a sneer. "While you were busy sitting comfortably and away from the war, I have been down here with my people fighting tooth and nail to keep the Separatist from taking this planet."

Prior to the meeting present, the Avengers and some of the Jedi were informed of the political rivalry between Cham and Free. It was mediocre prior to the Clone Wars, but now it grew to new lengths. Cham had voiced his concerns with Free Taa's plans for his planet once the war was over and some of the Avengers were either indifferent from not knowing the full scope of things (i.e. Scott) to sharing the Rebel leader's sympathize.

Coughing into his hand, Mace got Cham to realize they were getting off track.

Cham huffed, returning his attention to the Holo-map of Lessu.

"The only thing keeping us away from properly taking back the capital is the plasma bridge." A hologram of Lessu before it zoomed in at the large crevice separating the main land with the capital. "It's the only way in or out, with the controls kept at the city itself."

Chancellor Palpatine sighed. _"I'm afraid a size could drag on indefinitely."_

" _We can't prolong this battle any longer."_ Free Taa said somewhat desperately. _"My people have suffered enough."_

"On that, the two of us can agree on." Cham stated. "With my forces and the Republic troopers here, we can storm Lessu and free Ryloth at long last."

"But there is one thing that concerns me." Windu said, pointing to the map. "And that's the Twi'lek settlements here on the outskirts of the city."

" _Indeed."_ Yoda said. _"Risk the Twi'leks we do, from frontal Assault."_

"Then what do you suggest we do, Master Jedi?" Cham asked somewhat impatiently. "My people continue to suffer under these droids the longer we stand here and plan our attack."

"Don't forget about us, Mr. Syndulla." Steve spoke up. "My men and I can be sent out to either retaking the capital or help guard the settlements."

"Even with your skills, you are still limited."

"Not with all six of us leading the assault." Steve said confidently.

"Just the Six of you?" Cham said, slightly unsure. "I am aware of your capabilities, Captain Rogers, don't get me wrong. Pietro has shown this capacity to his fullest but a six man team may not be enough to take back my home."

"You let us help retake the city while the Republic forces help guard the settlements."

Mace Windu folded his arms. "At least our forces aren't stretched so thinly or else retaking Lessu would be more difficult." He then adopted a thinking pose. "The amount we have could definitely help defend the areas in case the Separatists plan on attacking them in retaliation if we go right at Lessu."

"They are heavily reinforced." Cham mused, taking note of the many battlements and garrisons stationed around the city.

"Hasn't stopped us before." Rhodey commented with a chuckle.

"If we are to take the city, we're gonna need to take a page out of Pietro's book." Steve said, nodding to Maximoff.

"Oh~ and which page and from what section are you talkin' about?"

"Hard and fast."

"That's what she-"

"Shut up Pietro!"

"Ahhh~ come on Hope, that was so easy."

"Exactly. It was too easy. Make a little more effort next time."

Steve rolled his eyes at their antics while others in the room questioned at the Earthen humor behind the banter.

_-Scene Cut-_

Walking through the encampment, Cham was conversing with Mace and Steve.

"My people have been holding out for a long time, Master Windu." Cham said with a tired expression. "Your Jedi master Di and his Clones have been helping us, but life has been difficult since the war came to Ryloth."

"You have done much better than most, Syndulla." Mace stated. "Providing for your men, for all your people. We need all the help we can in liberating your planet from the Separatists."

Cham silently regarded Mace before looking to Steve. "I should be thanking you, Captain Rogers. Your Avenger Pietro Maximoff has been a major source of inspiration and hope for my people. Has it not been for him, I believe my people's suffering would've been much worse off."

Before Steve could answer, several Twi'lek children ran by, each of their rags sporting crudely drawn lightning bolts as each of them tried to outrun one another.

One lightly green skinned girl had tripped on her feet, causing Cham to come up to her and helped her up. "Hera, you should be more careful."

"I know, father." Hera said though she appeared no worse for wear, only eager to rejoin her friends.

"That doesn't fully cut it, my dear. I just want you to be safe and not get hurt. This place is getting more crowded by the day, which you might hurt someone else as you play on accident."

Hera nodded in understanding, making Cham patted her on the head, nudging her to go back to playing with her friends a moment later.

"Pietro Maximoff will be remembered for a long time on this planet, Captain Rogers." Cham said, watching his daughter play with the other children. "The kids view him as a true hero."

"Don't let him hear you say that." Steve said in good humor. "He has a big enough head as it."

Cham chortled. "From what I can tell, you might be right. His ego will grow more and more if that were to happen."

Their conversation was soon ended when Mace received a comm call from his first-in-command.

Answering the call, Mace held out his hand and a holo-transmission of Ponds appeared.

"Commander Ponds." Mace greeted. "How goes your campaign?"

" _We've hit a serious snag, General."_ Ponds said grimly. _"The Separatists have started a string of bombing runs on the many towns and villages surrounding Lessu. We haven't been hit but we need more medical personnel down here stat. The Twi'leks need it bad."_

Upon hearing that his people were being so savagely attacked, Cham's face paled considerably.

"I'll be sending you assistance immediately." Mace promised. "Stay on alert and get the Twi'leks out of the villages."

Ponds saluted before ending the transmission.

"What could the Separatists possibly gain in bombing our homes?" Cham asked quietly.

"Confusion and drawing us out, is the most likely answer." Steve answered, all too familiar with tactics like these from back in his war. "This is a retreat offensive. Scorch and burn op while retreating."

"So they know they are losing and resort to _this?!"_ Cham hissed in fury.

"We can end this now, Syndulla." Windu said firmly. "You must come to an agreement with Free Taa and end the Separatist occupation of Ryloth."

Looking towards his people, Cham took several moments to process what needed to be done. Gritting his teeth a little, the Rebel leader swallowed a bitter pill. "Make the arrangements. I will speak to Senator Taa."

The trio made their way back to the war room as Mace called for the Twi'lek senator. By the time they made to their destination, Windu's holo-comm started beeping.

Whipping out the device, the hologram of Free Taa was shown.

" _Hello."_ Greeted Senator Taa. _"I believe you wanted to discuss something with me, Cham?"_

"I do, Senator Taa." Cham said in complete seriousness. "It is high time we liberate our planet and rid them of the Separatist scum."

Taa gave the resistance leader of his people a scrutinizing look. _"While I do trust the intentions of the Jedi and the Chancellor in freeing our people; how can I trust yours, Cham? For all I know, you will want to seize power after the battle."_

"Is the freedom and prosperity not enough for my people?!" Cham exclaimed angrily. "You are hypocritical with what you've just said from all the time I've known you. You only care for your own needs and tendencies, enjoying the spoils of Coruscant comfortably away from this war while I have been hearing fighting and bleeding with our people."

" _Must I remind you who leads our people-"_

"I know damn well, Taa. While you _lead_ on Coruscant, I've been leading our people here and now."

"Gentlemen." Steve sharply interrupted with a glare to both of them. "While you two are busy fighting each other over politics, innocent lives are being lost by the Separatists with bombing runs that is leaving Ryloth in ruins. Now isn't the time for this argument."

"Captain Rogers is right." Mace said, crossing his arms expectantly. "There will be nothing left to lead if you two refuse to work together." It was at this moment did Mace's wrist communicator start going off, to which the Jedi Master answered. "Yes, what is it?"

" _Skywalker here, Master."_ Anakin spoke up with signs of stress in his voice. _"My fighters are taking out the bombers as fast as they can. But there are just too many. I doubt we can stop them all by the time of the scheduled assault at the capital."_

"Do what you can, Skywalker." Windu instructed. "Keep those bombers away from the Twi'lek homes and away from our forces."

" _I'll do whatever I can."_

With the transmission ending, both Mace and Steve saw the two Twi'leks exchange a series of looks with each other.

"We… We must act quickly." Free Taa hesitantly said.

"Senator… It pains me to say this, but Cham's forces aren't fully on board with helping with the Republic." Windu said, drawing some confusion from the Senator.

" _What?"_ Free Taa exclaimed. _"Why not?"_

"They're afraid that there will be another military occupation from an outside force other than their own." Rogers explained. "They have had enough trouble when there wasn't one to begin with when the Separatists invaded in the first place, making them doubt the Republic will give a proper damn in properly helping once freed."

" _But the Republic will help them."_

"Not the way you're thinking, Senator Taa."

" _...You have my promise, Cham. Once the droid army leaves Ryloth, so too will the clones."_

"I'll be holding you onto that, Taa. I believe in democracy. Don't make me think that is wrong."

_-Scene Cut-_

"So what's the game plan, here Cap?" Sam asked as the entire current six Avengers stood around a holo-display of the city of Lessu.

"Our main focus is getting that bridge up first and foremost." Steve said, pointing to the bridge that connected Lessu to the mainland. "But there's still the Twi'lek villagers in the city which will no doubt be used as living shields."

"Then how can we keep them away from danger?"

"That's where you three come in." Steve said, looking to Hope, Scott and Pietro. "The three of you will need to keep the civilians safe while Rhodey, Sam and I keep the fight focused on us."

"You got it Cap."

Rogers nodded as he continued. "From what I was told from Cham's spies, there's a pair of transports coming from the southern base carrying treasure that's supposed to be taken off planet. Not just of material goods, but also their cultural significance."

"Damn, that's cold." Rhodey commented, earning similar reactions from the others. "It's not enough for the Seps to enslave and murder the Twi'leks but robbing them too."

"So we also need to keep those away from the city, then?"

"More or less, but keeping the people safe if our main priority. Once we get the drawbridge up, the rest of the Republic can come in to keep the Twi'leks safe."

The display soon changed to show the Avengers the strange alien they had seen from the last meeting.

"The one occupying the city might try to take them off planet prior to leaving. From what I read up on him, Wat Tambor won't make his escape without them; even when we make our assault."

"I'll get him." Pietro said determinedly. "He's mine."

"Hope and I can probably take the transports carrying the treasure." Scott offered. "Have the obvious best way of keeping them all safe."

"Is this just your convict side kicking back in again?"

"...Oh how you wound me, Hope. I can never think of such a thing. And I have you know, I only hacked into companies to expose them. I never rob them."

"Says the man hired to break into Pym's vault." Sam muttered out, earning a dry look from Scott.

"Alright, lovers quarrel aside." Steve cut in. "We all have our assignments. Keep the people safe, retrieve the treasure, get the drawbridge up and get Wat Tambor."

_-Scene Cut-_

The city of Lessu stood as the pinnacle and capital of the planet of Ryloth.

Built thousands of years ago, it has stood the test of time for the many millennia that has gone by since the birth of the Republic to the many wars and conflicts that had plagued the galaxy.

And once more, the city in its long history now finds itself under the control of a zealous war lord.

Wat Tambor had loaded another ship with the many treasures of this planet, dead-set on taking everything that this rock had to offer.

"Is that everything?"

"There's one last batch heading its way, sir."

"Good… Once it's here, I'll leave this rock."

" _Tambor."_ A sharp baritone voice said from behind the Separatist leader making the treasure hoarder whirl round to face the holo-transmission of the CIS leader Count Dooku. _"Why have you not yet evacuated the city and rendered it asunder?"_

"O-Our exit strategy is taking longer than planned, Count." Tambor stuttered out a response. "Rest assured, the Republic shall not hold this city by the end of the day."

Dooku wasn't having any of that. _"I want you out of this city before the Republic arrives. Once Windu and his forces arrive, I want this city bombed from afar. Am I understood?_

Wat Tambor was going to decline as he didn't know when exactly the Jedi general will arrive. Yet the tactical droid was the one to answer… for him. "Yes, Count Dooku."

Once the transmission ended, Tambor growled at the droid. "You will not do anything until _I_ give the order."

"We have our orders, Emir."

Over by the plasma bridge, a small group of B1 droids were making their rounds. Some patrolled around the natural Cliffside while others were walking about on the plasma surface.

Suddenly, an alarm went off causing the majority to halt their movements.

"They're deactivating the bridge." One B1 droid spoke out, quickly turning around and booking it. "Double time it, let's move."

Its fellow B1's responded and followed back towards the capital… all except one of them.

Either its hearing modules weren't working properly or was too stupid to realize what was happening.

It didn't matter as the moment the last of the retreating droids made it back to the Cliffside, the plasma bridge deactivated; causing the lone droid to lose it's footing on a solid surface-

"Wha-AAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!"

-resulting with it falling towards its demise.

This was all the Avengers saw from their hiding spots.

Steve kneeled down between some rock outcroppings overlooking the city bridge. Beside him were the assembled Avengers all looking out at the bridge.

"So, what should we do here Cap?" Sam asked. "That drawbridge is the only way to get to the city."

"Us flying overhead wouldn't exactly be covert." Rhodey commented.

Steve silently nodded, eyes trailing over the many armaments along the cliffs edge of the city.

"Comrades, I am detecting two transports along the Cliffside path." Tap, The Avengers AI spoke up.

All six turned to see two large Separatist convoys with several STAPs and droid units around it as they made their way to the bridge.

"There's your targets Scott, Hope."

"Righty-O!"

Both Ant-man and the Wasp quickly shrunk down and made their way towards the two transports, fulfilling their end of the plan.

Steve contacted Cham and Mace. "Generals, we have our way in. Sending in Scott and Hope now. Once you see the fireworks begin, that's the signal."

"Copy that, Captain Rogers." Mace said, riding atop an AT-RT with the rest of the 91st reconnaissance legion and the Twi'lek freedom fighters. "We wait on your end."

Steve looked back at the droid convoys that were now making their way across the bridge when he was contacted by Scott.

" _Man, Cap. This Tambor guy really likes his loot."_ Scott radioed in. _"Filled with all kinds of goods here."_

" _Maybe we could use that to our advantage."_ Hope spoke up.

"What do you have in mind, Hope?" Steve asked.

" _Replace the goods with our own. Once the transports are on the other side, we set them off to cause confusion. You guys swoop in and do your thing."_

"Sounds like a plan." Rhodey said in approval.

"Just be careful with the amount, you two. We don't want to end up hitting civilians by accident."

" _We got it, Cap."_

"Then we wait for your mark." Steve said.

Ending the transmission, the remaining Avengers had to sit and wait for what's to come.

Minutes have come and gone with the transports eventually made it from the cliffs to the plasma bridge. Neither Avenger from their hiding spot knew how long it would take for their comrades to finish their part of the plan. Especially since their binoculars can't exactly pick up on their forms, given their extremely small size.

The transports stopped midway across the bridge, the Droids moving in to inspect it. At first glance, it looked like a metal detector, but in actuality it was designed to detect living, breathing life forms.

As the pair of droids went to scan the first transport, neither noticed something coming out from the second one.

"So far, so good." Scott muttered out as he and Hope flew out of the small opening they made on the vehicle's rooftop.

"Just in time too."

One of the droids scanned the last transport, sending in the all clear signal.

The transports moved in and the drawbridge was deactivated.

"Here we go." Hope said, pressing down on a button on her wrist.

Just as the convoys made it up halfway to the entrance, both exploded from within in a fiery display stunning all droids and Twi'leks nearby.

"That's our cue." Steve said, having Rhodey grab his arms with Sam doing the same for Pietro.

"AVENGERS GO."

Sam and Rhodey flew towards the city at full speed while Wasp and Ant-Man began their own attacks on the many droids.

As they drew closer, War Machine and Falcon dropped Quicksilver and Cap with the two pairs launching their own attacks on the Seps.

Cap landed shield first through a super, flipping up to his feet and flinging his shield right into several Supers and B1s. The shield tore through their ranks while Cap engaged the droids in hand-to-hand combat.

Pietro spun at high speeds to slow his descent. In doing so, his form picked up high winds dragging in some Droids with a few being flung away and off into the bottomless cavern.

"Hope, get that bridge up!"

"On it, Steve."

Shrinking down, the Wasp flew through the air and zoomed past the incoming droids. Making it near the courtyard, she saw a doorway; prompting her to enter. Going up the flights of stairs, Hope soon found herself in the control room.

Growing back to normal size, the surrounding droids became startled by her sudden appearance.

"Hey! You're not authorized here!"

"Authorize this!"

Leaping into action, Hope grabbed hold of a nearby B1 and performed a judo throw. The act had the droid collide against another. The Wasp then fired off her wrist blasters to the ones still up in rapid succession before taking out the ones lying on the ground.

With them all taken care of, Hope made her way to the main console.

"Now how can I reactivate the bridge." She muttered, scanning the various buttons. Her eyes then landed on a particularly large lever. "It can't be that simple… Can it?"

Seeing the Rebel and Republic forces coming closer and closer to the Cliffside, Hope had no other choice but to quickly pull the lever.

The moment it was pulled up, the plasma bridge sprung to life. And not a moment too soon with their allies speeding across the energized surface.

"Heh~ Time to get back to the others." Just as she spun around, Hope saw droids starting to come up and enter the room. "Or maybe not."

Lifting up her wrists, she open fired upon the coming opposition.

Falcon and War Machine flew along the city walls, taking out the many battlements and forces situated atop them.

Diving in head first, Falcon bashed his wings against several B1s before recalling his wings into his pack and curling into a flip. A moment later he unfurled and planted his boots into the chest of a Super battle droid, his momentum and own force sending the droid right into the wall and shattering upon impact.

War Machine simply let his weapons take care of the action, choosing to land in between a particularly large group of droids.

Throwing up his arms, his shoulder mounted gun activating as well, War Machine unleashed a storm of metal and led tearing through the Droids.

Spotting some Droidekas rolling his way, Rhodey stopped firing and flew forward and grabbed one Droideka and violently threw it into another oncoming roller. With both of those destroyed, War Machine returned to the skies dropping a few farewell bombs to the ground.

Back with Cap, he grabbed a B1 by its lanky neck and forcefully slammed it to the ground. It broke apart in an instant while Cap held its head. Throwing it hard into the face of another, Cap ran forward towards a small group of droids.

Throwing his shield again, it bounced off the closest droid while he flipped through the air to dodge blaster fire. The shield returned to his hand which he then used to sweep another droid off its feet, cleaving it in two with a solid thrust to its chest.

For the resident speeder, he delivered a quick volley of punches and kicks at the many B1s. With them disoriented, Pietro occasionally threw many while sweeping their legs on others. With his momentum, he kept going at it with the Republic and Rebel forces coming in and helping take care of what he left behind.

The Republic forces in the meantime were sweeping up the remaining droids and tanks that remained, the rebel forces charging forward deeper into the city.

The Clones were destroying droids left and right along with Generals Windu and Di

"We got a ship airborne!" Clone Commander Ponds said aloud to any listening on the comms.

Looking up, they saw a small, Separatist ship taking off and flying away from the capital. "Can it be Tambor?"

"Might be… Coward probably running away from being captured."

Pressing his wrist communicator, Steve spoke. "Rhodey, Sam. Can you to take out that ship? We need Tambor alive."

" _You got it."_

" _Heading there as we speak."_

Both flyers of the Avengers stopped their assault near the capital and made their way towards the escaping space craft.

"Bombers on the left, Rhodey."

"I see 'em, Sam." The Colonel send, pivoting his path. "I'll hold them off, you get that ship."

"Copy that." Sam said, revving up the thrusters on his wing pack and accelerating forward.

Getting closer to the ship, Sam sent out a few miniature missiles and targeted specific parts on the ship to make sure it will fall but not crash upon impact.

The missiles landed on their intended hits, stifling the ships flight and beginning its downward path.

Getting closer, Sam flew towards the main cockpit and landed on top of the ship.

Peering in, Sam let out a slight curse upon seeing a tactical droid and not the intended objective.

" _Hey, Cap. Tambor's not here."_

"Whaddya mean?"

" _Seems what appears to be a tactical droid is here instead."_

"...Then where's Tambor?"

"I'll go find him." Pietro suddenly volunteered, zooming off and started his search for the Separatist leader.

The Sokovian ran through the many halls and climbed through several towers, finding no such luck in locating Tambor. The moment he descended from the last tower did he spot someone trying to run across the landing zone.

"Found him, guys."

Zooming in front of the Separatist leader, he halted his movements and scared the crap out of Wat Tambor.

"Going somewhere?"

"You!" Tambor said in utter fury. "You have made my hold over this planet a nightmare."

"Oh, thanks." Pietro said in a chipper tone. "I try, it's really a talent."

Before Tambor could respond, the sound of a humming lightsaber was heard behind him.

Turning around, Wat Tambor was met with the edge of a purple lightsaber under the owner of one Mace Windu.

"Wat Tambor. You are under arrest." Windu declared aloud. "Surrender now and you will be spared."

"General Windu, perhaps we could come to a compromise."

"How can we when I hold all the cards?" Windu said

"Seems my surrender will be unnecessary."

"How so?"

"As we speak, this city will perish under the glory of the Separatist Alliance."

Hearing Vulture droids in the air, Pietro turned around and saw a good number of them diving towards the capital. He thought things were going to be dire as neither Rhodey nor Sam will make it in time.

Suddenly, two Jedi Starfighters with a squadron of V-19's swooped by and destroyed the oncoming bombers.

"WHOA! That was close, Master!" Ahsoka cheerfully said with a smile on her face.

"Isn't it always, Snips?"

Looking back at Tambor, Pietro gave him a cocky smile. "You were saying?"

Soon enough, the rest of the Republic forces, freedom fighters and Avengers swarmed the area all surrounding Wat Tambor.

Cham went right up to Tambor, holding his blaster in his face.

"What are your terms for surrender?"

"They're unconditional."

"...Agreed."

With his weapon still aimed at the Separatist, Syndulla warmly smiled at the Sokovian. "Once again, I greatly thank you. To you, my friend, and to your fellow Avengers. Today, all of Ryloth gives thanks for your deeds."

"Dah, shucks Cham, you're making me blush." Pietro said jokingly, though his smile was genuine.

"Just another day saving the world, huh?" Scott said nudging the speedsters shoulder.

"You know it." Pietro said, grinning at the cheers of victory.

It felt like a flash as many of Ryloth's citizens came to the capitol, celebrating the liberation of their planet.

Clones and Freedom fighters were paraded around yet six individuals were missing.

Captain Rogers along with the other Avengers had decided to remain on the sidelines, not wanting to take away from the parade of freedom.

But it was not to last as many children and adults who recognized Pietro soon pulled him and the other Avengers into the parade.

Many cheered louder at their appearance with kids surrounding them all hoping to get a glimpse at one of the many heroes that saved their planet.

Some even had crudely put together versions of their suits, running around making play of their escapades.

All in all, it was just another day for the Avengers.

_-Scene Cut-_

Pietro had never experienced space travel before in his life. Then again, neither had most of the people on Earth for that matter. Quite literally a select few has had the privilege of space travel, his fellow Avengers Thor and Tony being some of the few.

But now here he was on a ship, travelling to another planet along with the rest of the Avengers.

When he first wound up on Ryloth after his last mission with the Avengers went sideways, the Sokovian was quite ecstatic -at first- of being on an alien planet. Why wouldn't he? Fulfilling a childhood-like dream, despite the circumstances upon his arrival.

Sure he was jipped in not _flying_ to Ryloth in the first place, but this was made up for after leaving the planet's surface and traveling across the stars, through hyperspace and made his arrival back to Coruscant for the first time.

"Man… here I thought New York was big." Pietro muttered out, seeing the planet-sized city as their transport descended from the clouds.

"I share your feelings quite well, Pietro." Hope said as they soon landed on a large platform.

"We all do, man." Sam added in with the other Avengers nodding in agreement.

"So where are we heading to now?" Inquired the speedster. "This Jedi Temple you guys talked about?"

"Not exactly." Steve said.

Pietro quirked a brow at Cap. "Where are we going then?"

Rhodey coughed into his hand. "Well, apparently, due to our heroic endeavors on Ryloth on top of what we've already done, some Senators are throwing a bit of a party in our honor."

"Really? A party? For us?" Pietro gushed. "Oh this day keeps getting better and better."

"Oh don't sound like a girl, Pietro." Hope chimed in. "It doesn't suit you."

"Yeah and don't hold your breath." Sam remarked dryly. "We're dealing with politicians here."

"With parties in the political variety, they would seem… exciting at first, but you'll grow bored and tired quickly."

"Take it from me." Rhodey added in. "it's not as fun as it seems to be."

Steve nodded in agreement, knowing full well how it was like after his first successful mission back in WWII which led to him forming the Howling Commandos. He was dragged into a party sometime after and even though he was at the center of attention, there was so much politics he could handle back then before wanting to up and leave.

"It can't be that bad?" Scott asked.

"Trust me Scott, you'll wish someone was shooting at you." Steve surprised the Ex-con. "It gets a bit... Annoying, would be putting it mildly."

"But it can't be all that bad." Scott said. "Senator Padme is the one hosting it. She even paid for us to get some new suits for this shindig."

The other Avengers stared blankly at Scott.

"Wait, what?" Sam said. "How the hell do you know that?"

"The pilot told me." Scott said, thumbing to where the pilot sat. "I asked him."

The team were all silent.

"Uh… guys? You alright?"

"...Moving on."

Soon after, the Avengers found themselves landing in a district they did not recognize.

However, who they did recognize was Senators Organa and Amidala awaiting their arrival being accompanied by C-3P0

"...Is it just me or is that Thor's girlfriend… or is it ex-girlfriend?" Pietro voiced out.

"Trust me, we all asked the same question." Wasp said, getting off their transport.

"Senators." Steve greeted them both.

"Come now, Captain rogers." Senator Amidala said kindly. "I think we are on a first name basis after everything you've done for us and the Republic. This little get together is in your honor after all."

"Right." Sam drawled. "Whose idea was this even?"

"Chancellor Palpatine more or less demanded it." Senator Organa answered with a joking grin. "He said something along the lines of this weighing on his consciousness for not being able to properly reward the valiant heroes that have been assisting the Republic these past few weeks."

Steve's lip twitched downward momentarily at the mention of the Chancellor yet it went unnoticed.

"Guess we can't reject such a party now if it's coming from the head of state." Steve said good naturedly.

"So why are we down here anyway?' Rhodey couldn't help but ask.

"Well to be perfectly honest, we have only seen you exclusively in your suits so to speak." Padme said. "And I don't think any of you packed some spare clothing when you accidentally came here."

With this point, the Avengers could not argue with as all they had on them were indeed their _super_ suits.

"So, with us providing you some additional clothing, consider it the least we could do in preparing you for the slog you are all about to undertake." Organa said both seriously and jokingly.

Accepting their offer, the Avengers spent an hour or two getting some clothing to continue their adjustments in this alien culture.

Soon after, they were now in Padme Amidala's personal home atop one of the many buildings of Coruscant.

Many senators were already there, one being Senator Riyo Chuchi who had brought her own buffet of food for the Avengers. There was also Senator Free Taa and Cham Syndulla as well, with the latter not feeling comfortable in such a particular party. The Rebel leader would rather be back home with his wife and daughter and have a quiet celebration.

However, the greatest surprise they found was Anakin Skywalker along with his Padawan Ahsoka and Obi-wan Kenobi.

"Hey, what are you three doing here?" Sam said in pleasant surprise as the Avengers entered Padme's home.

"Figured you wouldn't want to be alone up here without any trusted faces." Anakin said simply, grinning at the Avengers' attire. "Nice get up."

"Took after you guys." Rhodey said. "Pretty comfortable really."

The Avengers had taken to copying the usual clothing that the Jedi would normally wear in battle with their own adjustments to their individual sets and tastes. Obviously not taking on the robes, but more of the battle ready attire.

"Ah." Senator Free Taa spoke up, holding a glass in hand. "The conquering heroes have at long last arrived."

Many of the Senators either cheered, raising their own glasses or clapping towards the Avengers.

"Alright." Steve said in a low voice, putting on a polite persona. "Let's get this over with."

The Avengers walked forward and began to converse with the many Senators, each member basically having a collective surrounding them at all times.

Anakin watched from the sidelines with Ahsoka and Kenobi, all three not denying their amusement at seeing so many of the Avengers seemingly out of place save for Captain Rogers who appeared to take this all in stride.

"Anakin."

The Jedi turned to see his secret wife approaching them and had it not been for all present in the most literal sense, he would have swept her up into a loving embrace.

"Hey Padme." Anakin greeted casually.

"Obi-wan." Padme nodded kindly to the Jedi, the master nodding in turn. "And you must be Ahsoka Tano. Anakin has mentioned his new Padawan."

"I haven't had the pleasure of meeting you just yet after hearing Master Anakin talking about you so much."

"Surprised we haven't met sooner. I hope Skywalker is proving to be a good teacher like his master before him."

"He has his moments." Obi-wan said slyly making Anakin roll his eyes.

"Skyguy is the best teacher anyone could ask for." Ahsoka piped up with a proud smile.

Padme gave her secret husband an amused grin. "Skyguy?"

Anakin only groaned. "Ahsoka, why?"

Ahsoka only grinned sheepishly yet did not feel all too guilty about this little revelation.

"By the way." Padme said, now shifting about awkwardly. "Anakin, I had requested something from you earlier. Did you get it?"

Blinking, Anakin cringed internally at forgetting about this one little detail.

After hearing his secret wife's request, Anakin made his way towards his old protocol droid.

"Hey, 3P-O."

Turning his attention away from R2-D2, the droid addressed his maker. "Yes, Master Anakin?"

"I have a… _mission_ for you."

"A mission? For me?" The protocol droid voiced in surprise.

"I need you to fetch me a few things from the marketplace."

"Ah, of course."

"And I want R2 to come with you." Spoke the Jedi knight, pulling out several credit chits. Tossing them to the Astromech, who quickly caught them, Skywalker continued. "Just so you don't get swindled out there. And here's the list in case you forget."

R2 only beeped in reassurance as he and 3P0 departed from the party.

During the party, Pietro was beginning to feel really claustrophobic so he used his super speed to get to the balcony which was thankfully empty.

Or so he thought.

"Oh my, when Syndulla spoke on your speed, I thought it was an exaggeration."

Pietro groaned for the umpteenth time in this party. Talking to an obnoxious senator after senator left and right. He wished things were exciting and fun like he previously thought, yet like a monkey's paw, it got twisted around for some sick amusement.

"Um… Excuse me, Mr. Maximoff."

Sighing, Pietro turned around to address whoever this senator was when he found his voice being caught in his throat.

Standing before him was a young Senator, basically human in all but the vibrant ocean blue skin and weird getup all these senators seem to have.

Yet on her? On this one it looked exceptionally pretty.

"Sir?" She tilted her head at his prolonged silence.

Coughing into his hand, Pietro quickly cleared his throat. "O-Oh, sorry. Real sorry, you're um…"

"Oh, Riyo Chuchi." Chuchi said respectfully, giving a small cute smile as her hand was held out. "At your service."

Pietro had a bit of a perverted thought quite literally run through his mind in regards to the last comment.

Yet being a gentleman… well trying is more accurate in this case… he shoved such feelings and thoughts down and away.

"Pietro Maximoff." He introduced himself as he gently grasped her outstretched hand, brought it up to his lips and kissed her knuckles. "At… your service. I think. I don't know, I've never been to something like this really."

Chuchi only smiled at him as she retrieved her hand back. She had expected a handshake, but the action he gave was quite nice. "It's alright. It's honestly refreshing meeting someone who despises these gathering as much as I do. Though you do have good manners for a first timer here."

Pietro let out a sigh of relief. "You could thank Clint for that."

"Who?"

Pietro blinked. "Oh right, you wouldn't know him. Yeah, he's one of the original founding members of the Avengers before I joined."

"There were other Avengers before you?" Chuchi asked, now really curious about the team that had helped her in such a short amount of time.

"Oh yeah, Cap was part of the original six that made up the team." Pietro said, leaning back against the railing of the balcony as he listed them off. "There was Tony the Iron Man, Natasha the Black Widow, Clint Barton the Hawkeye, the Incredible Hulk, and the Mighty Thor."

"Grandiose titles." Chuchi noted.

"Oh you have no idea." Pietro said with a grin. "Most of them were just monikers on the field."

"So when was it that you joined?" Chuchi asked.

"Not that long ago really." Pietro said, idly looking up to the skies. "Think it's been about… six months since the Sokovian incident."

"Sokovian Incident?"

At the mention of his destroyed home, Pietro gained a downcast expression thinking about the destruction and near death experience.

"It's quite an experience that's not so grandiose on what almost lead up to our planet's demise."

Chuchi sensed the shift in mood. "If you do not wish to speak about it, you do not have to."

Pietro would normally wave it off, yet the more he thought on the matter the more depressed he got.

"My sister, Wanda, says it's good to talk about it. A means of relieving some pain here and there."

"There's no need for such a thing." Chuchi insisted.

"If it's not too much trouble, we can talk about it if you're up for it at a later time."

"I would like that, Mr. Maximoff."

"Please, Mr. Maximoff was my father. Call me Pietro." Came a cheeky response.

Chuchi smiled, glad to see the cocky grin that seemed to define his persona back.

'Maybe this party might not be so bad after all.' Came the unknowingly shared thought between them.

"So~ how did a young lady such as yourself become a Senator?"

_-Scene Cut-_

Palpatine was alone in his office, reclined in his seat while it was turned towards the window of the room that had a full view of the cityscape of Coruscant.

He was invited to join the party Senator Amidala was hosting for the Avengers, but he gave the excuse in not attending.

It was for several reasons, actually.

One was because of what he dreaded more than anything else in his life: paperwork. So much of it came across his desk, giving him constant headaches daily. Makes him wish he stayed as Naboo's senator instead of becoming Chancellor of the Republic.

The other reason was something that's been on his mind for quite some time now…

'The Avengers...' Palpatine internally mused with an irritated thought.

The more he thought about them, the more a feeling of anxiousness begin to grow in the back of his mind.

They were an unpredictable element. They operated outside the flow and the will of the Force. During his one interaction with their leader were a group not easily corruptible if at all as the man proved to be more keen in his observations then he appeared to be.

And their numbers were growing.

At an alarming rate in the Dark Lords' mind.

Their most recent finding, this Quicksilver, moved at speeds beyond anything he had seen. He had seen footage of Maximoffs skills when Scott Lang, the Ant-man, showed them of some of their past exploits on his peculiar device. More of his skills became more profound upon reading the reports of the time when Ryloth's Republic forces were blacked out and suffice to say, Sheev was quite astounded.

Especially with Pietro supposedly making a tornado with just his speed alone!

Then of course there were those two that shrunk both themselves and other objects with ease and it appears that due to their shrunken state they gained superhuman strength and agility.

The soldiers of the team were not to be scoffed at either with War Machine living up to the name as being a literal war machine, being able to single handedly decimate legions of droids in an instant all by himself. Even holding against his own against the infamous Mandalorian nightmare, Durge, to a possible stalemate.

That winged individual Falcon proved to be just as effective as the rest of his teammates, coupling his wingsuit and weapons with his own martial skill that had taken out many droids all by himself.

And then, there was their leader. Captain Rogers proved to be a man whose skills matched, if not exceeded that of many Jedi Masters and extremely skilled mercenaries. And that was only his combat prowess. That shield of his was unlike anything he had ever seen, seemingly indestructible; given what he read in the reports. From deflecting and holding against blows of a lightsaber to even powered tank rounds with no signs of a scratch.

But to Palpatine, that was not his greatest _asset_.

No, it was the Captain's unwavering determination and natural charisma that drew in all to his cause that may prove to be a greater danger to Palpatine's plans.

He had at first hoped that these Avengers were nothing more than a brief appearance, a farce of the Force.

Yet seeing and hearing about their unbelievable and miraculous exploits began to weigh on Palpatine's mind.

The Force was not helping either as _every single_ Force sensitive felt the seismic quake that signaled their arrival to the galaxy.

These Avengers were not to be underestimated and if they were to begin to influence those around them, must be dealt with quickly.

Standing up out of his chair, Sidious walked out of his office and pressed a panel on the wall of the hallway leading out of the Chancellors' cabinet.

A wall leading into a darkened room opened with Palpatine entering and quickly changing his Sith robes, throwing his hood over his face.

Starting up the holo-communications, Sheev Palpatine, Darth Sidious, was met with the holographic form of his Sith Apprentice, Darth Tyrannus, otherwise known as Count Dooku.

" _What is it you need, my Master?"_

"We have much to discuss, my Apprentice." Sidious spoke in slow, measured words. "On the matter of a new growing threat."

Dooku had an inkling of an idea as to what his master spoke of.

" _The Avengers, my Master?"_

Sidious nodded. These Avengers, are beginning to prove more dangerous than we had anticipated. They are a growing presence we cannot ignore. In a short amount of time, they have aided in the Republics victories with quick and decisive actions that have won the day in a matter of _minutes_."

" _That is indeed troubling."_

"Which is why we must adjust our plans further than we previously expected."

" _Master, are you certain of this?"_ Dooku asked, clearly concerned on the matter. _"This may draw unwanted attention upon us when we least need it."_

"Not if we are more careful in our coming actions."

" _I agree with you Master."_ Dooku said. "Yet why must we act now?"

"These Avengers are proving to be unpredictable and dangerous." Sidious explained. "They exist outside the Force therefore their actions can never truly be predicted. If we are to counter their growing numbers, be sure to up the training on _them_."

" _Of course, my Master."_

"I am counting on you, My Apprentice." Sidious said sternly. "The Sith's plan enacted by Darth Bane shall not undone by some super charged freaks from a backwater planet. The Jedi and the Republic will fall. And these Avengers shall do nothing but fall with them should they continue to stand against us."

Dooku only bowed his head once more in compliance.

The transmission ended, making Palpatine change out of his Sith attire and back into his facade in order to resume his dreaded paperwork before going back to his home for some needed rest.

The matter of the Avengers will be dealt with in time.

_-Scene Cut-_

In another part of the planet sized city, a small transport made its way towards a secluded area where neardowells and miscreants reside. A place bordering Coruscant's underworld and the main business districts.

Once the ship landed, a door opened up with a small ramp sliding out and connecting with the ground. Stepping out, a blue skinned Durosian male wearing something reminiscent to an Earthean Western attire inspected the area.

"This job better be worth it."

Following behind him were a small assembled squad consisting of an IG-86 sentinel droid, a pair of BX Commando droids, a small techno-service droid, a purple-skinned Patrolian male with a cybernetic eye, a Weequay male, an ivory white skinned near-human female with a high ponytail and an orange skinned, black haired female Zabrak with several small horns coming out of her forehead.

Turning around, the Durosian eyed his party. "Alright, people. You know your jobs for this little _errand_ of ours. You know your roles. Survey the assigned areas and track down our target _immediately_. Others restock our supplies for the return flight back to our employer. Most likely this job won't be simple as we were told first hand."

It was the ivory white, near-human female who spoke up next. "So expect us to immediately get into another job as soon as we're done with our current one. Ain't that right, Cad?"

"Right you are, Aurra."

The assembled group gave their respective nods and beeps respectively as they all went their separate ways.

**WOOOOO We're getting close to the end of season 1 everybody.**

**Hold on because we're just about finished here and then come the gap and the start of season 2!**

**Jebest4781: Chapters within a span of days, man we are on a roll baby!**

**Free Man Writer: You got that right! Jesus my fingers are crackling with energy. Pretty sure by months end and December's beginning, Season 1 and the gap will be all but finished.**

**Jeb: And boy things will be rolling with what we got planned for ya'll.**

**FMW: Too much content and ideas to think of. So much with the old Sith and Jedi and Mandalorians and the larger MCU. When I said that this will be a large project I wasn't kidding around.** **Well, all in all, this has been an extremely productive few days on my story with the Ryloth arc well and done. One more episode down and then season 1 is done. We'll do a catch up on Earth as well as a breather for the current Avengers and we'll go from there people.**

**Jeb: After the little filler, we'll transition into what we planned for Season 2 onwards. And suffice to say, both of us are quite excited on the coming changes.**

**FMW: Also, read J's story on A Song of Fire, Ice and Hearts. We're working damn hard on the story and it's something like I said before we both have our own variations of.**

**So other than that my friends, until next time.**

**Rate Read and Review and as Always Have Nice Day.**


	18. Hostage Crisis

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alright so Ryloth Arc is all said and done, we are now onto the last stretch of season 1. Jebest4781 and I have been on a fiery role these past few chapters and we wanna get as much shit done as possible before that eventually burns out hits cause we both know it's coming.
> 
> That's right everyone, it's time for the Bounty Hunters to make their move.
> 
> So I guess some people may find it a surprise to have only six Avengers at the end of season 1 and not the entire set of nine that we got at the beginning.
> 
> Well guess what? That was the plan all along! Then again others aren't as surprised. Well, when I look at the reviews, it's mostly the bated anticipation of eventuality. The eventuality of all the Avengers, including the past members making their way into the story.
> 
> And man, let me tell ya something just talking about what is to come is lighting a fire under my ass like no other. I want to get to those eventual scenes and galaxy shattering revelations SO BADLY.
> 
> But as the saying goes, good things come to those who wait.
> 
> And since we've already bitten into a large chunk of the Clone Wars, we're beginning to get to the good stuff.
> 
> Only this chapter left along with the three in between for the gap until we reach season 2.
> 
> Now though, it's getting more planned out with lockdown scene being planned with the path getting their being the improvised aspects.

**Rate Read and Review and as Always Have Nice Day.**

Avengers Infinite Wars Chapter 18: Hostage Crisis

"Where's Pietro?" Sam asked from his seat, watching Steve and Anakin engage in a sparring match.

Steve deflected a punch Anakin flung at him and shoved him back with palm strike to the opposite shoulder.

"Not sure." Steve answered, moving on the offensive against Anakin. "I think he just ran off, something about exploring."

"You sure that's a good idea?" Anakin asked, grunting slightly as once again his attack was deflected by Steve. Fighting without a lightsaber was proving to be exceptionally more difficult than he had anticipated. Then again, he was dealing with a master Mix-martial artist with many years of combat under his belt.

"He could get lost for all we know. It's a big city sector, let alone a city-sized planet."

"Or run into more trouble." Sam stated before noticing a bit on Skywalker's form. "Keep your footing more lose, Anakin. You're keeping yourself to boxed in."

"How the heck do you guys switch up so easily?" Anakin questioned, getting his arm caught by Steve suddenly which resulted in him getting thrown to the ground. "Ow~ That's gonna hurt later."

"Sorry about that." Steve said, helping the Jedi up to his feet. "You were wide open."

"See, that's what I keep saying." Ahsoka said from her spot next to Rhodey, Obi-wan and Aayla Secura.

"Hey now, you didn't even last a second against Cap." Rhodey reminded her with a wry grin making the young Padawan puff her cheeks out and crossed her arms in a huff.

"These fighting techniques are certainly impressive." Kenobi noted. "From what Cody has told me, what little instruction you have been able to give them has begun to spread around to other Clone legions."

"Honestly, Cap should have a book already on combat." Sam said, leaning back against the bleacher-esque curved stone.

It was a surprisingly mundane day for the Avengers and the Jedi which was considerably rare to say the least. With war raging on and the galaxy in a state of turmoil, one would think that finding a moment's rest would be extremely difficult.

Yet, thankfully the past two days were given to the Avengers, the Jedi and their Clones as days for respite.

That wasn't the case now however as Steve wanted to use one of these days to begin familiarizing himself with the Lightsaber forms of the Jedi. Aayla had made a promise from before and what started as a small lesson between the two turned into a small gathering of sparring matches.

An exchange so to speak between the Avengers and the Jedi.

Ahsoka wanted to have a go at it, but found herself getting tossed down faster than she could blink.

The young Jedi was very agile and had more speed than Anakin perhaps but, she still had a long way to go if she were to catch up and match her master.

Obi-wan proved to be a more adept fighter yet even still he found Steve's speed and skills comparable to his own.

Aayla was surprisingly much more in tune with hand-to-hand combat and was able to keep up with Steve on a few occasions yet his enhanced physiology and own experiences outdid hers over time.

Anakin was without a doubt the most eager to learn and grasped certain techniques faster than others however even he knew when he was outmatched.

Sam and Rhodey were the constants in giving the Jedi all fair fights, with a few times where they were indeed beaten but Steve was a prodigious fighter unto himself.

The Force was a huge help in the Jedi being able to match Steve's blows but his super-human strength, speed, reflexes, movements and martial prowess combined proved to be too much for the Jedi.

Now that wasn't to say this was a one-sided contest.

The Avengers were adamant in learning the ways of the lightsaber or at least get an understanding of it.

Which in turn lead to Sam humorously asking. "So… the Force. Do we need to learn?"

It was a slower process for them seeing that they did not have the Force at their disposal.

So the typical "Stretch out with your feelings and let the Force flow through you" shtick wasn't gonna cut it. They were gonna have to get creative with how they taught them.

A lesson Aayla took with great gusto which was soon spread to Anakin and Obi-wan as they appeared to greatly enjoy the challenge of teaching non-force users the ways of the Lightsaber forms.

To them, it was a brand new experience and perspective about being a Jedi.

And speaking of being a Jedi…

"Man, how do you guys use this whole Force mumbo jumbo?" Rhodey said, wielding a practice saber. "Is it like magic?"

At that comment, Anakin and Ahsoka chortled while Aayla and Obi-wan shared amused grins. This was a common phrase they have heard many times over in their travels across the galaxy for those uninformed in the larger goings on of the galaxy.

"In a way." Obi-wan said. "I don't think we really explained how the Force works in the time we've all spent together."

"I don't think we ever had the time, really." Sam wryly commented, making Anakin snigger.

"Good point. We have been a bit _busy_ so to speak."

"Master T'ra Saa told me a bit about the Force." Steve spoke up, recalling his brief conversation when he first met the Neti Jedi Master. "It's the source of your powers, right?"

Obi-wan nodded in confirmation.

"The Force flows through everything you see and can't see. From the trees and plants growing in the gardens, to the very ships in the sky, the Force is ever present in the galaxy and we the Jedi are one of many of its practitioners."

"There are others?" Steve said in interest.

"Yes." Aayla said. "As a matter of fact, this war that we currently wage was orchestrated by the ancient enemy, the Sith."

"The Sith?" Rhodey said in confusion.

This in turn lead to the Jedi exchanging slightly surprised looks.

"Wait, none of you have ever heard of the Sith?" Ahsoka asked in complete surprise. "You've been here the whole time and nobody's ever told you about them yet?"

The present Avengers only shook their heads in the negative.

"It appears we have failed to keep our guests fully informed." Obi-wan said lightly.

"So~" Sam said, leaning forward with intrigue. "The Sith...?"

"Yes, right." Obi-wan nodded. "The Sith: the ancient, old enemy of the Jedi order. Our conflict with these adversaries dates back farther than the order can properly remember. Almost 7000 years perhaps. Maybe even further. And they had been the one of the constant sources of strife, war and conflict for the galaxy all due to their undying hatred of the Jedi."

"Jeez, talk about a grudge match." Sam murmured.

"Indeed." Kenobi said. "We had thought the Sith extinct over a thousand years ago after the seventh and final battle of Ruusan."

"But we were foolish in this belief." Aayla surprised those present with her rather blunt take on the fact that the Jedi were indeed ignorant of the Sith's apparent survival.

"And now, the Sith have come back." Anakin said in a slightly dark tone. "Plaguing the galaxy with war and their lust for power."

Sam, Steve and Rhodey were relatively silent taking in this news with stoicism. If they were honest, the three of them had long since taken many things with a grain of salt.

When best friends with a narcissistic billionaire who just so happens to be one of the smartest men on Earth with many worlds views, those perspectives of looking at conflicts on many sides tend to rub off on you.

With Cap and Sam, the disillusionment with SHIELD and the establishments they had once served and worked for made them widened their world view, making sure that they knew all of the facts before coming to a decision.

Both Sam and Steve locked eyes, a silent message being shared between the two meaning that they weren't getting the full picture.

"So if these Sith guys are back, who is the head honcho?" Sam inquired.

"That's just it." Kenobi said with a frown. "We don't know."

"You don't know?" Rhodey said, unsure of whether he heard correctly.

"All we know is that the Sith lord is associated with Count Dooku." Anakin stated.

"And from the time spent being his prisoner before the start of the war, he mentioned the possibility of a Sith lord being a Senator. An infiltrated Sith within the Republic itself." Kenobi added as an afterthought yet that was more than enough to get sharp looks from the Avengers, especially from Sam and Steve.

"What did you just say?" Steve asked lowly in a tone that surprised the Jedi.

They had never heard the Captain speak in this kind of manner.

"Are you sure that's what he said?" Sam asked. "This Dooku guy said that there could be this Sith in the Senate?"

"What do know about it?" Rhodey asked grimly. "Did you investigate this?"

The Jedi were greatly put off by this sudden string of rather interrogational questions. In the short time they had gotten to know the Avengers, these heroes had proven to be a variety of things as their members have all come from different walks of life with different experiences that shaped and molded them into the men and women they are today. Their personalities were distinct from one another, managing to work as a cohesive unit despite their differences.

However this was the first time any of them had seen a kind of focused intensity after learning of something that they had not known before.

This reaction was rather… unnerving.

However before their conversation could make any headway, Grandmaster Yoda arrived into the training room.

"Found you I have, Master Kenobi." Yoda said in his usual speech pattern.

"Master Yoda." Obi-wan turned to greet the leader of the Jedi. "You were looking for me?"

"Indeed, master Kenobi." Yoda said. "A meeting, the council has called. Your presence necessary. As is yours, Skywalker."

Both selected Jedi glanced at one another, subtly looking back to the Avengers before acquiescing to Yoda's summons and departing.

This left Aayla and Ahsoka feeling a bit awkward at being left behind after their conversation was essentially cut off.

"Uh…" Ahsoka didn't really know what to say here. "I've… gotta go pick up on my studies."

She wasn't necessarily lying about that. Anakin had spoken of helping her study up on the Force as he had been curious about a Force ability for a while now, so the two of them would be able to learn together.

Really, she kinda felt a bit terrible and weird in leaving the Avengers after that serious mood shift.

Sam and Rhodey themselves felt extremely sheepish in how they basically aggressively interrogated the Jedi on the comment of the Sith being in the Senate.

Then again, who could blame them after what had happened recently on earth a year ago.

The two were about to depart when Aayla walked up to Steve.

"Steve." Aayla said softly. "Will you please accompany me to the library?"

Steve blinked, looking at the Twi'lek Jedi in surprise before glancing over to his friends who simply shrugged in a silent answer of them not really knowing what to do here.

"Sure." He responded after several seconds.

Walking off with Aayla, Sam and Rhodey stared at their retreating forms.

"So… did we come on to hard with that?" Rhodey asked.

"Maybe."

Aayla and Steve walked side by side in silence, with both looking straight ahead.

And the hallway was completely empty.

He was having a bit of an odd, indescribable feeling in regards to having the urge to shove his head in his hands, sit down and stay like that for a while.

Where in the hell did that outburst come from?

"Something is bothering you, Captain Rogers." Aayla said calmly.

Steve winced, finding it strange and uncomfortable at someone he considers a friend using such a formal title.

"Yeah." Steve said in a low voice. "Clearly that's the case."

"Would you care to tell me about it?" Aayla asked now looking to him.

Before he knew it, she had lead him to a door that opened up to a small chamber with the shades down and two ottomans situated in the center.

Aayla walked right in and sat herself down on one of the ottomans with her legs crossed, looking to Steve with a patient expression.

Recognizing the wordless invitation, Steve entered the room and sat across from her through he kept his legs to the ground instead.

"You are troubled, Steve." Aayla said, this time using his name. "Though the Force does not dwell within you, that does not prevent my empathic abilities from detecting your feelings."

"Was I that easy to read?" Steve said wryly, though he knew his change in tone back with the others was the most obvious thing anyone could see.

"There is a story I am missing here." Aayla said. "One we all are unaware of when we were in that training room."

"More than you know." Steve murmured, eyes gazing down to the ground.

Aayla leaned forward slightly. "What was it, Steve?"

He was silent, not answering at first.

"I do not wish to impose upon you, Steve." Aayla said softly.

Steve remained silent, resting his arms on his knees while lacing his fingers together.

Aayla also held her silence, waiting for Steve to respond.

The two remained this way for what felt like an eternity when it had only been a long, drawn out minute.

Aayla exhaled afterwards and opened her mouth to talk…

"It's been rather difficult, to be honest."

Steve speaking made Aayla clamp her mouth shut, relaxing slightly at hearing the man talk.

"I… think I talked about this with Sam, Fury and Nat."

She wasn't really sure what he was referring to but opted to simply let him speak.

He then chuckled. "I don't think it counted with Tony considering the way he talks in general."

His right hand began grazing over his left arm, feeling out his uniform.

"When I woke up from 70 years of being under ice, I woke up to a world I didn't recognize. The world was at war when I went to sleep. I wake up, they tell me won without mentioning what we lost. And not just in terms of men. I woke up to a world that had moved on without me and was trying to keep itself from falling apart. Least, that's what it seemed to me."

He smiled slightly.

"For as long as I could remember, all I ever wanted to do what was right." Steve said reminiscently. "Things were a lot more clear cut. Now I don't know what that is anymore. Even with the Avengers. I thought by serving, helping everyone I can with the institution that essentially made me I could find my place in the world again. But I realized it wasn't the same. The very same entity I fought in a war to destroy due to their sinister and dictatorial nature not only survived, but thrived. Infecting countless countries and militaries including the very organization that oversaw the world's safety. When we revealed the truth, the world had to figure out how to recuperate while the Avengers picked up the slack. And since then… it's just been one day after another."

Steve let out a tired sigh.

"And then Obi-wan mentions this Sith lord apparently infiltrating the senate." Steve said. "Something that Sam and I with Nat dealt with personally."

"You dealt with this situation before?" Aayla asked in curious intrigue.

Not seeing any reason to withhold this little tale, Steve recounted last year's event on his home world with the revelation of HYDRA being SHIELD itself, plotting a half century plan of complete global control that would have come to light had it not been for the literal last minute interventions of Cap and his team.

He spoke on their algorithmic plan of culling selected individuals that while seem non-threatening to HYDRA at the time, may prove to be so later on down the line simply because the algorithm they had assumes this possibility. They were not taking chances, hoping to eliminate essentially free thinkers, idealists, heroes, Avengers (Obviously), teachers, policemen. Even those who were living in a rut would be targeted just because their algorithm deems them a _possible threat._

As he spoke, Aayla suddenly began to feel a strange… reverberation. The Force… it was reacting to Steve's words, his mood, his story. Since when is that possible?

She then felt a cold sweat of foreboding fall from her brow and lekkus but it was gone just as quickly as it came.

What in the world was that?

The Force… was that a warning?

"Aayla?"

The Twi'lek Jedi realized she had not responded to Steve who had finished his story.

"I'm sorry, Steve." Aayla said, frowning at him. "I sensed a disturbance in the Force."

Steve wasn't exactly sure as to what that meant but he had heard from the other Jedi about the Force giving them a sense of foresight, slight inclinations or "feelings" that can forewarn them of an incoming threat. It's why they are able to deflect blaster bolts in the heat of battle.

"What was it?" Steve asked.

Aayla didn't answer at first, trying to figure out just what it was that caused such a reaction. When she thought about it, all she could remember was Steve speaking of HYDRA and their infiltration of this SHIELD organization and parasitic takeover.

Now, she was getting a migraine headache.

"Apologies, Steve." Aayla said with a downcast expression, hand going up to her head. "I guess… I don't know, I suddenly feel rather overwhelmed. Learning of your past endeavors with this HYDRA you spoke of left me a bit exhausted. I am unclear as to why."

Steve took a moment to look over the Jedi knight and found her words not untrue. She did look very tired and it did appear out of the blue, pun not intended.

What the hell happened?

"Maybe you should go rest then." Steve suggested. "Actually, just go rest. You're not looking to good right now, Aayla. Looking rather pale, I think."

Aayla only nodded, getting up from her seat with Steve standing beside her.

"I'll return to my room well enough, Steve." Aayla said, giving him a reassuring smile.

"Be that as it may, I follow and old school gentlemanly belief of escorting a lady in need to her room." Steve said in good humor.

Aayla only laughed slightly. "Very well. Would you kindly escort this weary lady to her quarters?"

"I will do so gladly." Steve said in an exaggeration tone making Aayla laugh once more.

Hopefully this time of rest will help her think clearly on what was told to her. Once clarity hits, she'll inform the Council on Steve's story as it seems relevant with Obi-wan's proclamation at the Clone War's beginning.

_-Scene Cut-_

"Jeez, how big is this damn place?" Pietro said aloud in the center of what appeared to be a large marketplace.

"Well the city is one big planet from what everyone at the temple says." Scott Lang said, munching on… something. Whatever it was, it was edible.

Not to mention he wasn't dying from partaking the fruit… or vegetable… hard to really tell.

"Feels like I could get lost here forever." Pietro said, the two walking in a random direction. "By the way, where's Hope? Did you invite her to come with us?"

Scott shrugged. "I did, but she said that she needed to start recreating the Pym particles. Our suit functions are fine but when we'll need to make more for our equipment and vehicles we've been collecting."

"Don't you need like some stable lab to make that?" Pietro asked, eyeing some of the establishments and trying to take a wild guess as to what they may serve.

"Yeah, so trying to figure out that bit." Scott said. "But the Jedi are helpful. They're pulling a few strings, seeing if a lab of sorts could be made."

"Doesn't that need money?" Pietro inquired. "Feels like we're taking advantage of them."

"Well, thanks to Tap and us selling some of our Earthan ideas, we've recently gotten a bit of a steady credit income." Scott said.

"Wait, what? How?"

"Billiards is spreading rapidly and the music we've all got." Scott said, finishing his meal. "Since they've never heard of Queen, ACDC, Zeppelin and a whole bunch of our music, it's selling like gangbusters. Tap has been busy."

"It's a good thing we have Tap." Pietro said. "Most of this money talk goes right over my head."

"You and me both, Pietro."

The two continued to explore the area when they rounded a corner to a district filled with bars.

"Hey, is that Pietro?"

Blinking, Pietro whirled round and saw a large group of Clones.

Some of which had a few familiar tattoos, armor and hairstyles that he had gotten to know well enough back on Ryloth.

"Hey!" Pietro exclaimed boisterously. "Grit! Sixer! Mork!"

"I still hate that name." Said clone named Mork said with an annoyed twitch of his brow yet he still grinned along with the rest of his brothers.

"What are you guys all doing here?!" Pietro said, walking over to them. "It looks like practically everyone from the 71st is here."

"Granted shore leave." Grit answered raising a glass of alcohol. "General Di and Captain Keeli are having a discussion with other Jedi generals. Since our legion took such a hit, but held on in Ryloth we're regrouping and trying to figure out our next course of action."

"Well you guys deserve a nice needed break." Pietro said happily. "I know how annoying I can be."

The Clones around them laughed, knowing full well how much of a character Pietro is due to the pranks and mischief he pulled on Ryloth. As much as that planet was a struggle to stay alive, Pietros light hearted nature along with his unyielding determination helped the legion and their freedom fighting comrades push through the struggle.

"So, everyone." Pietro threw his arm around his fellow Avenger. "This is Scott Lang, also called the Ant-Man. He's a good friend of mine and also a member of the Avengers."

"Nice to meet you all." Scott said pleasantly.

"Yeah, speedy here mentioned you before." Sixer said, gesturing his head at the speedster. "Talked about all of you guys."

"So, we gotta know." Mork propped his arms on the table they were all seated at. "How much of Maximoff's stories are legit and how much of it is poodoo."

"Huh." Scott mused aloud, seating himself down along with Pietro as more Clones surrounded them now curious as they had all been listening to the conversation. "Well that depends. _How_ crazy are we talking here?"

"Something about a couple of scrap droids being thrown together and made the size of a small starship." A random clone brought up.

"Oh, Ultimo!" Scott recalled the literal last mission before they ended up in this galaxy. "Yeah, that was true."

"Wait, what?!" Grit said in slight awe. "Are you serious? You guys fought a giant droid?"

"Yeah, it was the size of a building." Scott confirmed. "Geez that was insane."

Now the Clones all began to find their spots as they were intrigued at what other tall tales Pietro spoke of might be true.

Scott and Pietro themselves got a bit more comfortable. They knew they were probably going to be here a while.

_-Scene Cut-_

"We're all set here, Cad."

"Good, let's begin."

Cad Bane, famed Bounty Hunter of the Outer-rim rode alongside his entourage for this particularly risky mission.

"Remember." Cad spoke, his baritone voice vibrating. "Our mission is clear. We get Ziro the Hutt, no need for anymore unnecessary attention because we're already getting ourselves right in the Republic's face for this."

"How exactly are we getting this Hutt?" The Female Zabrak said in a slightly bored tone.

"Leave the negotiations to me, Shataan." Cad said confidently. "Just make sure that everything remains secure when we begin."

The transport dropped off one of their members, Aurra Sing on a building adjacent to their destination.

The Senate building.

Their ship descended down to one of the many landing bays of the building, the group of Bounty Hunters being met with the Blue Senate Commandos that guarded the establishment.

"Let me take care of this." Cad Bane said to the group. "I've got a penchant for these types of greetings."

Hopping out from the ship, Cad Bane went up to the Senate Guards with a few trailing their weapons on them.

"Identify yourselves." The Head Guard demanded. "What business do you have here?"

"Business with the Senate, gentlemen." Bane plainly informed. "Now that that's been established, kindly move aside so we may conduct ourselves."

The Head Guard on the other hand was not so foolish and recognized Bane for what he was.

"Down on your knees, Bounty Hunter scum." The Guard said scathingly. "This isn't the Outer Rim."

"Oh." Bane mocked. "Smarter then you look, son. How about this then? Don't do anything to hasty now."

"You're outnumbered, bounty hunter." The Head Guard said. "Even with that backu-AURGH!"

"Captain!"

The landing bay descended into momentary chaos as Aurra Sing from her balcony sniped several guards in rapid succession with the rest of the Bounty Hunters engaging the rest of the guards.

It was over in a matter of seconds, the guards all being killed off in an instant.

Seeing that the platform was secure, Bane -knowing Aurra was watching him through her scope- waved her down.

He then approached the transport he had arrived on and stared at Shataan who sat in her seat, leaning against the edge with a bored expression.

"So glad you that you helped us out there, Shataan." Cad said sarcastically with an annoyed glare.

"You had it handled." Shataan plainly replied. "Besides, I'm not one for overkill. You all just jumped in like it a warzone. This mission requires discretion until the time is right, if you recall."

If Cad had pupils, he'd be rolling them right now.

Aurra Sing joined the group on the platform a short moment later with the two IG-droids and Robonino that had also been recruited for this job.

"You two…" Cad pointed to the two Commando droids. "Get those uniforms on and clear this platform now."

Moving to the dead guards, the group heard one of the comms go off.

" _Base to platform."_ A male voice chimed in from the other end. _"What was all that? Report."_

The Droid that knelt down to the dead guard raised the comm to its head, changing its voice.

"Protestors against the war." The Droid said in a perfect human voice. "We've taken care of them."

"Oh yeah, totally." Shataan dryly remarked, surveying the corpses on the platform.

The Bounty Hunters watched as the droids quickly got the uniforms on while getting the bodies into a pile.

"Can anyone explain to me how those commando droids fit in to that armor?" Shataan inquired, trying to figure out that question for herself. "They're walking sticks. Where did they get the extra mass?"

"Do you really want someone to answer that?" Aurra asked in boredom. "Cause then we'd be here all day."

"Save it you two." Cad cut in. "We've got a job to do and we need to see it done. Make sure you clear this platform. The rest of you, follow me."

The Bounty Hunters soon entered the Senate building, prepared for anything yet unaware of one element within the building.

Anakin Skywalker was currently reclined against a chair within Senator Amidala's office.

His wife dutifully tapped away at a document she had been working on while her husband lounged about in front of her.

"You seem relaxed." Padme noted earning a shrug from Anakin.

"The Jedi council has seen fit to award me, my Padawan and my legion shore leave for the next two weeks." Anakin said. "I've got a good reason to be relaxed."

"Though not entirely." Padme said, looking away from her work to eye her husband who stared right back at her before slumping a moment later.

"What's bothering you Ani?" Padme asked softly, getting up from her seat and walking over to him. "You've been incredibly on edge these past few weeks. For that matter, every Jedi I've seen seems to share this feeling."

"Is that obvious?" Anakin asked with a grimace.

"Ani." Padme said expectantly, placing her hands on his cheeks and staring deeply into his eyes. "Talk to me."

Anakin stared back at his wife, his robotic hand clutching her wrist gently before letting out a slightly defeated sigh.

"Can't keep anything from you, even if I tried." Anakin said with good humor, Padme smirking at him in return.

Standing up from his seat, Anakin pulled her into a loving embrace inhaling her scent and feeling himself relax simply being with her.

…

"The Force has been unpredictable." Anakin spoke up after several moments of silence. "The constant shifts and changes. They've been a bit disruptive to say the least. Meditating could only do so much. It's like we've lost our way of proper communicating with the Force. It just… comes in whenever there's brief moments of clarity."

"Do you see anything in those moments?" Padme asked, head leaning against Anakin's shoulder.

Anakin remained silent.

"Anakin?"

"I saw…" Anakin tried to properly describe it. "The Darkness. The Darkness and the Light. Both being torn asunder by something I couldn't see. And it was so weird. I thought that I would be filled with terror at seeing the Force seemingly get ripped to shreds but I felt clarity. Like I saw the Force in its entirety not just those two defined aspects. And then it's gone, back into the swirling storm."

Padme remained quiet, allowing Anakin to speak in his entirety feeling her husband's arms slightly hold her closer without making her uncomfortable.

"Honestly, the Council and many other Jedi are growing concerned." Anakin admitted. "The Force is present and we can still feel its power but it's not what it used to be. Something has changed that's beyond any of our control and I can say now, this may seem out of left field, but the catalyst to this were the arrival of the Avengers."

"And what do you make of all this?"

Anakin only sighed tiredly, leaning his head against Padme's.

"I don't know." Anakin said truthfully. "And honestly, that kinda scares me."

"I thought a Jedi is to show no fear." Padme said teasingly.

"With you, that's impossible." Anakin said, unclipping his lightsaber from his belt. "I may be a Jedi and I've been beaten over the head over and over again about how this lightsaber is my life. But you, Padme, _you_ are my life."

Unable to contain her giggle, Padme took Anakin's lightsaber from his hand and gazed at it before setting it down.

"Sweet talker." Padme whispered before ensnaring her husband in a loving kiss one he returned with just as much passion.

While Senator and Jedi enjoyed their moment together, Cad Bane's team of Bounty Hunters continued their walk through the senate building.

The week prior to this mission, Cad Bane had acquired the layout of the building thanks to him getting the blueprints via an astromech droid closely associated with the Senate and the Jedi.

Cad was a man who always gets his job done and the reward the Hutt clans had promised him was more than enough of an incentive of openly attacking and taking over the building.

Making the two IG droids lead, they rounded on a corridor being guarded by one lone Coruscant Guard.

The two made quick work of him, with Shataan moving to get rid of the body finding it annoying how many bodies they're making along the way.

The door opened, with the IG droids taking out the other bots inside.

Cad entered the control room with Robonino who licked his lips with anticipation.

"You know what to do?" Cad inquired.

"I'll figure it out." Robonino assured.

Cad however wasn't going to take an answer like that lightly. "You better not fail me, bubble brain."

"Don't worry." Robonino barked back irritably. "I'll have the power down in no time."

Cad 'Hmphed' expectantly turning to address the other Hunters when he saw one of the IG droids standing idly in front of one of the other controls.

"Hey." Cad said, gaining the droids attention. "You're looking the wrong way. We've got a job to do."

The IG unit chirped a few times in response, following after Cad and the rest of the team.

Meanwhile…

"So this is the Senate building?" Pietro remarked, gazing up at the considerably large structure.

"Yeah I think so."

"You think so?"

"Never really went here. Maybe once or twice but we've mostly been hanging around the Jedi Temple."

"Then where we the last time?"

"That was that Jane lookalike's place."

"Ohhhh… so where do you think Chuchi is in all this?"

Scott paused. "Wait what? Who is that?"

"The blue chick, the one from the party."

Scott's brain tried to momentarily work for a moment.

"Wait, Oh yeah her!" Scott said in realization. "Yeah, she was on Naboo and went with Steve and Sam on that ice planet a while back."

"Yeah her." Pietro nodded in confirmation.

"Why the sudden interest in her, Pietro?"

"Just wanted to chat with her more, Scott. Out of all the politicians I met in my life, she, that not Jane Foster woman and Organa were my favorites in chatting with at the party. And before you say anything, Syndulla isn't a senator so he doesn't count as a politician."

"Right, right." Scott nodded. "Hang on, how many politicians have you even met in your life?

"Since last week, about 50 maybe."

"That's how many were at that little party a few days ago."

"Exactly, so Chuchi set a good standard for me. After all, I actually bothered to remember her name."

"And Organa."

"True."

There was a momentary awkward silent pause between the two before….

"So~" Scott said expectantly. "We going in, or not?"

"Sure! Let's go."

For once, Pietro held back on his speed as he ascended the many steps with Scott following not far behind.

Back with Anakin and Padme, the two had remained lip locked all the while when they both heard a familiar worrisome voice on the other side of Padme's door.

"-but Senator Organa, it just wouldn't be-"

Breaking their kiss, Padme recognized the voice as C-3P0 as he was talking to her close friend. Realizing what was happening, she pushed Anakin down to his knees.

"Whoa, didn't know you wanted to-"

"You need to hide."

"Wha-"

"Hide!" She hissed.

Picking up the voices, Anakin was wide eyed and did what he was told. Quickly crawling underneath Padme's desk, he curled himself up just before the Anderan Senator and protocol droid came waltzing on in.

"The situation cannot be delayed any further, 3P0." Organa's voice firmly stated. "Now stand aside."

The front office door opened and in walked Bail Organa with C-3P0 by his side.

"Padme." Organa greeted. "I'm sorry for the abrupt entrance."

"Oh, Bail, how good to see you." She said as she instinctively tucked Anakin's lightsaber into her jacket's sleeve behind her back. "What is it?"

"Senator Philo has called for a meeting in the lobby in regards on the vote against the Enhanced Privacy Invasion bill." Organa said in a serious tone.

"Right." Padme murmured, recalling her previous work. "Privacy Invasion Bill."

"We must hurry if are to stop the vote." Organa said, turning to leave.

Sparing a glance back towards her desk, the Naboo Senator briefly saw her secret husband peak out before ducking back down when Bail Organa turned back around.

"Are you coming?"

"O-Of course."

Following after her friend and protocol droid, Padme exited her office and hesitated on moving onwards. Looking back at her desk, she saw Anakin pull his head out further. Nudging towards the side, he prompted her to get going.

Once the door closed back up, Anakin got back onto his feet and scrunched his face.

"Now what am I gonna do before she gets back?"

_**-Scene Cut-** _

Cad and his associates were walking through the corridor to the lobby, a blown out door behind them. They had taken out a room filled with guards and now were on their way for their momentary prize this morning.

All the while, many Senators were assembling in the chosen lobby with Bail Organa at the center speaking on the matters of the new Bill they stood against.

With him was of course Padme, his young pseudo-protege Senator Chuchi and many other close associates and colleagues.

"We cannot allow the Chancellor to approve of this Privacy Invasion Bill." Organa said.

"We're all in agreement then." Senator Philo, the Gran Senator that had called for this meeting spoke on behalf of all those gathered.

That's when the doors opened.

With him entering the room, Bane pulled out his blaster and fired off several shots towards the lobby's ceiling. The sudden fire startled all present Senators, turning towards the source and saw the Doros bounty hunter and one of his IG droids walking towards them.

"Morning Senators," Bane began. "You should all consider yourselves to be in my power."

Seeking a means of escape, some of the Senators turned around and were about to make a run for it. Before they could do that, the doors surrounding them parted open to reveal more of Cad's team, aiming their blasters at them.

"As long as everybody behaves, this will be quick and painless." With them all closing in, the Duros bounty hunter kept talking. "Do nothing, and it wall be over soon."

The Gran senator wasn't having any of this as he marched forward. "I don't know who you think you are, but I, for one, have no intention of listening to this kind of insolence.

Senator Philo walked right past Bane who in return, casually upholstered his pistol and shot Philo right in the back, killing him immediately.

Many Senators gasped at the recent death, knowing full well know their captors weren't going to be taking any poodoo on the matter and any resistance.

"Alright then." Bane said pleasantly. "If you would all gather in the center of this atrium, my co-workers and I will relieve you of any communication devices you all may have."

Padme however wasn't one to idly obey such orders from criminals.

"I count six of them in the room." Padme whispered over to Bail.

"What are you going to do?" Organa questioned. "It's not like you're carrying any weapons."

...Oh how right you are, Organa.

Up in his office, Sheev Palpatine was overlooking the skyline in his break away from his daily workload. All seemed right in the galaxy, for the most part, as he reflected on his many plans and mentally tuning them up.

Save for that one moment earlier today that was odd to say the least. Another uncontrollable shift in the Force.

Hearing his office door opening up, Palpatine turned around and saw Senator Free Ta walking towards him with a look of distress across his features.

"Free Ta, what's the matter?"

"Chancellor Palpatine." The Twi'lek Senator said urgently. "You need to see this."

Coming up to the central holo-projector, the Twi'lek Senator pressed a series of buttons to answer a call that just barely registered in the Chancelor's systems. He had momentarily turned it off earlier for his time of self-reflection, but seemingly regretted it.

For Cad bane's holo-visage appeared.

'What is this all about?' Thought the hidden Sith Lord.

" _Sorry to bother you, Chancellor."_ Bane greeted non chalantly, checking his nails. _"I've taken control of your East wing in the building. The occupants being my hostages. If you care about them, I would advise you freeing Ziro the Hutt from your detention center not far from here."_

Glaring at the holoprojection, Sheev used a lot of will power to hold back a Sith-like growl. "You should know that the Republic does not take kindly to such threats. If you have attempted such a foolhardy action as to kidnap a senator, I assure you that it will be met with appropriate force."

Just as Palpatine finished issuing his response, Robonino within the control room of the Senate Building pulled a lever down which shut down the entirety of the buildings lights and doors.

Smirking, the Duros bounty hunter continued to speak. _"Sorry to tell you this, but I'm in control. I make the rules_ now _."_

Elsewhere, Scott and Pietro who were walking down one of the many hallways were caught off guard of the lights shutting off around them.

Emergency lights switched on in return though several doors around them either shut closes and others were open.

Both Avengers shared a look with one another.

"What the hell is going on?"

"Is it a drill?"

"Could be. I mean it looks like one."

"But would there be sirens blazing or something?"

"Should probably find out what's what."

Anakin had the same set of questions as he walked out from Padme's office.

Sensing a slight disturbance in the Force, Anakin began making his way over to the lobby his wife had gone off to.

Back in his office, Palaptine marched right at the entryway and tried all he could to pry it open. His arms were starting to strain as he physically pulled, but there was no such luck. The hidden Sith Lord could easily open them up through the Force, yet he couldn't as Free Ta was present.

"Orn Free Taa, help me with this door." Palpatine instructed.

"It's no use, Chancellor." Free Taa said dejectedly. "The doors have all been closed due to the emergency functions. This Bounty Hunter has taken complete control of the building."

'...He hasn't even tried helping at all with this door!' Gritted out Sheev in thought. 'Lazy oaf could've been useful on this, for Force sakes!' Shaking his head, the Chancellor breathed a little to calm himself. 'No… no… he's right.'

Not to be deterred, Palpatine rushed over to the communications calling for any help.

"This is Chancellor Palpatine." He spoke through the Comms. "Is anyone out there? Come in?" Going to another frequency, Palpatine continued making his distress call. "Jedi Council, are you there?"

"That won't work either, sir." Free Taa said. "They've cut off all communications to the outside when they got control of the building."

Cad Bane in the meantime had been going through the Senators he held captive, taking their communication devices.

Padme stood with Bail and Chuchi, the latter of the two hiding slightly behind her mentors in fear.

"They cannot search me." Padme said to the two.

"Why?" Organa asked. "What is it that you have?"

From her spot behind Padme, Riyo's eyes caught onto something briefly poking out of the Naboo senator's sleeve. It was metallic in nature as it shined a little under the emergency lights.

"What's that?" Muttered the Pantorian senator.

"I'll be taking that." The female Zabrak seemingly appeared from nowhere, quickly snatching the silver cylinder out of Padme's sleeve.

Padme seized up in fear as Shataan examined the device in her hands.

"What's this supposed to be?"

"Found something, Shataan?" Cad inquired.

"Well well~" Aurra purred out. "Seems Shataan found herself a lightsaber."

"A Lightsaber?" Bane questioned. "Then there's a Jedi in the building."

Shataan eyed Padme with intrigue holding up the saber.

"How'd you come in possession of this?"

Padme didn't say a word while the Zabrak before her shrugged and placed the saber in her belt though she did look up at her again, as if gauging her.

"What?" Padme asked impatiently, internally berating herself at losing their one chance at a possible escape.

Pulling up his wrist communicator, the Duros bounty hunter called out to the rest of his team. "Be on the lookout for a Jedi. There's one lurking in the building somewhere. Flush them out."

Finishing his call, his eye caught onto a form in the higher levels, no doubt attempting to hide.

Quickly pulling out his blaster, Cad quickly fired a series of shots at the retreating form.

"Looks like we need look no further." Cad said to his squad. "After that Jedi."

Scott Lang bolted out from the area with blaster bolts flying past where he stood.

Tapping his ear, the ex-con spoke. "Pietro, I'm in trouble here."

" _What's going on?"_

"I've got a bunch of… there's one guy that looks like a cowboy and the rest of his goons on my ass and need some help."

"The hell do you mean a cowboy?" Pietro questioned.

"Wearing a freaking stereotypical hat, for starters." Rounding the corner, Scott kept on sprinting.

"Really? They have those in this galaxy."

"Pietr-OOF"

"Scott! What happened?"

Scott rubbed his head and opened his eyes to see…

"Anakin!" Scott said in a relieved tone.

"Scott?" Anakin had to make sure this wasn't some kind of trick.

"There they are!" Spoke a Weequay male with an IG-86 droid beside him.

"Crap, run now talk later." Scott said, pushing Anakin in the direction away from the Bounty Hunters.

Instinctively, Anakin's hand reached towards his side to pull out his lightsaber… only to find it missing.

"Oh, right."

With a hail of blaster fire coming at him, Anakin followed Scott's actions and bolted outta there.

"Get after that Jedi." Said the Weequay bounty hunter. "He's unarmed which means he'll be easier to kill."

Scott and Anakin ran down the hallway with their pursuers getting around the corner and firing at them.

They kept on running until turning another corner.

Rounding yet another corner, the two hunters halted their advancements as they saw the present hallway empty of any life.

"Now where'd they go."

Anakin and Scott hid in a room together with both crouching behind a table as the two Bounty Hunters entered to scan the room. It took them a bit on their search before the Weequay decided to move onward in the search. The IG droid took a bit longer to leave as it stomped away from the nearby area.

"Those were Bounty Hunters." Anakin murmured, as the two departed from the area. "What are they doing here?"

"They took a bunch of Senators Hostage." Scott quickly explained. "It was in some lobby area."

"Oh great." Anakin was now wrought with worry as that lobby area that Scott mentioned undoubtedly was where Padme had gone to.

"And more importantly, one of them has a lightsaber." Scott informed before looking down at Anakin's hip. "...Where the hell's your's?" It then dawned on him and looked at his friend in a surprised look. "They have your lightsaber!"

"Where's your suit anyway?" Anakin questioned.

"Hope is making some repairs to it." Scott elaborated.

"Now of all times, you don't wear your super suit?!"

"We don't live in those damn things, Anakin. They aren't self-cleaning and maitenized. And didn't they get your lightsaber." Scott soon grumbled under his breath. "I guess we're both kinda worthless right now."

"Some more than others." Anakin dryly said.

"Oh shut up, you're lucky Pietro's also here."

"What?" Anakin's head sharply snapped at Scott"Can you get in touch with him?"

"Oh, right. Give me a sec." Tapping his ear, the ex-con spoke. "Hey, Quicksilver, ya there?"

Pietro was casually strolling through a hallway though not as he seemed. In all honesty, he was tempted to begin running around like a mad lad to get an idea as to what was going on after he and Scott split up.

But he knew now perhaps wasn't the best time for such a thing. Right now, he needed patience.

As much as he hated that.

" _Hey, Quicksilver, ya there?"_

"Scott!" Pietro's hand shot up to his ear piece. "What the hell happened? You cut off without warning."

" _Alright, long story short, there's a bunch of senators that have been taken hostage by Bounty Hunters."_ Scott elaborated on the situation. _"I'm with Anakin right now and both of us aren't exactly armed right now."_

"Great I…"

Before the call ended, an odd looking droid made its way onto the current floor with a rifle looking blaster in its grasp.

It saw him, quickly prompting the dangerous looking droid to whip it's weapon right at the Sokovian. Yet the enhanced human was faster in reaction, speeding forward and delivering a series of punches right at its multi-part head. With the onslaught upon the bounty hunter droid, the head was soon broken off from the rest of the body and rolled away down the hall.

" _Pietro, you there?"_

"Sorry, Scott. Just dealt with one of 'em."

Then, several panels opened up and out popped turrets with all their barrels trailed directly at the speedster.

"...Alright, the fuck is this about?"

The turrets immediately began firing at the speedster who nimbly dodged all the bolts.

"Scott." Pietro ran down the hallway just as more turrets popped out and fired at the Avenger who ran by at full speed. "I'm gonna need to call you back. Got my own set of problems right now."

On another area of the Senate building, Scott and Anakin were making their way to the security center. They hoped they could be able to get inside and restore power and control to the rest of the building. And it was easier said and done as neither knew if more bounty hunters were patrolling the halls.

Upon reaching their destination, the two hugged the wall and silently conversed on how they can proceed in their entry.

Yet before anything could be moved forward, the door opened up and a Patrolian strolled out.

On instinct, Scott snapped his arms at the smaller guy and put him in a choke hold.

"Go to sleep. Go to sleep." Scott gritted out, tightening his hold on the squirming bounty hunter. "Go to sleep, you creepy black lagoon knock-off."

Anakin ran over and with a wave of his hand over the Patrolians head, the squirming Bounty Hunter went limp and unconscious.

Giving Anakin an appreciative nod, the Jedi helped up his comrade and the two entered the control room.

"Whoa." Scott murmured. "So how does this all work?"

"Shouldn't be too hard if a sleemo like him managed to get control of the whole building

Popping his fingers, Scott crouched down as he started prying off a panel. "Give me some time and I'll get this up and running."

Just as Scott moved to get to work the entire room seemingly shut down.

"Now what's going on?" Scott bemoaned.

Anakin didn't have the chance to respond when the nearest door opened up to reveal Aurra Sing.

"Hello, Jedi." Aurra said with an intense gaze.

Firing several blaster bolts, Anakin had to quickly maneuver in the confined space. Yet it was quite hard with Scott being present. Said man wasn't able to get enough time as a blaster bolt hit his shoulder, making him grit out in pain.

"Dammit."

"Scott!" Anakin said in alarm which was all Aurra needed to shove her hand forward, force pushing Anakin into the controls.

"Not so fast." Spoke the Weequay bounty hunter.

"Took you long enough."

"Well sorry! I don't have the luxury of having enhanced skills like you have, Sing. I had to haul my ass here while you used your space magic-"

"A force user." Anakin grunted, sitting up against the wall. "You… who are you?"

"None of your concern, Jedi." Aurra said with a sneer, shocking Anakin unconscious a moment later.

"Help me get these two to Bane."

Scott glared though he knew better not to resist. Anakin was out, he was injured and without his suit and god knows what was keeping Pietro occupied. The ex-con felt so useless at the moment. As skilled as a fighter he had become under Cap and Hopes tutelage, he knew now wasn't the time for his heroics.

"Ease up, will ya." Scott groaned out. "Rough me up anymore and you'll have to answer to my girlfriend."

"You're cute, but not that cute." Aurra muttered out as she jabbed her finger at his injured shoulder.

"Oh screw you."

"I would, but you ain't my type."

"And you aren't mine either."

"Oh god, what did I walk into just now?" Said another female voice.

"Ah Shataan." Aurra said expectantly. "Good, help Shahal here with the knocked out Jedi."

Scott and Anakin were taken to the Atrium were they were presented before Cad Bane.

The Bounty Hunter inspected the two for a moment.

"The hero with no fear." Bane said aloud, recognizing Anakin straight away. "There's a part of me that should've expected someone of your caliber rushing in to save the day. Then again, forgive me if I find your performance to be lackluster at best."

Bane then looked at Scott. "And who are you supposed to be? You look like a criminal to me."

"Ok, Ouch." Scott murmured.

"He's one of those new guys we've been hearing about." Shataan said, standing beside Bane.

"The Avengers?" Inquired the white skinned bounty hunter. "And which one are you?"

Scott glared defiantly at them. "Ant-man."

"...Unimpressive, if you ask me." Drolled out the Weequay bounty hunter, to which Bane quickly agreed upon.

Tapping his wrist communicator, Cad spoke up. "3D, are we on schedule?"

_**-Scene Cut-** _

Flying through Coruscant's air traffic, IG-3D responded to the Doros bounty hunter. "Arriving at the prison now."

Currently, the Bounty droid flew upon a transport towards the detention center of Coruscant where one Hutt was currently being housed.

Beside him was the Twi'lek Senator as he currently carried a pardon disk to free their intended prize for today.

Upon parking in front of the detention center's main platform, IG-3D jabbed the barrel of it's blaster right into Free Ta's side. "Move it."

A line of Clones awaited their arrival, the Coruscant Shock Trooper Guard.

One of the Clones gave the order to have the doors opened.

"Oh! It's so bright out here!" Whined a purple skinned, lime yellow Hutt. "Why couldn't this have been done at night when it's cooler?"

"Oh my God." A nearby Clone muttered out in complete annoyance.

This was Ziro the Hutt. He was locked up here a while back after the attempted coup of his nephew, Jabba the Hutt, by eliminating his infant cousin Rotta. The plan of taking out Jabba and taking over his seat in the Hutt Crime Family failed horribly by the hands of Skywalker, Ahsoka and Padme; which resulted in his stay here.

The fat slug slid right over to the IG droid, 3D and Senator Free Taa with a smug air to him.

"Well, well~ Senator Orn Free Taa looks so scared right now, doesn't he?" Ziro arrogantly mocked.

"Let's move." 3D instructed, keeping its rifle trailed on the Twi'lek. "You're coming with us."

"What?!" Free Taa said in shock. "But I-I-"

"No loose ends." 3D stated. "No quick actions. Guaranteed delivery necessary for completion of job. Get back in the transport."

Radioing in to Bane, IG-3D spoke. "Package is secure."

" _Good… Time for the next part."_ Cad said over the line.

With the bounty hunter droid flying on out back to the Senate building, Cad Bane ordered his associates to plant bombs around the Atrium for one of his contingency plans. Once done, he brought back up a call to the Chancellor's office.

"Well, Mr. Chancellor, thanks to your calm leadership, the crisis is passed. I got what I want, so I'll return your Senate and your senators. Enjoy them, but don't try anything until the sun has set."

Palpatine simply glared at the Bounty Hunter through the holo-com.

"Understand?"

Seeing Palpatine nod, Cad ended the call and addressed his team. "We need to get to the landing platform. Is everything ready?"

"Yep-yep!" Answered the now conscious Robonino

"You sure? Losing oxygen to the brain might've made you think otherwise."

"Oh shut up, Shataan."

Turning over to Aurra, Cad gave the command. "Turn on the sensors, please."

Pressing a series of buttons on the central sensor, a large array of security beams shot out and connected towards the others in the room.

With it all set up, Bane addressed the senators. "If you so much as breathe on one of these lasers, the whole room will blow up." Making his way out of the room, the Doros bounty hunter continued talking. "Senators, Jedi, Avenger, I bid you all a most respectful farewell."

The moment the bounty hunters left the room, Padme immediately went towards Anakin's side in order to check if he was alright. This was all done before turning her attention to Scott.

"Do you have any idea how we can get out of here?"

"Well… I was gonna say Pietro would help out." Scott said dejectedly.

"Pietro's here?" Riyo questioned.

"Yeah, came in with me when we wanted to check out the place." With gritted teeth, the ex-con continued. "Where he is now, I'm the foggiest."

Cad Bane walked out to the landing platform with his associates just as multiple gunships descended from on high down to them.

Clone Commander Fox with his Coruscant Guard all filed out and had their weapons trailed on the group.

Receiving a call, Cad Bane held out his hand and saw the holo-transmission of Palpatine being flanked by two other Clone Troopers.

" _You were foolish to think that you could get away with this, Bounty Hunter."_ Palpatine said fiercely. _"Now surrender and come quietly."_

Cad however only grinned at the Chancellor's foolishness.

"No Chancellor." Bane drawled out. "I'm afraid it is _you_ who has been foolish with your senators' lives. One false move and the East Wing of the Senate Building goes up in flames."

Palpatine's shoulders tensed up before slumping in resignation. _"You win bounty hunter."_

Ending the call, Bane raised his wrist with his other hand hovering over a specific button on his control.

"Holster them." Bane ordered.

Commander Fox kept his gun raised at the Duros and was about to lower his gun when he heard something peculiar.

Blaster bolts going off coupled with loud noises of metal sounding as though they were being ripped apart.

Another door, outburst a silvery blur that stopped at the edge of the platform and chucked the remained of a defense turret.

"And it's outta here." Quicksilver declared aloud. "Whew, that was annoyi-"

Pietro then noticed the other group present on the platform just as Orn Free Taa, IG-3D and Ziro arrived on the scene.

All in all, a bizarre set of circumstances to say the least.

"And that's my que." Shataan cocked her wrist back with it trailing on Bane's head. "Stand down Bane. Now. Or you get a head filled with electric shock that'll turn you brain dead."

"Shataan!" Bane growled out. "What the hell are you doing?"

"Oh, I'm sorry." Shataan's face and voice suddenly sounded different.

The Zabraks appearance morphed and fluctuated with her other hand reaching up to remove a mask. Red hair fell with fair skin replacing the orange tanned markings.

"But Shataan is merely an alias that I'll need to dispose of."

Not knowing who this woman was, who he assumed was a changeling Clawdite, the bounty hunter opened fire upon her. She quickly maneuvered away from the blaster bolts before a silver blur carried her away to safety. Once stopping behind a large wall, Quicksilver gave her a joyful hug.

"NAT!" Pietro cried out in jubilation.

"Hey Pietro." Nat greeted warmly. "As good as it is to see you again, we still have a job to do."

"Oh right." Pietro stepped back, grin still in place. "One moment."

Quicksilver zipped out from behind the wall and in an instant threw all the Bounty Hunters weapons and Bane's wrist detonator down to the ground before them.

"Now then." Pietro said cockily. "This is the part where you surrender."

The rest of the clones held their balster up at the Bounty Hunters with Nat walking out from her cover with two familiar pistols in both hands.

Gritting his teeth on this unexpected factor, Cad pressed a button on his wrist communicator and spoke into it. "You're up!"

A deep, dark chuckle was all that was heard from over the line before it went dead.

A shadow from above appeared between Pietro and Bane followed by the sound of the same dark laughter.

Looking up, Pietro's eyes widened in shock running away quickly before a gigantic armored being landed in front of Bane, throwing its arms out which extended out to the Clones.

In a quick series of maneuvers, the new arrival quickly disposed of a good number of present clones. Snapping their arms, breaking their necks, caving in their heads and chests. All actions done as a means to an end.

"Hope you weren't too bored for waiting, Durge."

"I was waiting in utmost antici-" Punching a nearby clone trooper in the gut into the air, the Mandalorian nightmare delivered a powerful kick in the same place to send the Republic soldier flying away. "-ation."

"OH, HELL IT'S HIM!"

"Who the hell is that?!"

"That freak that attacked Commander Gree's ship! Open Fire."

Durge simply absorbed the blaster bolts, his body bulging out in various spaces before veiny muscles exploded out from his being. The appendages all shot forward, ensnaring and killing every Clone it grabbed.

"A helluva a way to reunite, huh Pietro?" Nat cried out, firing at the ballistic Gen'dai freak that was tearing apart the Clone Troopers.

"Nothing is ever done normally with us. Help out the guys in white and red." Quicksilver gritted out, running out to save several Clones that were about to get crushed by a large piece of debris Durge was using as a blunt weapon.

Taking initiative, Black Widow sprinted forward to a nearby Clone who was clutching his pierced leg.

"Hold tight, soldier." Nat ordered, trying to find a way to remove the armor to treat the leg.

Durge was the necessary mayhem Bane and his gang had needed, going over to the transport that still had Ziro the Hutt and a thoroughly terrified Orn Free Taa.

Getting all on board, Bane pivoted the transport away from the building looking back over to the chaos the Gen'Dai was causing.

"Durge, get your ass over here now!" Bane yelled out to him.

Seeing his ride taking off without him, Durge gave out a deadman's sprint. Reaching the end of the platform, the Nightmare leapt into the air and aimed himself to land on their transport. The moment he landed, the entire thing shook as it tried restabilizing itself.

"Watch where you're landing, you fool!" Ziro growled out before being silenced by the ancient bounty hunter's stare.

"And you shut the hell up, you worthless pile of flesh."

Looking onward, Bane saw a transport heading their way as he spotted what appeared several clones riding in it. "We've got company."

Tilting his head, Durge saw the incoming vehicle. Without a second thought, he leapt off the present transport, sailed across the air and crashed onto the opposing transport.

"Hello." Growled out the Nightmare, looking towards the half dozen clones and a fat looking Twi'lek. "And goodbye."

Free Ta screamed as he was punched in the face by Durge, knocking out several teeth in the process before unconsciousness took over. As this happened, the clone escort were either thrown off the transport and falling towards their imminent demise or had their necks and limbs broken.

With his job done, the Gen'Dai moved around and spotted his teams transport. Squatting down, he jumped off the falling transport and sailed across the air once more and landed back near his previous spot, startling Ziro the Hutt once again. And looking back at the other transport -which was not properly manned now- Bane saw it plummeting towards the city down below before he saw a small speck of an explosion happening.

Whoever was left on that transport that wasn't killed by Durge was most certainly dead now.

With them now getting away, Bane ordered his one droid to speed up to get back to their ship as the Republic will be on their tail very soon.

"Well, Hutt," Cad spoke to the present Hutt behind him. "It doesn't look like prison had too adverse an effect on you."

"Oh, you can't imagine the unspeakable things I've suffered." Ziro dramatically said. "The horror! I doubt I'll ever really recover."

"Talk to us again after being buried alive for over half a century." Durge spoke out, unsettling Ziro once more. "Then imagine how it'll all be like in my boots on what I've been through."

"...I don't want to."

"Then once again, shut the hell up."

Back on the Senate building platform, multiple emergency personnel had arrived to assist the wounded Clones with many others running into the Senate building.

Off to the side, Pietro and Nat stood side by side covered in dirt and grime with a few minor injuries.

"Well… I certainly didn't expect to see you here Nat." Pietro remarked. "Not in this way."

"You and me both, Pietro."

"You were working with the Bounty Hunters?"

"Something I'm not proud of."

"What the hell happened to you? Where did you end up at?"

"Some apparent lawless planet as most called it. A desert world. Tatooine."

"Never heard of it."

"How many planets have you heard of, Pietro?"

"A few… not much really, don't pay attention to that kind of stuff."

"Hmmm."

The two fell into a lull of silence.

All they heard and saw was the attempt at the medical personnel work to keep Clones stable and alive while local law enforcement was arriving with other Jedi in tow.

Nat bit the bottom of her lip, unsure of how exactly to ask this when she didn't need to.

A gunship landed several feet away from them and out stepped none other than Cap, Sam, Rhodey and Hope all suited up and ready to go.

That changed when the moment Steve took a moment to scan the area, his eyes landed on Nat who gave him a slight watery smile.

Mouth slightly open in disbelief at whom he was seeing, a sentiment shared by the other Avengers as they soon saw her too, Steve took one step forward before Nat ran right for him and hugged him tightly.

"You have no idea-"

"I got a pretty clear idea, Steve." Nat said happily, pulling away to greet the others giving each one a hug before turning to the platform around them.

"I just wish it was under better circumstances."

"Me too. Me too."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And done, Season One is officially a wrap and now we've only got a few chapters in between before kicking off season two!
> 
> God damn this was a marathon run really. Just took one night to finish this one up to Jebest after sporadically working on it the past few days.
> 
> Really, really proud of what I've managed to do here with J. BulletstormX has also been helpful in supplying newer ideas that will come to light in time and my god my excitement for this story is just getting crazier.
> 
> Just a quick reminder, this is an AU gotten a few people pointing out inconsistent timelines and all and I've stated that this is a divergence along with the Clone Wars timeline being adjusted to fit the narrative of Infinite Wars. For example, the Blue Shadow virus? Coming in Season 2 not 1. Have something important planned for that one.
> 
> Jebest4781: Not to mention other storylines from other seasons fitting our need for story purposes. Even certain ones from the comics. And even then, they'll be altered from minor to severely.
> 
> Free Man Writer: Yeah, there is so much madness coming with so many exciting revelations. I really can't put it into words at conveying just how insane things are gonna get. Like fucking batshit wild stuff.
> 
> Jebest4781: All in the means of properly blending the respective media to the best of our abilities.
> 
> Free Man Writer: And so far, it's been pretty damn successful. Headaches worth it and all… somewhat. Not always but enough. I'm tired but not at the same time. God… it feels invigorating and tiring to do all this in such a short amount of time.
> 
> Jebest4781: Tell me about it. At least we ain't pushing ourselves too hard in constantly updating so quickly… unlike some people on the site.
> 
> Free Man Writer: Yeah how do those people do it. Whelp anyway, that's all for now folks. Go read J's newest story A Song of Fire, Ice and Hearts, a collaborative project as I've stated before that both of us will have our own spins on that we'll essentially be working together on. Go read it now. Cause it's damn good. Some of the best work the two of us have made together honestly. And We will see you comrades next time.
> 
> Rate Read and Review and As Always Have Nice Day.


	19. Homefront

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Link to the cover and poster that's an overarching arc that will play out in the long run of the story whenever we return to Earth during the story.
> 
> https://www.deviantart.com/freemanwriter/art/Avengers-Infinite-Wars-Homefront-848197464

**Ok, Season 1 is all said and done.**

**Some obvious changes were made with the timeline and certain events and that is going to continue happening as we delve further into the Clone Wars.**

**I really wish I could spout on and on about Season 2 but that's for the story to reveal itself in due time.**

**Jebest as per usual is an instrumental comrade that is helping me see this vision to fruition and I'm open to other suggestions. Grimm King brought something up that will come into play in a future unique chapter.**

**For now though, let's just take a trip back home.**

**Rate Read and Review and As Always Have Nice Day.**

Avengers Infinite Wars Chapter 19: Homefront

"So what do we do now, Stark?"

Tony Stark only rubbed his face tiredly, trying to find the proper answer.

The Avengers HQ was practically empty with only two of its "former" members residing within the facility at the time.

It had been a week since the disappearance of the nine Avengers after their mission to HYDRA controlled base in Eastern Europe and to say that Tony was beginning to feel a new sense of anxiety would be the understatement of the decade.

His friends and allies were missing, gone from the face of the Earth and he had absolutely no idea how that happened.

The minute the line had cut off between himself and Cap, Tony wasted no time in suiting up in his latest armor and damn near flew at the speed of light to their last projected location.

What he found when he arrived was a large cluster of tied up HYDRA agents with a giant Ultron head named Ultimo. There was the Quinjet off to the side and the obvious signs of an intense battle.

But no Avengers.

No sign of Cap, Nat, the wonder twins, the shrinking duo, his best friend, birdman or Ultron light.

They were _gone_. Vanished into thin air with no means of locating them.

Not the greatest start to his day.

Tony tried his damndest to figure out what the hell happened here but all he got was static and sparks from the malfunctioning technology in the base. So Stark did what he usually did, taking all the technology here and bringing back to base for study.

It didn't take long for him to call up Clint and the expert archer merely told him to send him a jet.

Clint was there in less than an hour.

And for a week the two talked and deliberated on what to do now. Their friends were missing and the Avengers were basically defunct. It was bad enough that the current roster of Earth's Mightiest Heroes were gone. But they also had no idea as to how to contact Thor and they never found Hulk since he went missing earlier this year.

All Earth had in terms of Avengers were just the two of them.

"Stark." Clint's voice cut through Tony's thoughts, making the Iron hero turn to his colleague.

"Huh?"

"I know you're thinking at a million miles a minute right now." Clint wryly stated. "But you didn't answer my question. What are we going to do now?"

"Gee Clint I don't know what to tell ya." Tony said sardonically. "Cap ain't here to lead us and I'm prone to improvise with my long term planning."

"Then what do your long term plans have? And for the love of god, don't make it Skynet."

"Very funny."

"Boss."

Both men looked up at the sound of Friday, Tony's new personal AI calling for her creator.

"Friday?"

"Hank Pym is here to see you."

"Great." Tony grumbled underneath his breath. "This should be good."

No less than a few minutes passed by when the creator of the Pym particle came stomping into the conference room with a damn near livid face.

"Stark." Pym said in controlled anger. "You better start explaining to me why both my daughter and pupil are missing and how I can relay this back to Lang's daughter; who's been wondering where Father up and vanished to."

"I don't know what to tell you, Pym." Tony said impatiently, finding his usual sarcastic wit lacking at the moment. "Cause in case you haven't noticed, the entire team has gone missing and I have no idea how that happened or where they are. So before you tromping into the building, kindly look at the bigger picture right now."

Hank seethed at the words until Clint stepped between the two.

"Alright, save it for the playground both of you." Clint firmly told them. "Right now, we're dealing with nine missing superheroes with none the wiser of where any of them are. The last thing we need is for the two of you to go at one another like a couple of assholes. Save it for another time."

Both men stared at each other unwaveringly before they backed off, Tony slouching against the conference table.

"What the hell happened, Stark?" Hank inquired. "One minute, Hope and Scotts transponders were working fine the next they're not registering on any satellite I could tap into."

"Did you miss the part when I mentioned that it's the entire team missing?" Stark drawled out, eyes half-lidded. "The Earth is suddenly under manned without Avengers to come to its defense. Clint and I could only do so much since there's only two of us."

"Then what are _you_ gonna do about it?"

"What am _I_ gonna do about?" Tony arched a brow. "Listen Pym, in case you didn't realize this you're just a big a part of this as we are. You really think I'm gonna do this alone in finding them? Granted, I probably can, give me a few weeks tops but I'd rather get this done sooner than later."

Pym normally would simply reject this kind of statement but he took a moment to think this over.

Losing track of both his daughter and his protégé was not something Hank was gonna take lightly because as soon as he lost track of them, his heart damn near stopped. He could not handle the thought of losing more people he cared about, especially his daughter and the idiot goofball who he had grown to care for as well. On top of that, Scott like himself was a father. A father who deeply loved his daughter as Hank did Hope and was willing to do everything and anything in his power for her.

And after seeing the sad and worried face of young Cassie Lang flashed through his mind, Hank Pym checked his ego and let out a disgruntled sigh.

"Alright then Stark." Hank gripped the back of a nearby chair. "What exactly can we do right now?"

"First off, we can begin by looking over the technology I took from that HYDRA base." Tony rattled off. "That's the first thing I brought back cause that's probably the reason why the team went missing. We discover how that tech works, we get a step closer to finding our lost friends and family."

"I'm gonna start digging up some old contacts." Clint said, moving to leave the room. "See if any of Nat's or my own connections could get any leads."

"Think you can contact Fury?"

"Got him on speed dial."

"Speed dial? Friday, get Fury on speed dial."

"I don't have his contacts, sir."

"Well next time then. Dr. Pym, if you would. Tech is down in the lab. Better to get started sooner than later."

"Lead the way, Stark."

_-Two Weeks Later-_

Manhattan.

The city that never sleeps.

Center of the five most well-known boroughs of New York, the city has gained a greater historical significance over the course of the last few years.

Namely being the birthplace of Earth's Mightiest heroes, at one point acting as their main base of operations.

Since 2012, the world had been experiencing a dramatic in individuals considered superhuman or enhanced but none more so then New York itself.

One of these enhanced was currently riding atop the M-transit line while browsing his phone. He had just finished a long day of school and now was out on patrol once more in his homemade suit.

Sophomore year was a weird adjustment now after the big change.

Then again…

Not having Uncle Ben around was the biggest change in his life.

Hanging his head in slight sorrow and guilt at the thought of his deceased father figure, Peter Parker AKA the Amazing Spider-man shook his head to clear himself of those thoughts.

Easier said than done yet nonetheless it worked… a bit, it worked a bit.

Pocketing his phone, Peter tightened the straps on his backpack, jumped from the train and fired off his homemade web shooters and began swinging in between the buildings of Manhattan.

Honestly, these past few months had felt like such a blur.

He constantly asked himself just how in the world did this happen to him but right now, Peter was enjoying the exhilarating feel of swinging up high in the air without a care in the world.

Letting out a whoop of glee, Spiderman performed a corkscrew into a series of flips before firing a line at the last second and heaving himself up to land on a nearby rooftop.

Plopping himself down to sit on the edge, Peter pulled his mask up to his nose while opening up his backpack up to retrieve his lunch.

"No crust." Peter muttered with a smile. "Thank you, May."

Chomping down on his meal, Spidey allowed himself to relax for the brief moment.

Humming to himself, Peter looked out at the Manhattan skyline when his eyes landed on the one building that stood out above the other. Which was saying a lot considering where he was.

Avengers Tower, formerly the headquarters of Earth's Mightiest Heroes stood proud and distinct amongst the Manhattan skyline. He had seen it a number of times by now and it still made him giddy at just seeing the large emblazoned A on the building.

It had been an eclectic year for both himself and the world over to say the least.

From him getting his powers at the end of Freshmen year to the Sokovia incident where an entire nation was lifted into the air by a maniacal robot to his first three months of Sophomore year.

While Peter had been busy with figuring out his powers, the world over had been undergoing through some major shifts.

The Avengers had a serious lineup change with four of the original Avengers either stepping down or leaving on their own for personal reasons. Five new members stepped in to take their place and apparently a few months ago at the start of August, another two members had apparently joined. Something about them being related to bugs.

Hey, who knows. Maybe the arachnid based superhero would get along with these insectoid themed Avengers.

Finishing off one half of the sandwich, Peter moved on to the next half when…

"Hey that looks good, mind sharing." A filtered male voice said from behind.

Peter jolted violently from his seat, his sandwich falling out of his hands.

"Oh… sorry about that." The voice said sheepishly.

Whirling around, Peter's eyes practically bulged out from his head upon seeing just who it was behind him.

It was Iron Man.

Tapping the side of his goggles to make sure they were malfunctioning, Peter dug under his mask to rub his eyes just to be sure.

"Y-you-you're…. I- I don't…." Peter was at a complete loss for words right now.

"Tony." The armored Avenger said simply. "Or more famously Iron Man if you prefer that."

Landing on the rooftop, the front side of the armor opened up to allow Tony Stark to step out in the flesh.

Peter's eyes widened to the size of dinner plates, him jumping up to stand and fumble to get his mask back on proper to at least be a bit more presentable.

His thoughts we a jumbled mess as he tried to talk properly but only succeeded in stuttering and stammering.

"I-I-I C-can't believe… Um, Y-You're Spider-man." Peter finally managed out, placing his hands on his hips in an attempt to save face. "No wait, I'm Spider-man."

"Spider-man?" Tony arched his brow a bit. "Really? Not Spiderling? Crime Fighting Spider? Spider-boy?"

"Spiderman." Peter said with more determination this time.

Tony simply nodded his head, pulled out his own hand made phone pulling up a few specific files.

"Spiderman." Tony said conversationally. "So quick question of the rhetorical variety." With a flick of the phone, it displayed a somewhat blurry video of someone in a crudely made red and blue suit swinging by a car thief and snagging the man by the leg with webbing and pulling him away. The footage stopped at a freeze frame of Peter's mask as he was swinging by a street camera. "That's you, right?"

The next video was of Spiderman literally diving in front of a speeding car that nearly crashed into a bus. He stopped it in a split second before jumping away and swinging off.

"Wow, nice catch." Tony praised. "Nice catch, 3000 pounds, 40 miles an hour. Not an easy feat. Got some mad skillz there."

"...That's not me."

"You sure? Who else is wearing a onesie like that?" Tony shot back with an amused expression.

"...It was on Youtube, right? I mean most of that had to be faked."

"Look, Kid, I fly around in a suit of armor i made in a cave." Tony shot him down. "I just saw you swing from the streets down below."

Spider-man sighed, internally kicking himself as he realized he couldn't really argue himself out of this situation.

He certainly wasn't expecting this day to go like this.

"So uh…" Peter began awkwardly. "Are you here… Wait, why are you here?"

"Oh, just stopping by in the neighborhood, seeing the sites and all that jazz."

"Right." Spidey said lowly.

"And to have a nice chat with you."

"M-Me? What for?"

"Well, a lot of reasons actually." Tony said. "See, I had a pamphlet planned out and I wanted to give it to you but since I usually don't like to be handed things, figured you wouldn't like it either."

Peter tried to make sense of what exactly Tony Stark was talking about, something the billionaire Avenger picked up on.

"What I'm trying to say is, I've got an invitation that I-" Tony gestured to himself. "-Am extending to you." He then gestured to the still confused Spider-man.

"An invitation for what exactly?" Spidey asked slowly.

"To the Avengers." Tony answered as if it were the most obvious thing. "You've been on our radar… well, mine really for a while and we've been meaning to talk to you about it. It's just, you know, we've got business to attend to. Avenging and all that stuff."

It could be said in his entire life in known memory, Peter practically felt his heart skipped several beats twice. Once with Uncle Ben's passing… and now.

"You want me to-"

"Yeup."

"...You're joking. You gotta be joking. There's no way I can be-"

"Well I'm offering it to you now."

"But I'm too young." Peter closed his eyes, nearly slapping himself at that small outburst.

"There ain't an age requirement for the team as far as I know." Tony paused before turning around and speaking into his wrist device. "Note to self, think more on Avenger age requirements for future members… after Spidey."

Turning back around, Stark gave Peter one of his patented smiles. "So, about initiation, when joining the team there's a few things you'll need to-"

Tony's prepared spiel was cut off suddenly by Peter's phone ringing loudly.

The two stared at one another with the younger of the two muttering for him to wait a moment. Pulling out his phone from his backpack, Peter cringed a bit at seeing who was calling and looked between the screen and Tony before answering.

Clearing his throat. "Hey May."

"..."

"Yeah, yeah, schools done just finished up… a study session…. With Ned."

"..."

"Eggs? Yeah I'll get some eggs. Bread to? No problem."

"..."

"Love you too, May."

Hanging up, Spidey pocketed his phone back in his pack and looked to Tony apologetically.

"I-uh… gotta go do some grocery shopping." Peter said awkwardly.

"By all means." Tony said, very much amused by what he had just watched.

"Right."

Spider-man didn't know what else to say so he simply jumped from the rooftop and swung away.

Tony watched on with growing interest.

"Hmmm, next stop then."

_-The Next Day-_

Peter was walking back home, old radio in hand with his headphones on, playing a recording of Neil Degrasse Tyson on the wonders of the cosmos.

Entering his apartment complex, Peter ran up the stairs with his keys in his other hand. Arriving at his door, Peter slid the key in and entered his home.

"Hey May." Peter called out to his Aunt.

"Hey sweetie." His Aunt replied from her seat in the living room. "How was school today?"

Peter shrugged, grabbing a muffin from the kitchen and moving to go to his room. "It was ok. There's this crazy park outside actually-"

Whatever Peter wished to say came to a grinding halt as he just now noticed that there was someone else in his home asides from his Aunt.

Someone he has just seen the other day.

His Aunt was giving him an expectant look whilst Tony Stark was eating his Aunts date loaf with a relaxed demeanor.

"Oh Mr. Parker." Tony pretended to had just noticed Peter's arrival.

Peter was a bit at a loss for words right now. "Uh… um, Hey, I-I'm Peter."

"Tony."

"Right uh, what're you, what're you, what are you doing here?"

"Well, it's about time we met." Tony said, setting down his loaf. "You've been getting my emails, right?" he proceeded to not-so-subtle wink at Peter which went unnoticed by Aunt May.

"Yeah, yeah, Regarding-"

"You didn't even tell me about the grant?" Aunt May cut in making Peter seize on that one word.

"Right, right, about the grant."

"The September Foundation." Tony added. "Remember when you applied?"

"Yes?"

"Well I approved. So now, we're in business." Tony gave Peter one more stare of 'let's-not-beat-around-the-bush-here, taking a sip of his drink a second later.

May held a slightly more disappointed look. "You didn't tell me anything, what's up with that? Are we keeping secrets from each other now?"

"Well I know how you like surprises." Peter quickly said. "So I just thought I would let you know… what… so what did I apply for again?"

"That's what I'm here to patch up." Tony answered. "Just gotta finish finalizing things is all."

"Right… Ok."

"Let me just say that it is quite astonishing that this young lady here is someone's Aunt." Tony said with his old flirtatious charm.

"Well, we aunts come in all shapes and sizes." May said with a bit of pride.

"This wall-nut date-loaf is particularly exceptional."

"Let me just stop you there." Peter interrupted. "This grant has got money involved or whatever?"

"Of course, yeah it is." Tony said. "I mean, look who you're talking to. Can I have five minutes with him?"

"Of course." May said, giving both Peter and Tony a bright smile while standing up to clean up the table with Tony gesturing for Peter to take them to a more private location.

Feeling his palms get a bit sweaty, Peter acquiesced and lead the billionaire to his small room.

Upon closing the door behind him, Tony made sure to lock it before going over to Peter's trash can and spitting out the rest of his unfinished loaf.

"As Walnut Date loaf's go, that wasn't bad." Tony remarked, looking around Peter's room settling on the young teen's desk. "Oh wow, what do we have here? Retro tech, huh? Thrift Store? Salvation Army?"

"Uh, the, uh garbage actually."

"You're a dumpster diver." Tony said plainly. "Have you been keeping up with your shots if you do that?"

"Yes, I have." Peter said. "..."

Tony crossed his arms, waiting for Peter to say something as clearly there was something on his mind.

"Look, I know I didn't apply for anything-"

"Ah, ah." Tony cut him off. "Me first. We didn't finish our conversation yesterday on that rooftop."

Peter's face visibly paled with an audible gulp.

"Spider-man." Tony said, testing out the name once more. "Not a lot of people like spiders, but you make it work."

"S-Spider-man?" Peter attempted to play it off. "Wha-What are you talking about? Who's this spider-guy you're talking about? That guy on YouTube?"

"Uh huh, yeah, see he's a bit of a new sensation. Kind of an urban myth like those UFOs over Phoenix" Tony moved aside for Peter to go to his desk as the young boy stammered out denials when Stark picked up a broom and pushed open a ceiling tile that was clearly out of place with a bundle of red and blue falling out which Peter dashed over to hide though it was all for nothing.

Peter tried to play it off though he knew the gig was up.

"Spider-man." Tony said knowingly.

Peter sighed. "You know I was actually having a really good day today, Mr. Stark. Didn't miss my train, this perfectly good DVD player was just sitting there."

Tony all the while picked up the boys homemade suit.

"And had an Algebra test today." Peter tapped his pen on his table emphatically. "Nailed it."

"Does anyone else know?"

"Nobody." Peter replied.

"Not even your… unusually attractive Aunt."

"No~ no, no, no." Peter said quickly. "If she knew she would freak out and when she freaks out then I freak out and then…."

Peter left his sentence unfinished.

"Lordy: can you even see through these?" Tony said jokingly, bringing the goggles of his mask up to his face making a bunch of noise.

Peter snatched his suit back in slight annoyance. "Yes, I can. I just have _really_ heightened senses. The goggles just help me focus is all."

"Uh-huh. And what of your webbing? Who manufactured that cause the tensile strength on that is off the charts." Tony said, clearly impressed.

"I did."

"Climbing walls? How you do that? Adhesive gloves?"

"Came with my heightened senses."

Nodding, Tony eyed Peter's outfit. "You, my good sir, are in dire need of an upgrade. Systemic, top to bottom, hundred-point restoration." Putting all jokes aside, the billionaire became serious. "Why are you doing this?"

"Excuse me?"

"I gotta know, what's your MO? What gets you out of your bed each morning?"

Peter didn't know what to say at first, causing him to stammer. Thinking of the best possible answer, he blabbed it out. "Because… I've been me my whole life and had these powers for seven months now."

Tony hummed, ushering Peter to continue.

"I read books. I build computers. I had thought of playing football, but I couldn't then so I shouldn't now."

"Sure, because you're different."

"Exactly. But I can't tell anybody that, so I'm not." Pausing, Peter thought on a memory and focused well into it. "When you can do the things that I can, but you don't… and then bad things happen… they happen because of _you_. No one else. You."

An uncomfortable silence fell upon them with Tony reflecting quite well what Peter was saying. His time in Afghanistan, being taken by the Ten Rings and escaping… at the cost of Yensin's life. And years later, him creating Ultron… and almost wiping out the planet's population by his own actions as a result.

And looking into Peter's eyes, Tony saw the kid too had something happen which was caused by his own actions and they haunted him greatly.

Breaking the silence, Tony spoke. "So you wanna look out for the little guy and you wanna do your part? Make the world a better place, all that, right?"

"Yeah, yeah. Just looking out for the little guy." Peter coughed into his hand in wanting to compose himself. "That's what it is."

Tony stared long and hard at the young superhero.

It was strange really how much he reminded him of both himself and Cap. Kid had a heart for the little guy like Cap always did but his guilt was something Tony was all too familiar with. Heck, his color patterns on his suit may as well have been a combination of Tony's trademark color of red with Cap's blazing blue.

"Well, I'm sold." Tony said, getting up from his chair and walking over to Peter. "I'm gonna sit right here so move the leg."

Peter slid his leg down, allowing Tony to sit down beside him on his twin bed. The Billionaire raised his hand, hovering in the air for a moment before patting Peter.

"So, ever been out of Queens?"

"Uh…"

"Trick question." Tony quickly said. "I'm here for… a proposition so to speak. The one I told ya yesterday."

_-Scene Cut-_

_***THWACK*** _

"Shit! It's him!"

"The fuck is he doing out here?!"

"For God's sake, shut up and get your gun re-AURGH"

From above, a man dressed in a red and black suit fell upon his next target, his body weight sending the criminal down to the ground and knocked him out with a clean jab to the head.

"The Devil!"

"It's just a guy in a sui-GAH!"

Said guy in a suit through a baton of some kind to a nearby wall which ricocheted off the bricks with an increased velocity which smacked itself dead center in the thug's forehead.

The man's head twitches to the side and with an astonishing display of reaction, reflexes, flexibility and agility performed a corkscrew backflip with him kicking another criminal down for the count.

There was the cocking of a pistol which made the red and black clad vigilante immediately pull out his other baton and flung it at the gunmen.

The gun was knocked out of the man's hand, the thug holding his hand as it throbbed in pain. He looked up in time with an expression of pure terror as the "Devil" stood before him with his fist cocked back.

A jolting pain in his cheek and the rest was just darkness.

The Devil stood over the broken and battered bodies of this small band of criminals and casually pulled out some rope he kept in his small new belt that he had attached to his suit.

He began rounding up the unconscious thugs, the sound of police sirens off in the distance drawing near.

Checking his surroundings one last time, he bolted from his spot and went towards the nearby fire escape. Quickly ascending the ladder and winding way towards the roof, the "Devil" peered down to see the police arriving onto the scene. As the law enforcement started hauling the thugs into their cruisers, the "Devil" finally decided to call it a night and rest.

He began running and jumping across the rooftops, buildings and fire escapes before at long last arriving at his destination.

Home.

Sliding down the ladder to his window, The Devil's hand was about to open the window to his home when he inclined his head down with his ear to the glass.

Eyes narrowing beneath his helmet, his enhanced senses began to pick upon on several things that did not belong in his home.

Cautiously, the Devil went to another part of his home and entered through a secret ventilation compartment and dropped down into the middle of his living room.

"Quite the space you have there."

The "Devil" stopped moving upon hearing the voice in his humble home.

Whirling around, he threw a baton right at the source, which was met with the projectile hitting something metal.

"YEOWCH!" The man cried aloud, shaking his hand in pain. "Whoa there, cowboy. I just wanna talk!"

The "Devil" soon heard his home invader move something across his hand and reconfigured it around his wrist.

"What are you doing here?"

"Like I said, I just wanna talk."

"And I can charge you for trespass."

"Sure you could, ninja boy."

The "Devil" ignored the punny jab at him as he wasn't in the mood on the banter.

"I'll ask you this only once." The Devil spoke in complete seriousness. "Who are you and what are you doing in my house?"

"Scouting."

"Scouting for what?"

"Just to assemble a new ensemble of people to help protect the innocent and all that jazz."

The "Devil" was trying to identify the voice and there was a tinge of something familiar about it. Where had he heard this voice before? He know he had, he didn't have excellent memory for nothing.

"Who are you?" he found himself asking again.

"Oh, no one special."

The look he gave the intruder was enough for said individual to let out a slight sigh of exasperation.

"Look, I see I came in at a bad time. You cranky from a long day and night of work. So you rest up and I'll chat with ya when you're less cranky… or whatever."

The trespasser then made his way towards the window and opened it up. Once stepping outside, he waved his hand and made his way further up the fire escape. The "Devil's" hearing picked soon picked up the man making it to the rooftop before sounds of an engine of sorts fired up and took off into the air.

'Who was that guy?' Came Matt Murdock's thoughts, pulling off his horned helmet and tossing it aside. 'Need to be more careful now since someone saw me here.'

" _Foggy, Foggy, Foggy, Foggy."_

Pulling out his phone from his utility belt, he answered the call and spoke. "Hey, Foggy, what's up?"

" _Checking up on you, duh."_ Foggy said from his end of the line with a joking demeanor. _"Busy night?"_

Matt stared out the window, his ears picking up on some kind of burning sound far off in the distance.

"Somewhat."

_-Scene Cut-_

The air was nice and crisp this fine morning. Something Matt Murdock enjoyed quite well. With a mug of coffee in one hand with his walking stick in the other, the blind lawyer walked towards his law firm, surprisingly relaxed even after last nights unexpected visitor.

You know what they say, a good nights' sleep does wonders for you.

Taking a sip of the freshly hot brew, the lawyer ascended the stairs at a careful pace. He didn't want to spill his precious caffeinated drink, even though his mug was closed off, along with him being careful on what he stepped on. After all, he slipped and fell a handful of times when he wasn't paying attention and he didn't want to make that same mistake for a long time.

Walking into the law firm, Matt's ears were greeted with an all too pleasant voice.

"Well, well, well, look who finally decided to grace us with his supreme presence."

Matt only smiled at his best friends joking tone. "You should feel so honored."

"Oh, we do." Foggy remarked, reclining back in his chair while reading up on a case they had been working on. "Ain't that right, Karen?"

Their blond secretary only chuckled beneath her breath, writing out several forms and contracts for clients that had come to their firm. "Yes. Lord Murdock is here. Now the real work can begin."

Foggy laughed aloud. "You here that, _Lord Murdock._ It's time to begin our real work."

The blind lawyer shook his head at their antics, making his way towards his desk.

"What do we have for today?" Matt inquired. "Is that Richard Drezin case gotten any headway?"

"There are several topics that came up." Foggy mentioned, pulling out a braille copy of the aforementioned copy. "Something about the driver somehow ending up on the road when he got struck."

"Who drives onto the side of the street?" Karen asked in bewilderment.

"Most people over in Europe and Asia." Matt responded. "Basically anyone outside of the US."

"You could say that again."

"And who is this person filing charges against?" Karen inquired.

"Some guy named Storm, Johnny Storm."

"...That can't be his real name." Matt said, giving his friend an extremely bewildered look.

"Legal documents are right here."

"Sounds something a weatherman would have on a news station."

"You're telling me."

"Speaking of news stations, I also got one from a Mr. Jameson." Karen pointed out.

"Old J.J? From the Bugle?"

"He does or might no longer. Says here he's trying to go through a legal battle against someone trying to buy out his newspaper for some particular set of reasons."

"Why isn't he using his pre-existing lawyers on that?"

Matt would've heard more on this conversation until his head suddenly looked to the side, his ears picking up on footsteps coming up to the front door of their law firm.

He got a whiff of cologne and… was that Axe body spray? Who wears that anymore?

The individual standing at the door knocked with a funny pattern, drawing the attention of Karen and Foggy.

"Oh, a new client so early in the morning." Foggy said with some excitement.

"Might be trying to get the more important stuff done early instead of later."

"I know I would. Especially first thing."

Matt remained silent, staring at the front door. Getting through the ridiculous choice of cologne, Matt caught a scent he had recently sensed just the other day.

"It's open." Foggy called out to the person on the other side, the door swinging open to reveal…

"Oh~ real quaint place you got here."

'That voice.'

Both Foggy and Karen froze in shock, with the lawyer stuttering out something out of his mouth. "Y-You're-You're-"

"Yes I know. You don't need to be too shocked to see me here."

"W-Why wouldn't we? You're Tony freaking Stark!"

Matt inhaled sharply, clenching his walking stick tightly.

"Actually my middle name is Edward, not 'freaking'." Joked the Iron Avenger. "But that is a pretty cool name actually when you say it out loud. So hey, Tony Freaking Stark. Pleasure to meet you all."

While Karen and Foggy stared in complete and absolute astonishment, Matt had his eyes boring into Tony's despite wearing his ruby shaded spectacles.

Tony noticed this and returned the gaze unflinchingly though managing to keep up an easygoing facade to the others.

"Uh… Do you-Would you like something to drink?" Karen quickly asked as she started heading towards the coffee machine. "Or something to snack on?"

"Nah, I'm good. Thanks for the offers though."

"Wh-what-what exactly can we d-do for you?" Foggy questioned in a stammer.

"Well it's not exactly you, Mr. Nelson, but with your friend here."

Feeling Mr. Stark's gaze resting upon him, he asked the obvious question. "Me?" Matt said lowly. "And why exactly are you here to speak to me, Mr. Stark?"

There was a clear tension in the question yet Tony shrugged it off.

"Requesting your help."

"With what, if you don't mind me asking?"

"Putting together a team." Tony said knowingly. "Is it alright if we talk in private?"

Matt narrowed his eyes, giving the billionaire a glare of sorts.

"And what's so important that requires him to talk _alone_ with you?"

Hearing Karen's question was directed at the billionaire, no doubt in a defensive manner, prompted the Iron Avenger to respond back.

"Nothing personal against you, Ms. Page." Tony said placatingly. "It's just something I've been meaning to speak with Mr. Murdock here on a very important topic that I think he should probably consider."

"Are you giving him an offer he can't refuse?" Foggy couldn't help but ask aloud.

"Not really Vito, just a life changing opportunity. Something that'll greatly benefit you three completely."

"And what makes you believe such a thing?" Matt asked somewhat challengingly. "What if I don't want to buy what you're selling?"

Foggy shot up from his seat though Tony was already answering the question.

"Then I think it would be a bit harder for you in keeping the white whale called Fisk locked away longer than he should."

The mention of Fisk cause a visible reaction from the three law firm tenants.

Karen flinched openly with Foggy's eyes widening. Matt tensed up and folded away his walking stick.

"Don't want to be all stereotypical about it, but I do have influences and connections that can help keep him in confinement longer than his scheduled time. And after pulling some Tomb Raiding off the deep web, I was able to find-"

"Stop…." Matt cut him off. "Just stop."

Tony had his mouth open to ramble on, clamping shut a moment later.

"Let's talk in my office." Matt said. "Foggy."

This surprised Tony a bit. "Really?"

"He and I make many decisions together." Matt said firmly. "Whatever you're going to offer, the two of us will hear it together."

Tony nodded approvingly. "Alright, fair enough."

The three men were soon seated within Matt's own office with Foggy nervously thrumming his hand against his best friends' desk.

By his side was Matt, seated upright with his hands crossed in front of him on the desk while facing the relaxed, reclined billionaire with a completely stoic face.

"Let's not beat around the bush here, Stark." Matt said plainly. "Why do you want me to join the Avengers?"

Foggy's face paled, snapping his head back and forth between Matt and Stark with his mouth suddenly dry.

"What makes you assume that?" Tony asked dismissively.

"Mr. Stark, I am not one to play around when it comes to serious matters such as the idea of being on a world stage." Matt said bluntly, making Tony blink at the lawyer's forwardness. "What you are asking of me is to basically declare to the world who I am and in my particular line of work, the safety nets you have is not a luxury I have."

"But that can be given to you." Tony countered. "If you join up, the name alone is enough to ward off quite a lot of basic criminals."

"You know that's not gonna work so easily."

Tony chewed the inside of his cheek. "Ok, yeah, criminals are idiots and don't know when to quit. But think about this. _Daredevil, Avengers newest recruit sweeps through Manhattan crime wave._ How many criminals will want to come out to play in the dark then?"

"Is this some kind of joke to you, Mr. Stark?"

"Do I sound like I'm joking?" Tony said to himself. "Alright, no facades here. Matt Murdock, I want you to join the Avengers."

Hearing this offer practically got Foggy almost foaming at the mouth… in a comedic manner. Wiping his mouth clean of it all, he quickly bolted from his seat and almost yelled at the top of his lungs.

"You want him to what?!"

"No."

"WHAT?!" Foggy cried out. "Matt, are you serious?"

"Wow, I kinda had the same response." Tony took the rejection in stride. "He's not the first and will surely not be the last in hearing that."

"Matt." Foggy said quietly. "You can't be serious about rejecting this? Think about it."

"I have Foggy, and that's just not me in the slightest." Matt said with conviction. "Mr. Stark here handles the world ending threats but my job is _here_ , down on the ground to pick up the slack that he obviously cannot."

"Alright, that was a serious shade throw right there if ever there was one." Tony murmured. "Ok, listen Matt, can I call you that? I'm gonna level with ya here cause this is something that I take a bit too seriously from what I've been told."

Matt leaned in with intrigue, his sense picking up on the shift in Tony's aura so to speak.

"The world has been under constant threat the past few years." Tony spoke in total seriousness, no room for humor. "And if you haven't noticed, it's only been escalating especially after New York three years ago."

Matt and Foggy were fully aware of course. They were here, in the city when chaos and death reigned from the sky in a literal void above Avengers Tower to the eternal expanse of space. An alien race came charging with six extraordinary individuals coming in to repel the attack.

Since that day, nothing on Earth had been the same.

They were not alone. And they were woefully underprepared for what was out there. It honestly seemed like fate or chance that the Avengers were there to save the day.

"Recently however, something happened." Tony went on, his tone turning grave. "The majority of my team, my friends, have disappeared."

"Whaddya mean by disappeared?"

"I'll pretty much summarize the whole thing for ya. Everyone except for Hawkeye and I went to a HYDRA base, they investigated and something went down over there. End result, they disappeared off the face of the planet."

Matt and Foggy were simply stunned silent. The Avengers were gone?

The entire team was missing? How is that possible?

Tony went on unimpeded with interruption. "Tried everything I could to find them since and I've had no such luck in finding their whereabouts."

Silence hung in the air as the two lawyers attempted to process as to what they had just heard. Matt in particular stared long and hard at the Iron Avenger, gauging at his heart rate, breath pattern, anything that may seem off to him.

"He's not lying…"

"You sure?"

"I would tell if he did."

"Oh~ a human lie detector. That's new." Tony said with interest. "How does that work?"

Rather than answering the current question, Matt chose to address one of the prior ones.

"Mr. Stark." Matt spoke in calm and measured words. "In light of these recent revelations… I'll take into consideration about this _invitation._ I admit that I was perhaps a bit too… rash and unjustified in my rejection of such an offer."

Tony only grinned in response. "That's all I wanted to hear."

Standing up from his seat, a gesture both lawyers mirrored, Stark held out his hand which Matt shook straight away.

There was one thing Tony was curious of, however, before he leaves. "So~ this whole blind thing…" He gestured up to the ruby glasses. "Is it real or an act?"

"That's… a bit complicated to explain." Matt plainly replied.

"That's the usual response I would expect really." Tony said flatly. "Nothing is ever simple in this world anymore."

"I don't think it has been for quite some time, Mr. Stark." Matt remarked.

"Preaching to the choir, Mr. Murdock." Tony said. "Until next time then."

Stark left a moment later leaving the two friends to their devices.

"So then~" Foggy gave his best friend a certain look. "You're an Avenger now."

"Let's not go jumping to that label just yet, Foggy." Matt said, his hand gesturing down yet his friends grin remained.

"What now then?"

Matt was silent, his advanced hearing picking up on Stark's receding footsteps down the hallways with his mind still on the proposition rich man had offered him. Joining the Avengers was not something Matt had ever even considered or even thought of in the slightest. It always seemed as though he was down here in the nitty gritty while the Avengers were up above, battling against innumerable enemies and odds that only they were capable of facing.

But now? Now these great beings had come down to him and offered him a spot among their ranks. That was not an easy thing to decide on and he did indeed feel a bit too hasty in how quickly he shot down the initial invite.

Going back to Foggy's unanswered question, Matt looked to his friend before turning to Karen and let out a disgruntled sigh.

"This changes a lot of things, Foggy." Matt said sardonically. "If I'm really gonna be a part of this… then that means it has to be all in."

Foggy quirked a brow, looking to who Matt was staring at before realizing the implication and turning back to his friend with his jaw dropping a bit.

"Are you sure about this, Matty?"

"No." Matt admitted. "But to take into consideration the prospect of being an Avenger? I… I'll have to change a few things for myself and for all of us. Karen deserves to know if she's staying with us for the long haul."

Foggy let out a sigh. "If you say so."

Sensing his best friends uncertainty, Matt grinned slightly and patted his friend on the back comfortingly. "Hey, things are gonna be alright. Who knows, when we meet Captain America you could get an autograph from him."

Foggy chortled when he took a moment to ponder over Matt's words. "Do you think he would?"

Now Matt laughed aloud at Foggy's comment, gaining Karen's attention.

"You guys are in high spirits." Karen stated, making Matt tilt his head slightly.

"We've recently been offered something that would be extremely beneficial to our firm. Though… there are many cons as well." Matt said. "In more way than what'd you would expect."

"Like what? Being his attorneys?" Karen said jokingly getting a small chuckle out of her two employers/friends.

"No…" Matt scratched the side of his head. "Not exactly."

Karen tilted her head.

"So what's the offer?" She inquired.

Matt and Foggy both exchanged glances even with the formers blindness, with the two entering a silent debate as to who should speak first.

"It's your show first, Matty." Foggy encouraged, making the blind lawyer sigh in slight defeat.

"Karen." Matt spoke slowly. "There is something you must know. Something I had hoped to keep a secret until Tony Stark dropped his offer on our front doorstep."

Tony Stark had stepped out of the building, momentarily looking back before checking his watch.

"Huh~ got time to kill." Tony murmured. "Might as well get some pizza."

Just as Tony was about to leave, he halted in his tracks upon hearing a sharp shriek of one word.

" _WHAT?!"_

Turning to the building of Nelson and Murdock's Law Firm, Tony blinked before reaching the obvious conclusion.

"Looks like she didn't know about Matt." Tony remarked. "Oh boy, this is gonna be a long one for the two."

_-Scene Cut-_

Clint Barton let out a tired sigh, leaning back in the chair he was currently resting on while looking over several files he had been reading for the past few minutes.

Off to the side, Tony sat with Shawarma in hand and a datapad in the other munching on his lunch.

Both men were relatively silent, going about their own business which was cut off upon the arrival of one annoyed Hank Pym.

"Mind telling me what the both of you are doing?" Hank asked in a deadpan at their rather lax mood.

"Looking over some important shit." Tony idly responded. "Finding Avengers and all, both here and there."

"And that means?"

"We're looking for our friends and new recruits." Clint answered before Tony could make another retort.

"New recruits?" Hank repeated in bewilderment. "Why in God's name would you be doing that over looking for the others."

"He just said we're doing both." Tony pointed out. "Besides, this was something I've been wanting to do for a while anyway. It's just that… well unfortunate circumstances forced me to do it sooner than later."

"Listen, Hank, we have a duty not just in finding the rest of the Avengers but also _being_ the Avengers as well." Clint stated firmly. "The Earth is now undermanned and we gotta pick up the slack and help get a new team together for the safety of this planet."

Hank wanted to counter that statement but knew better this time around. As loath as he was to admit it out loud, Pym understood their reasoning and it wasn't exactly his place to speak out against such a thing. After all, at one point in his life he conducted missions on behalf of the world for its safety. Granted it was always done in secret… and the fact that SHIELD was actually HYDRA but he still believed and knew he had helped safeguard the world a number of times.

So, he kinda regretted in asking this.

"Who do you have?"

Clint and Tony paused in their work, looking up at the old inventor/hero before looking at one another.

"What?" Was Tony's response.

Hank grumbled. "Who do you have? Which people did you recruit?"

Wordlessly Tony held out his datapad for Hank.

Pym took the pad out of Starks hand and looked over what he had so far.

"Spider-man?" Hank murmured. "Is this a play on me being an Ant?"

Tony guffawed with Clint cracking an amused grin.

"Not at all but thank you for that." Tony remarked. "No, this is someone I've had my eye on since I first caught wind of him a few months ago. Hasn't been active long but kids got skills and potential."

"Kid?" Hank said. "What are we talking about here, 20? 19?"

"Try 15."

"Fifteen?!" Hank exclaimed. "What the hell is the matter with you, Stark?! Why in god's name would you choose a high schooler?!"

"Just look at what he could do." Tony said confidently.

Glowering at the billionaire for a brief moment, Hank glanced down to the collection of short clips Tony had put together and what he saw wasn't disappointing to say the least.

"The webbing…" Hank spoke up, bringing up the file that Tony had separate to it. "The tensile strength is extraordinary. Did you give him that?"

"He made it." Tony said smugly. "Kids a natural little genius. Made his own web shooters to swing around."

Hank couldn't deny that he wasn't impressed. A fifteen year old kid made this?

"He's still a kid though."

"Yeah, a kid that could stop a bus with his bare hands." Tony pointed out. "A kid that chose to do this without anyone egging him on to do so. Think about what _we_ can do if we teach him how to avoid _our_ mistakes."

Hank gave the Iron superhero a hard stare, seeing a weight and tiredness in the man's eyes. A tiredness he himself could relate to.

Sighing, Hank decided to drop this matter and move on to the next individual. The first word he spotted was the man's occupation.

"Lawyer?" Hank snorted aloud. "There some kind of ulterior motive behind this one, Stark?"

"Him being a lawyer is just an added bonus is all." Tony said airily though the humorous tone was obvious to hear. "Makes him much more legitimate if you want to call it that."

Shaking his head in amusement, Hank read over the file with his face growing much more serious.

'He's blind? How does he even fight?' Hank internally questioned.

Hank kept scrolling down and found that Tony had a few notes, this lawyer apparently telling him of his hyper advanced senses. Hyper-hearing, smell, touch and taste.

Fascinating set of abilities.

"The Devil of Hell's Kitchen?" Hank mused. "That's one heck of a nickname."

"Sure earned it though." Clint said with praise. "Guy took on several mobs and that Kingpin fella on his own. Not bad."

"So that's it so far?" Hank inquired. "Just these two?"

"Well, the only two I approached." Tony admitted. "Got a few others in Manhattan that I've been meaning to meet with as well."

"Plus a few scattered around the world." Clint added, bringing up more files from his own nearby datapad before sending it to the one Hank held.

Hank looked over several files, taking a few seconds to skim over each one he went through.

"Ethereal Flames? What kind of description is that supposed to be?"

"Don't know, that's all we got on this wayward traveler."

"Boss."

The three men glanced up at the sound of Friday's voice.

"I've just received a message from Colonel Fury."

"What'd he say?"

"Let me in Stark, I need to talk with you."

Everyone present paused as they all took a moment to process the voice of one Nick Fury that was heard over the bases intercom. More specifically, the intercom in the room they resided in at the moment.

No sooner did Tony allow entry for the former director of SHIELD that the man came in, trench-coat, eyepatch and all.

"Ahoy, Patchy." Tony greeted lazily. "Nice of you to _finally_ visit after-"

"The Avengers went missing?" Fury finished for Stark in dry tone. "I'm well aware Stark. What do you think I've been doing?"

"I dunno." Tony said with a shrug. "You're a spy with his spy organization defunct thanks to Cap and you've basically gone AWOL since Ultron. You tell me."

Fury rolled his singular eye at Starks typical banter, looking over to Clint and giving him a nod in greeting which the archer returned.

He then turned to Hank with the two entering into a bit of a stare down.

"Doctor Pym." Fury said cordially.

"Fury." Pym said in turn.

Tony of course, couldn't help himself. "So, not for nothing. Not that surprised that you do know Pym here, but the question is when and how? SHIELD days?"

"Something like that." Fury answered cryptically.

"Well that explains just about everything." Tony said with an expectant look to add to his sarcasm. "So, what's the word on your end Fury? Any luck in finding a way to locate our wayward teammates?"

Fury only shook his head, mentally berating himself at his failure at locating the lost heroes. So much for being the spy who knows everything.

Tony slumped a bit in disappointment, feeling a bit of his hopes being dashed.

"So then why are you here exactly?" Clint asked for the group overall.

"Found something that you guys might find surprising." Fury announced. "She's been a bit under the radar to say the least, but Bruce made me promise to keep it that way like I did with him before New York."

The others stared in confusion at the former Director.

"I'm sorry, what now?" Tony spoke up. "Bruce? She? What's going on here, Nick?"

"Fury." The bald spy corrected pointedly. "And what's going on is I have another possible recruit who wants to present her case personally."

"Oh, Show and tell then?" Clint stated.

"Something like that."

"You said that Bruce asked you to keep her under the radar." Tony brought up, thinking back to his close friend that had gone missing earlier this year. "Who exactly is she?"

Fury eyed Tony, looking between him, Clint and Hank.

"Someone important. Family."

_-Scene Cut-_

Peter stared in complete awe, stammering profusely into his phone as he vlogged about his newest suit that was a major upgrade from his old onesie.

It was completely sleek and form fitting with multiple new tech upgrades that Peter had only scratched the surface of.

Literally. He literally didn't know what most of these new functions were capable of.

In all honesty, it was completely overwhelming.

But awesome all the same.

Did this mean he was part of the Avengers?

Right now, Peter really didn't care all that much as he read over a few of the instructions that came in the case of his new suit and quickly slipped it on a few moments later before jumping out from his window and scaled up the side of his building.

Good thing Aunt May was out working today.

Peter eventually got to the rooftop and stood atop the edge, inhaling deeply while stretching himself out to get a feel of the new suit.

It was tight and form fitting but really snug at the same time.

Looking down to the street below before back at the city scape before him, Peter was jittery and excited to a high degree that he couldn't even describe it properly.

He readied himself to jump out into the streets below when a stray thought occurred in his mind making him pause in his movements.

This brand new suit was really awesome and he couldn't wait to try it out. But doing from the roof of his apartment building felt kinda lackluster.

Taking a moment to gaze out at his home borough, Peter's eyes landed on the Manhattan skyline off in the distance.

_-Scene Cut-_

Standing atop the Chrysler Building, Peter peaked out over the edge of the skyscraper with his enhanced eyes picking up the many cars and people moving about down below.

Mask in hand, the young hero let out a series of calming and readying breaths as he internally hyped himself up.

This wasn't the first time he would web-swing of course, however he got a brand new spanking, sleek and spiffy suit made by Tony Stark himself.

Placing his mask on, his lenses widened and narrowed several times to get adjusted to his own eyes while the many functions of the suit appeared before him.

Rolling his shoulders and jumping a bit on the spot, Spider-man crouched down low to the ground and jumped high into the air into a forward backflip.

Free-falling to the ground below, Spider-man let out a whoop of glee as he accelerated downward until his was at the tenth floor level of the building he jumped from.

Shooting out a web line, the momentum coupled with the velocity on top of his strength with his pull sent the web-head rocketing forward at full speed.

"This is awesome." Peter exclaimed with jubilation, swinging through the buildings of Manhattan with glee.

Down below, and all around from the windows, citizens caught sight of a red and blue blur swing above them or at their story high building with many trying to get a glimpse as to what that was.

Spider-Man sailed through the air, from web line to web line when the sound of trouble caught his attention.

Not far below, he heard a scream of a woman and managed to look down in time to see a man wrench a ladies purse from her hands and made a break for it.

Letting go of the line he was currently swinging on, Peter dive-bombed to the ground and with expert timing landed right in front of the mugger who stumbled back in shock at such a brightly colored individual appearing in front of him.

"I'll take that." Peter declared, firing a web at the bag and easily snatching it out of the man's hands. "And you could hang out here a minute."

Using a trick he had been working on prior to meeting Tony Stark, Spidey shot a web at the petty thief that snagged him up and whipped the line to a nearby street lamp with the man now hanging there pitifully.

"Hey, uh, Whose is this?" Peter called aloud to the assembled crowd, holding up the bag. "I got it back."

Nobody responded, instead hearing multiple murmurs and whispers as to just who this guy was supposed to be.

"Uh… Ok." Spider-man shrugged. "Is there an officer nearby? There's gotta be, it's Manhattan."

Thankfully, the woman who had been mugged stepped forward though she did so hesitantly. He offered it right to her with a smile beneath his mask before jumping away to swing through the city once more.

"Alright, good start." Peter murmured to himself, swinging around the corner of a street when his Heads up display from his mask notified him of a text message he had received from Aunt May.

"Whoa, cool." Spider-Man remarked, landing on a wall with his stick 'em powers allowing him to casually sit against the bricks.

Pulling up the message, May's text informed him of her having to pull a longer shift then expected for today and that he shouldn't wait up for the night.

While slightly upset that he wouldn't see his Aunt waiting for him at home, Peter could hardly deny the growing excitement of spending the whole day learning the higher functions of his newest suit.

And so for the next few hours, Peter found himself swinging throughout the city of Manhattan, going back to Queens even stopping by Brooklyn to test out how well his suit functioned under prolonged usage.

Needless to say, he wasn't disappointed.

To be frank with himself, he was still coming to grips with what he had gotten. It was just to surreal for him.

Knowing he needed a momentary breather to think, Spider-man quickly zipped by a hot dog stand and snagged several readymade dirty water dogs while dropping a twenty for the vendor.

Swinging upward, he casually landed in a seated position on the edge of a nearby rooftop and pulled his mask up to his nose to eat.

Nothing like a New York Hot dog to round out the day.

Taking a large bite out of his first hot dog, Spidey hummed to himself while pulling out his phone and began sifting through any messages or updates he had gotten over the past few hours.

Aside from a recent text from his Aunt asking him if he was home yet, there wasn't much that he had gotten that was important. Just the usual texts and emails he got from his few friends, school and so on.

There was one piece of information however that immediately caught his attention. And that were the multiple news articles and videos that had sprung up about a certain wall crawler that has been sited all throughout New York helping the citizens of the boroughs in any and every way he can.

Scrolling down a bit more, he saw a few news outlets from Queens bring up other videos and images of him at the start of his superhero career and comparing the movements and action concluding that this must be the same vigilante.

Peter was surprised and not surprised at the same time. He was surprised at how quickly they deduced that it was just him with a new updated look but at the same time with social media and all, he rationalized it wouldn't be too much of a stretch that they figured out it was just him.

Shrugging to himself, Peter reached for more hot dogs when he realized he was all out.

"Ah dang it." Peter muttered to himself. "All out."

Glancing around back to the hot dog stand down below, he saw the man was packing up and heading home.

"Well he's out of the question."

Looking around, Peter hoped to find any food places open that were close by when his eyes landed on several shady individuals all "discretely" entering in an alleyway a few blocks down.

Narrowing his eyes, Spider-man had a strange gut feeling about these goons and slid his mask back on.

Making sure to swing high in the air and sticking to shadowy areas, Spider-man soon found himself attached to a wall in between the alley that these shifty men had entered.

Down below, he counted about a dozen or so men all present with three on one end with the others standing before them.

"Alright then." The central figure of the trio on the left spoke in a European accent Spidey couldn't quite identify. "Which one of you fine gentlemen is Barret?"

"That'd be me." A Black America with a beret stepped forward with a bit of a swagger to his step. "I take it your this clue guy?"

"Ulysses Klaue." The European identified himself with an eccentric grin. "At your service."

"Klaue?" One of Barret's boys spoke up. "Ulysses Klaue of Ahab? Aren't you on Sound Cloud?"

Klaue's eyes lit up with glee. "Are you a fan? We've got a new album coming out soon."

"Murphy, seriously?" Barret gave his cohort a dry look who in turn shrugged sheepishly.

"I'll be sure to give a signed physical copy." Klaue said with a grin. "Now, onto business. Mr. Turk Barret, can I interest you in my wears?"

"Alright, none of that RPG mumbo jumbo." Turk waved off. "Show us what you've got."

"Gladly." Klaue's crazed grin remained in place, giving one of his men a nod.

The man to Klaues' left held up a briefcase he was carrying and opened to reveal a gun shaped device of some kind that none of the New York natives could identify.

"And what the fuck is this supposed to be?" Turk said in bewilderment.

"This my good friend is the future." Klaue spoke like a car salesmen, voice giddy with what he was presenting. "The tipping point you'll need to not only stave off the worst of your enemies but put you on the top and keep you there."

"What can it do?" one of Turks men asked.

"Well, I'm glad you asked young man." Klaue said in a manner similar to a salesmen…. Which he technically was.

Grabbing the weapon, Klaue held it up in the direction of some nearby trash cans and garbage bags. Pulling on the trigger, the weapon made some humming sounds that it was powering up with several lights appearing around its form.

A moment later, a ball of purplish-blue energy shot out from the barrel of the now clearly defined super gun and completely obliterated the pile of trash and metal.

Turk and his men jumped back in shock and awe while Peter, who had been watching the whole thing, widened his eyes in utter disbelief.

'What the hell is that supposed to be?!' Peter internally asked in a bit of a mental scream.

"I can't let these guys get this thing out on the streets." Peter said, starting to edge his way down.

"With this beauty." Klaue confidently patted the gun. "No one would be able to challenge you."

"You sure about that?" Spider-man announced from above, making himself known to the criminals as he fired a web line and snatched the weapon out from Ulysses' hands.

Instead of being angered or irate at losing his merchandise, Klaue instead looked at Spider-man who stood on the wall with childlike wonder.

"Bless my beard, and who are you supposed to be?" Klaue inquired with clear intrigue.

"Hey." Another of Turk's men spoke up. "I've been seeing this guy all over New York today. It's that spider guy from Queens."

"You're a long way from home, aren't you?" Barret said, managing to hide his slightly nervous tone.

"Right, the E-express line is _such_ a long way from home." Spider-man said dryly. "Now, how about you come quietly and we could all put this behind us while you're behind bars for the illegal trade of weapons of mass destruction."

"How old are you?" Turk couldn't help but ask, taking note of Peter's voice. "You sound like a kid."

"A kid who has your little toy." Peter shot back.

"Right, right."

Wordlessly, Turk and the rest of his men pulled out pistols all pointed at Spider-man who tensed up but remained where he stood.

"How about you step down and hand that back over to us and we'll-"

"GAH!"

From behind, one of Turks men dropped suddenly to the ground. A second later, a strange whirring sound was heard by Peter and his enhanced eyes picked up on a staff of some kind being thrown from above and hitting another of Turks men right in the neck, knocking him out.

"Shit." Turk cried aloud. "It's him!"

"Him?" Peter asked aloud.

No sooner had he said that, someone else dropped down from a nearby fire escape and performed a split kick to a pair of thugs.

"The devil!" Another man shouted, raising his gun to fire.

Seizing up, Peter reacted in the blink of an eye, quickly firing a line and snagged the gun out of the man's hand.

A moment later, the "Devil" performed a cartwheel kick to the unarmed thug and knocked him down.

"Whoa-WHOA"

Peter didn't have time to admire what the man just did as he had narrowly dodged an energy blast of some kind that came from Klaues group. He had inadvertently dropped the advanced gun while landing on the ground and turned to face Klaue.

What he saw made his eyes nearly bulge out as his jaw dropped.

Klaue's left arm split apart to reveal a cannon pointed upwards with its barrel smoking and its owner grinning maniacally.

Peter couldn't help but say. "You have a cannon for an arm?! That would be so awesome if you didn't just shoot it at me."

"It is awesome, isn't it?" Klaue retorted gleefully. "Now then."

Klaue whipped out his arm to fire again, making Peter jump out of the way.

Landing on the ground, Spidey accidentally stood in front of a criminal that was attempting to run away.

Spooked by Spider-man appearing in front of him, the thug attempted to knock Spider-man out with a pistol whip.

Peter easily caught the criminals arm and with his strength made the man knock himself out.

Looking back up, Spider-man was surprised to find all the criminals had already been dealt with. Only Turk remained conscious on his knees, bemoaning his situation.

"Come on man, I wasn't even doing anything this time."

"Really?" The Devil spoke in conversational and expectant tone. "Cause from the looks of it, you're back in exactly the same scenario I last saw you in, Turk. Did you really want another concussion to go with your week like last time?"

"Look, Dee, it was just an examination." Turk said more annoyed then desperate. From the way these two were speaking with one another, this clearly was not the first time this had happened. "Just scouting out, I wasn't even gonna buy from this kook. I just wanted to see what the hubbub was about."

"And since there is honor among thieves, as the saying goes, that meant that even if you didn't take the deal there would be someone else that would. And because you didn't do the proper upstanding thing a citizen should do, you'd be guilty by association with your silence." The man said in a near rehearsed manner.

Seriously, how often did these guys run into each other?

"Listen, we just heard about this guy in town." Turk rattled off. "Just some new blood trying to make a name for themselves here in this city, that's all."

"New blood?" The man in red and black scoffed. "That man was more experienced than anyone of you guys combined with all your lifetimes. He wasn't new blood, he's just looking for new blood and crops. You don't know what you're getting yourself into, Turk."

"And you do?" Turk shot back dryly.

"More than you." The "devil" said with finality, raising his fist making Turk recoil.

"Ah come on, is that really necessary?" Turk whined.

The man standing over Barret paused for a moment with his head titled to the side in consideration.

"Yes."

With a quick strike to the face, Turk was knocked out.

Spider-man simply stared all the while, mouth agape and in complete awe of who was standing in front of him.

It took him a bit but after looking over the suit, the horns and the demeanor this guy gave off, it was clear as day for Peter that this was none other than…

"You're the Devil of Hell's Kitchen, aren't you?" Peter asked excitedly.

Daredevil finally turned to acknowledge the other vigilante in the alleyway, his lenses focusing on the web-head.

"And you sound like a kid." Daredevil remarked stoically. "Who are you?"

"Oh, um-uh, I'm Spider-man." Peter said with a slight stutter.

"Spider-man?" Daredevil repeated. "So you're that Spider guy that's been on the news all day?"

"You've heard of me?" Peter asked.

"Kinda hard not to." Daredevil responded unamused. "When hearing all the chatter and… there were these sounds that have been echoing across the city all day. Like… Thwips of some kind if that's how I could describe it."

"Yeah, that was me." Spider-man admitted. "I've been web swinging around the whole day from here to Queens, Brooklyn and back."

"That was you?" Daredevil stepped closer to the young hero.

"Yup." Peter said proudly, when he realized something. "Wait, where's that Klaue guy? Oh man, he got away didn't he?"

"And he took that hand cannon with him."

"Dang it. Man, so much for this new suit. Mr. Stark would have done way better."

Daredevil's head sharply snapped in Peter's direction. "What did you just say? Mr. Stark? You know Tony Stark?"

Slightly put off by Daredevils reaction, Peter stammered a bit in response. "Y-yeah, I met him recently and he gave me my new suit. Really cool about it, you know."

Daredevil stood over Spider-man with an intimidating aura making Peter squirm a bit from the fellow vigilantes intense gaze.

"Who are you exactly?" Daredevil asked. "And how old are you really?"

Peter remained silent for a moment. "Uh… 25?"

The deadpan look Daredevil gave him was enough to make the overbearing air diminish.

"Alright, try again this time without lying." Daredevil stated.

"What? How do you know I'm lying? It's the truth." Spider-man rapidly shot back defensively.

"You're definitely a kid, that's for sure." Daredevil said with assured confidence, making Peter jolt in the man's observation. "Though how old remains the question."

"Ugh, listen man, can I just go home?" Spider-man asked. "I gotta do some ho- errands before tomorrow."

"Homework?" Daredevil guessed correctly, his hyper-sensitive ears picking up on the spike of Spider-man's heartbeat. "You were gonna say homework weren't you?"

Spider-man gulped a bit at Daredevils stunning analytical skills. "N-noooo, ok, yes, Homework. I've got homework I gotta do."

"Who are you then? And answer honestly cause I know Tony Stark as well."

"You do?!" Spider-man's nervousness was traded in for excitement.

"Yes." Daredevil nodded. "And since we have a mutual person that we both know…"

"Well~" Peter rubbed the back of his head. "Would you believe me if I told you I was fifteen?"

_-Scene Cut-_

It was a bright and early day in LaGuardia airport, planes coming in and out of the airport with many people going about their business in terms of making, scheduling and getting on flights.

"So… this is America?" A young, teenage African girl said excitedly. "I cannot wait to see the sights here!"

"Don't wander off Shuri, stay with the Okoye and wait for father." A man a few years older than her said with slight exasperation.

"Oh, don't worry brother." Shuri waved off. "I know what I'm going to do."

"Go off in a random direction and have your brother and I try finding you like last time?" An elderly voice asked with amusement laced in his tone.

"It wasn't that bad, baba." Shuri whined. "You and T'challa just love to gloat about it."

"Considering how often you gloat about our misfortunes, we shall take what we can get."

Shuri only huffed, turning away with her arms crossed while both her father and her brother laughed at her reaction. Though it didn't take long for her to crack a small smile of her own, nudging her father who in turn wrapped his arm around her shoulder into a loving hug.

T'challa looked at his father and sister with a loving smile before looking out into a nearby window.

There in the distance was the city so nice, they named it twice.

Such an unusual boast though it reflected the cities pride in itself.

Now one would think that T'challa would reprimand and discard such boasting of a city. Then again, he couldn't deny the pride he had in his own home country so who was he to judge.

After all, he had come to this city because his countries security demanded that of him.

And he would deliver on what had been asked of him.

This, the prince of Wakanda promised.

**Thanks Jebest as usual.**

**Rate Read and Review and as Always Have Nice Day.**


	20. Lost

**Rate Read and Review and as Always Have Nice Day.**

Avengers Infinite Wars Chapter 20: Lost

"So you recruited a fifteen-year-old boy to the Avengers?"

"Oh my God, is _everyone_ gonna hound my ass for the rest of my life now? The kids got potential and he chose to be a hero without any of us telling him to do so. Why is everyone treating me like I'm the bad guy. I even gave him a new suit so he won't make any of the mistakes that we've made in the past. How is that considered irresponsible and inconsiderate? Jesus, one step forward two steps back. Anyone else have any further criticisms for me? None of you guys are Cap so you better bring your A-game and yes that is a play on with the A for Avengers."

Tony was met with silence from those present in the conference room of the Avengers HQ.

Matt Murdock sat on the left of Tony, a few seats down as his hand glided over a brail transcribed document over a case he was working on.

Clint Barton sat parallel to the lawyer; legs propped up on the table with a book in hand.

Hank Pym was sifting through a datapad, going over some of his research.

And Peter Parker sat closest to Tony though he was silent and felt _really_ out of place right now.

"Feel better now?" Clint asked after a prolonged silence.

"Somewhat but the only time I really feel better is when I'm with Pep and she's not here right now." Tony remarked.

"Innuendo aside." Matt spoke up. "Aside from Mister Parker's recruitment, there is the matter of Ulysses Klaue being in the city of Manhattan."

"How did a man like that get into the states so easily?" Hank inquired, grimacing as he recalled the illegal dealings Klaue specialized in.

"In today's day and age with what he's packing, it shouldn't be surprising how easily a guy like him could get around." Clint stated. "There's people all over the world who'd give up an arm and a leg for his specific type of product. And get that arm and leg back a day later."

"What's he selling?" Matt asked.

"The very rarest metal on the planet." Clint said, recalling a conversation he and Tony had a few months ago. "Vibranium. The same metal that made Cap's shield. Metal is damn near indestructible."

"And this Klaue individual is now in Manhattan with this rare metal hoping to sell it to the highest bidder." Matt said dryly.

"Jeez, don't make it sound like it's the end of the world."

"You're right Mr. Stark, I shouldn't make such haphazard statements in your presence most of all. You and Mr. Barton do specialize in such matters."

"Hardy Har Har, Mr. Murdock. You use this wit with the ladies or in court?" Tony deadpanned.

Matt remained silent with a small upward twitch of the lip making Tony momentarily glower though he brushed it off a second later.

"This is what I get for recruiting a lawyer." Tony said to himself.

"We do specialize in pissing off just about everyone we meet, Mr. Stark." Matt plainly stated. "Us as well as most politicians, inventors and businessmen."

Both Stark and Pym stared at the blind lawyer with half-lidded eyes as the man continued to trail his fingers over his reading.

Sighing, Tony shook his head and looked over to Peter who was fidgeting a bit in his seat.

"What's the matter kid, something eating you?" Tony asked making the young hero perk his head up.

"Oh, uh, it's nothing Mr. Stark."

"You sure?"

"Yea…" Peter paused for a moment before gaining a sheepish look. "Uh, I actually need to get home. I got… homework."

Clint guffawed a moment later with Matt smirking openly at such a statement. Even Hank shook his head in amusement while Tony stared blankly at the high schooler before rolling his eyes.

"I'm gonna pretend you didn't say that."

"Now, now Mr. Stark." Murdock spoke up. "Far be it from us older gentlemen to impede upon Mr. Parker's education. The youth of America are the future of this country and the world after all."

"Did you swallow Shakespeare, Poe and every other dramatic book on the way here or something?"

"I'm a lawyer."

"That explains everything." Tony said sarcastically. "Alright, since you two can't stay out of your pond for longer than an hour."

Soon enough, Peter and Matt were in the backseat of a car with an automated car.

It was a bit of an awkward silence between the two with Peter's finger drumming against his knees as he kept his face turned to his window.

"Mr. Parker."

Peter jolted at Matt suddenly speaking.

"Could you refrain from doing that with your hands and knees?" Matt asked politely. "The constant drumming is rather jarring."

Peter blinked at such an odd request, glancing down to his hands before back up to the lawyer.

"Wait, you were able to hear all this?" Peter asked, gently tapping his fingers against his knees.

"I can hear _many_ things." Murdock replied vaguely. "I can hear your stomach digesting that quesadilla you had eaten at the Avengers headquarters along with the cars driving on the freeway a few miles up ahead to that fly that just flew by the driver's window."

Peter stared silently at Matt, his mind processing what the Lawyer had just described.

"That's… wow, so you have hyper advanced senses then?" Peter asked excitedly.

Matt arched a brow at the teens shift in demeanor, now clearly much more interested in him then attempting to remain silent for a majority of the drive.

"Yes…" Matt spoke slowly. "It compensates for my blindness."

"Wow, that's awesome." Peter praised. "I kinda have the same thing but it's weird really. I mean it's like, I could hear and see everything all at once but man it-"

"Can be overwhelming?" Matt finished for Peter with a knowing tone.

"Yeah, everything is just turned up to eleven and it was freaky for the first few days." Peter recalled when he first got his powers. "Everything was just slamming into me all at the same time. It was trippy and gave me the biggest headache."

Matt snorted to himself. "I know the feeling. Had the same reaction when I…" He gestured to his ruby glasses. "Couldn't even sleep properly. All I "felt" was everything around me."

"Oh man." Peter leaned back into his seat. "Maybe it's a good thing then? All of us super powered guys sticking together and all?"

Matt quirked a brow at the question. While a slightly pessimistic man, Murdock wasn't one to simply reign down negativity for the sake of it. On the contrary, he relished in every positive scenario or individual he would come across.

It's why Foggy Nelson was his best friend.

"We should." Matt confirmed, nodding to Peter who grinned at him.

"I uh… I just grinned at you…" Peter said awkwardly. "Y-you know-"

"Thank you." Matt nodded at the high schooler, a sense of familiarity coming over him. "So, I remember something about you being from Queens correct?"

While the two New Yorkers began to bond, back at the Avengers HQ, Hank Pym was at the lab once more working through exhaustion to better understanding the circumstances that had led to the Avengers disappearance.

There was one thing on his mind however, something he had caught on recently and a topic that has been eating at him to go to the source of it all.

Hank had watched the many HYDRA videos of their scientists conducting experiments for what felt like the thousandth time when Tony Stark walked in.

"You know, I don't know how much this means to you, Hank…" Tony drawled out. "But have you considered taking a break? A nap? Hot shower? Cause the number of rings around your eyes would make Saturn jealous."

"As funny as ever Stark." Pym dryly remarked, eyes glued to his datapad.

"What exactly are you looking for, Pym?" Tony inquired. "Something we might've missed? Cause I kinda made sure about a dozen times now that I didn't miss anything."

"With the equipment that you had." Hank quickly pointed out. "But not with mine."

Tony tilted his head at that last bit. "I beg your pardon?"

"You used everything you had at your disposal, correct?" Hank inquired, though he left no room for Stark to answer. "So then can you explain to me what _this_ is?"

Hank held up the data pad to display a graph chart with a constantly fluctuating wavelength.

Tony took a second to look at it. "That's the residual leftover energy from the base. Why, did I miss something?"

"Perhaps you did." Hank murmured. "I've noticed some strange occurrences. First of all, this energy has yet to subside. I understand the whole leftover residual energy but this? This energy spiked a few times since their disappearance. You missed something. _We_ missed something."

Crossing his arms, Tony pondered on Hank's words. "Alright, humor me. What do you think we missed?"

"Something we don't fully understand." Hank stated. "These energy readings; I've tried matching them to quantum fluctuations and the like and while there is some kind of link it's completely its own thing."

"So what? You're telling me Hydra was working on something new? Discovered a new source of some kind?"

"Possibly." Hank looked back down to the data pad. "There might be the off chance that there is still more in that mountain base then we had initially perceived."

"More hidden equipment and tech?" Tony shrugged his shoulders. "Well, I'm all for going back out there then just sitting around here twiddling our thumbs."

"I wholeheartedly agree, Stark." Hank stated. "Which is why I'm coming with you."

"Oh? A sudden lust for adventure?"

"I admit that just remaining in one place doing research isn't enough in regards to this situation. A more hands on approach is needed here."

Tony only grinned. "That's my kind of style."

Hank rolled his eyes. "Of course it is."

"So then, when do you wanna go?"

"As soon as possible."

"Friday, make a list of tools and equipment we'll need for our trip."

_-One Week Later-_

Spider-Man swung through the streets of Manhattan, ever vigilant in his patrol of the city.

It had been a few days since his encounter with Klaue and meeting Daredevil and since that time he had been devoting himself to making trips all over New York to see if he could find any trace of the weapons dealer.

So far, nary a hair nor trace of the man in question.

Griping to himself, Spidey angled his body to slingshot upwards before landing on a radio pole and looked down at the city below.

"How the heck can you hide in a city like… wait, no, never mind." Peter said, dropping down into a sitting position onto the edge of the rooftop building that held the radio antenna. He slouched a bit in frustration while removing his backpack he had carried on with him.

Where could they possibly be hiding?

He had already checked several abandoned warehouses at multiple docks as that always seems to be the go-to spot for those kinds of individuals, yet he found nothing.

Grumbling again, Spidey hitched his mask up to his nose and pulled out a bottle of water and jugged down the contents.

Crushing the bottle flat and easily dropping it over a recycle bin conveniently down below on the street level, Peter leaned against his knees as he hung his head.

He went through many possible scenarios as to where Klaue and his goons could possibly be but found himself lacking.

Looking for weapon dealers were a first for the web-head and he honestly had no idea what to do. This was not in his usual wheelhouse of stopping muggers, robbers and common petty criminals. These men were more organized and experienced. Which means he couldn't just rush in recklessly.

Sliding his mask back down, Peter took to swinging and talking to himself as he found himself doing so more and more often when dealing with problems.

"Okay, let's think. Whatever possible locations these guys are hiding have to be from either abandoned warehouses or buildings… or locations owned under different aliases." Peter muttered out, rubbing his forehead with his free hand. "Which, in this city, is a lot."

Performing a corkscrew spin, Spidey zipped in between several multiple alleyways before swinging through Times Square.

"Definitely nowhere near anywhere public or even close to it." Peter said, glancing back at the busy streets of one of Manhattan's most popular tourist areas.

If he were being true to himself, as well as he knows Manhattan and New York in general, God knows how long it would take in finding Klaue.

"Wish Mr. Stark gave me Friday or any AI. This might run a _little_ smoother. Emphasis on little."

Heading towards midtown, Peter looked to the stores below and spotted a name that made him blink.

"Hell's Kitchen…" Peter murmured to himself when his eyes lit up. "That's it! I just gotta talk to Mr. Murdock! He knows all about the underground shifty business."

Swinging down to a nearby alley way, Peter quickly changed into his civilian clothes and pulled out his phone to type in a specific address.

Following its directions, Peter arrived in a short while at his destination only to find a slightly portly man walking out of the building humming a jaunty tone.

The man noticed Peter who was staring at him.

"Uh… hey there kid." He greeted politely enough. "Can I help you with something?"

The high schooler stammered slightly, looking at his phone then back at the man standing at the door to his destination.

"Y-yeah, um, I-I'm here to see Mr. Murdock." Peter answered.

"Matty? Well we're closing up shop for the moment to get some lunch." The man stated.

"Huh?"

"Foggy? Did you get the-"

Matt stopped in his tracks, ruby shades facing Peter who gave a slight shaky grin.

"Hey Mr. Murdock." Peter greeted somewhat awkwardly.

"Mr. Parker." Matt said slowly. "I'm surprised to _see_ you again so soon. Then again, we are neighbors so to speak."

"Matt, you know this kid?" Foggy inquired.

"Yes, we had just met recently." Matt stated. "Foggy, go on without me. It's clear that Mr. Parker sought me out for a reason."

"Wait, what?"

"Just trust me on this, Foggy." Matt assured. "If Peter here sought me out, then it must be something important."

A few questions flew through Foggy's mind though the pointed look his friend gave him made it clear that this was a special case with Peter standing off to the side with a slightly sheepish expression.

He'll be sure to learn more of this once back; he'll be sure of it.

Patting his friend on the shoulder goodbye, Foggy walked off with Matt turning back to Peter.

"Alright, I think the two of us need to talk." Peter stated.

"Clearly."

_-Scene Cut-_

Tony Stark hovered high in the air within his newest Iron Man armor, making scans at every nook and cranny within the HYDRA base which the Avengers had disappeared in.

As thorough as Stark was the last time he had come to this cave, he was leaving no literal stone or pebble this time around.

Hopefully with a fresh pair of eyes on the scene will give him a new perspective on the search.

Hank was down below on the ground level with a scanner of sorts that he had built for the task at hand.

"What a complete mess." Dr. Pym spoke. "Didn't bother cleaning this place up properly."

"Hey, I kinda didn't care all that much for the mess." Tony retorted. "Missing Avengers and all."

The billionaire flew over to the Quantum expert to help move aside a few heavy contraptions that were in the way.

"Not to mention if we were to do a full clean, some evidence might've been lost in the process and neither of us would be the wiser."

Hank hummed in agreement before shaking his head. "Would've been better for some of it to be moved at least, like the big debris and all…"

"In a rush, do I need to repeat a thousand times or is your hearing aid not working."

"Are you two done being annoying?" Spoke the resident bowman of the team, walking into the cave in uniform. "We've been here for several hours now and all we've gotten is more scrapped computers and software."

"Friday can remake and restructure them." Tony waved off.

"But how will we know if it's useful?" Hank asked. "What if it'll be more of the same… what exactly were they working on here?"

"That's the trillion-"

"Got it." Hawkeye spoke up, holding up a discarded datapad underneath a pile of rubble.

"Screens cracked to all hells, but… I think tech underneath might be salvageable."

"Friday."

"Yes, boss?"

"Access this datapad and pull everything in it."

There's a moment or two before the AI's voice was heard. "Give me a few minutes. There appears to be more files than I would've expected in the connecting servers. And some seem to be corrupt."

"And why couldn't this have been retrieved sooner?" Hank questioned.

"Said servers were closed off and the only means of access were through these data pads, apparently."

Tony hummed as he thought it was a smart move in HYDRA's part. Key devices to go through the locked servers and hardware. Something he'll need to look more into for later projects.

Clint in the meantime tapped on the screen a few times, the tech lighting up though flickering a few times.

"Dammit, come on." Clint murmured to himself, lightly slapping the side of the data pad in hopes that that would do the trick in making it function for a moment. It appeared to be some kind of video.

Grunting to himself, Clint inspected the data pad to see if he could do something to fix it himself.

Tony and Hank all the while continued their own inspection of the base.

"You sure left a lot behind here, Stark." Hank said. "Would've figured you to take everything."

"I wanted to, but I took what was functioning properly." Tony said. "And even then, Friday was having a hard time bypassing their work. HYDRA made sure to encrypt their files with a hybrid algorithm from their initial Ultron specs. They've been busy since Sokovia."

"I got it!" Clint said aloud, grinning at his success. "It's only this video, but I got something."

Both geniuses were now standing on either side of the archer with all three men gazing at the cracked screen.

The video showed how the lab once was with a strange contraption in the center of it all, a swirling mass of some kind that the HYDRA scientists surrounding it kept throwing objects that vanished into the energy generated by the machine.

It ended with a HYDRA scientist entering the swirling blob of energy only to not come out.

Upon gazing at the footage, the two scientist inventors and bowman were silent when processing everything. Yet one thing was obviously voiced.

"...Huh, getting a big Stargate feeling here when watching this."

"What's your first clue, Stark?" Hank dryly remarked.

Clint only gazed up at their surroundings, eyes landing on a pile of destroyed devices.

"That was the machine that they made." Clint nodded his head over to the scrap heap. "But… my gut is telling me that this wasn't the first time they made something like this."

From that statement, Hank Pym snorted loudly. "HYDRA hasn't been able to make their own damn tech other than stealing it or incorporating it from other sources. They've got no originality."

He knows this from his own personal experience with the then controlled SHIELD hoping to take his work and applying it in mass production.

"Hopefully Friday found other HYDRA bases where this tech is being stored at. This place _can't_ be the only location they're doing… whatever they're doing exactly."

Clint all the while approached the center of the room where the apparent teleportation device once stood, now only in ruin and kneeled down to inspect it.

It was irreparable, nearly destroyed. He could only imagine what exactly happened. Yet the more he dwelled on what they were working on, the more familiar the environment became.

This place was a lot like the room where he was assigned to watch over the Tesseract. There might be a possibility HYDRA was continuing the work from old, three years back.

Seems he'll need to get back in touch with whoever is left in SHIELD and get whatever schematics there were for that. Might prove useful in their investigation.

"I'm picking up some readings." Hank called out, walking around the destroyed machine while holding his scanner over parts of it. "Don't know if it's residual or… something else."

"Something else?" Clint looked over to Pym.

"Not sure how to describe it." Hank replied. "This is unlike anything I've ever seen. Not anything related to Gamma, vita, solar or any of that sort. There's some kind of correlation with Quantum energy but it's miniscule at best."

"So you have something then?" Tony walked up to the center of the room.

"Maybe, but I'll need to look more into this data back on friendly soil." Spoke the former Ant-man.

"Can't argue with that there." Clint muttered out.

Looking elsewhere, Stark spoke to his AI. "Did you get everything, Friday?"

"Just about and~ done. Ready to leave when you are, boss."

"Guys." Clint's sharp tone cut through. "I found something."

Both Hank and Tony were next to Clint in an instant, the archer moving aside debris and metal with Stark quickly assisting him.

On the ground was an indent of some kind, but not one naturally made. It was a straight line that lead underneath the rest of the ruined contraption.

"Alright, stand back."

Tony began to work as fast as he could, either physically moving aside rubble and scrap or simply blasting it away until the center was cleared to reveal a two-panel ground door.

"Friday?"

"One moment Boss."

Several seconds go by until a hiss came out from between the two panels, the ground opening up with the three men tense and ready for whatever may come up.

Slowly, a circular stone structure of some kind rose up from the ground with what seemed to be tech pieces indented into the circular gate. And along the sides, there were oddly carved symbols that were truly alien… yet familiar.

On a nostalgic level, that is.

"...Oh yeah, definitely Stargate."

"On that note, the two of us can agree, Stark."

"So… any idea what this is?" Clint asked the two. "Other than it being a Stargate rip-off?"

"No clue." Tony shook his head. "But now at least, we're getting somewhere."

_-Scene Cut-_

It was quiet, slightly awkward.

Peter tried to be as calm as possible without squirming to much in Matt's presence as the man appeared rather aloof at the time being, somewhat feeling judgmental.

Matt all the while ate silently, barely making much noise as he cut into his pancakes.

"So…" Peter began, breaking the silence that hung in the air. "H-How has your day been?"

Matt paused in his pouring of syrup to quirk a brow at Peter who deflated a bit.

"Alright, bad question."

"Nothing wrong in being polite." Matt's first words since they sat down at this diner. "A welcomed reprieve."

"Right, right."

"How's the search coming along?"

"Huh?"

"The search for Klaue." Matt clarified. "I've been hearing web swinging out of the corner of my ear all day today, echoing around Manhattan. You came to me, but you weren't looking for me. My best guess, you're looking for Klaue."

Peter blinked a bit before laughing lightly. "Yeah, you're basically right about that."

"So…?"

"Not great, actually. Kept hitting walls…"

"Not swinging into them?"

"Metaphorical ones, Mr. Murdock."

"I know and I was merely joking."

"...Hard to tell with you of all people."

"I get that a lot at times." Matt said with a wry grin.

"Ah, so you do have emotions." Peter said jokingly.

"Yes I do. They're not dead to me."

"Could have fooled me with that…" Peter's hand went over his face. "Stone-cold visage."

"I'm a lawyer, Mr. Parker." Matt plainly stated. "I have appearances to keep up."

"You know… nah, I shouldn't say it, that would be rude."

"Go on, I'm not going to judge."

Peter shifted about in his seat. "Well~ I was gonna say that for a blind guy, you do know how to look sharp in your suit."

Matt snorted, chuckling to himself. "I'll take that as a compliment. Though Foggy and Karen have been a big help."

Peter laughed lightly, the two momentarily taking some time to eat.

"So listen, Matt." Peter was unsure of himself. "I don't know exactly how to say this, but maybe the two of us could team up. Work together and all to find Klaue and get our hands on those weapons he deals out. We could get it done faster if the two of us work together."

Matt regarded the young teen silently, taking in his words and thinking them through. Here sat before him a teenage superhero who, in his opinion, was _way_ too young to be taking on the responsibility in tracking down weapon dealers.

At first, when he had spoken with Stark again after the night involving Klaue, Matt believed that the billionaire had dumped ideas of grandeur onto the teen and basically tricked him into joining the Avengers. When he learned that the boy had apparently been conducting "Superhero work" well before meeting Stark, it surprised the lawyer to realize this to be true.

Mr. Parker had received power at a very young age and rather than use it selfishly like most teens would, he had selflessly gone out of his way to help anyone and everyone that he could.

That certainly garnered respect from the Devil of Hell's Kitchen. Respect not so easily earned.

And here he was coming to him for help in regards to something he wasn't experienced with.

"Before I answer your request, I have to ask, why come to me?"

Peter stared at the vigilante, scratching the side of his head. "Well… I did think about asking Mr. Stark for help at first since he and the Avengers have busted HYDRA up for the past year until Sokovia. And with his suit it would seem like a breeze."

Matt tilted his head, hearing the boy's heartbeat ring true to his words.

"But he's busy as is and, well, I don't think he knows New York like you and I." Peter said with a grin. "My Uncle always told me that New Yorkers need to stick together after all. And you took down the Kingpin! So if anyone could find these guys in Manhattan, it'd be you."

Now, it wasn't easy to flatter someone like Matt whose reputation is known as the Devil of Hell's Kitchen. Oh, he may feign such responses in front of others if they make it overly polite or say it falsely but right here and now, this young man has indeed flattered Matthew Murdock.

"Alright with reasoning like that, I don't see any qualms about it."

Peter's mood brightened. "Great."

"So to start out our search tonight-"

"Tonight?"

"I'm still on my work hours, Mr. Parker."

"Oh, right sorry."

"As I was saying… to start our search tonight, we need to slim down possible locations as to the 'where' Klaue may or may not be doing his dealings at." Matt lectured. "Now I know you have no clue as to where many black-market dealings will take place, but I possibly do."

Peter breathed out a sigh of relief, knowing he made the right decision earlier.

"Yet like most criminals in the underworld, they often change locations periodically while disposing of an old one for safety concerns. There's also the fact to consider of most criminals possibly rotating locations to throw off investigators off their trail."

Peter nodded, processing this information as it's very valuable in his new line of work.

This went on for a while until it was time for the two heroes to go their separate ways, due to their personal lives taking center stage at the present time. After paying the check, Matt told Peter to rendezvous back at his office later tonight so they can go on with the search for the infamous black-market dealer.

Concurrently, while these two American natives discussed such matters in regards to their city, another group of people were having a meeting of their own with a common interest.

What common interest one may ask?

"Ulysses Klaue." T'chaka, Kind of Wakanda stared intently and glaringly at the holographic display of the arms dealer.

Around him in the hotel room he was staying at were his two children, prince T'challa and princess Shuri along with the captain of the Dora Milaje Okoye and her lieutenant Ayo.

They were garbed in suits and dresses, rather than their traditional Wakandan garb though each had on a specific garment that both reflected their tribe which they come from as well as their place in Wakandan society.

"This man has long avoided Wakandan justice." T'chaka went on. "Twenty long years since he invaded our home and stole from us, only to give it away to murderers and those besmirching our people and history."

"We will find him, aba." T'challa assured. "Klaue will not evade our capture this time."

Shuri then held up her hand, tapping on the beads she wore on her wrist

"Last our contacts and satellites were able to pick up on him, he was spotted entering the state a few days ago. He hasn't made a peep since coming here, but why?" Shuri said for small dramatic flair. "Why to make a business deal, of course."

"Get to the point, sister."

"Sorry, brother." Clearing her throat, she typed a command on her holo-computer to show off a digitized document. "Was able to find a message exchange for a meeting going on a few nights from now. Don't know what exactly is being brought onto the table for all parties. But with our boy Klaue, it's with our property."

"A meeting?" Okoye spoke up. "With whom?"

"Unclear on names but they have their own history that none of you may like." Shuri informed. "These buyers have had many dealings of their own internationally, with this group in particular that's troublesome."

A holo-symbol of what could only be described as vulture-esque wings was displayed.

"This group here deals in retrofitted and recreated alien technology. Technology specifically from New York three years ago."

This piece of information greatly disturbed and troubled the Wakandans as this was something they certainly weren't expecting.

"What were those creatures called again?" T'chaka inquired. "Their names were all over the news."

"Chitauri, my King." Okoye said, her expression deeply troubled.

"Alien technology mixed with our own…" T'challa left the comment unfinished, the silent implication of it all being enough to convey the weight of such a matter.

"We must find Klaue and these men post haste." T'chaka stated. "Never mind the effect they may cause upon our nation. This would very much affect the rest of the world."

This garnered nods of agreement from the others when the King saw his daughter giving him a pleading look.

"Shuri?"

"Aba." His daughter said in an innocent tone. "Since we are dealing with New York and all and Chitauri technology, do you think…" She swayed side to side. "Maybe we could…?"

"Out with it, Shuri." T'chaka stated. "What is it?"

Shuri grinned cheekily. "Maybe we could call on the Avengers for help?"

"The Avengers?" Okoye scoffed, visibly annoyed with the idea. "Why in Bast's name would we even consider working with them?"

"Come now, Okoye." T'challa was amused at his sister's request and the commander's response. "Let's hear her out."

"This is their home turf, as the Americans say. Not to mention it would be good to have some assistance-"

"This isn't some excuse for you in meeting with Tony Stark and hoping to beat him in smarts, is it?" Ayo asked dryly with an expectant brow.

Shuri merely crossed her arms and puffed her cheeks like a pufferfish. How could they see this is not an excuse for her to meet the infamous Ironman?

"I'm tired of hearing that he's the smartest man on the planet." Shuri declared. "For that title belongs to me."

"Here we go." T'challa rolled his eyes in amusement. "The truth rears its head at last."

"Oh, come on, brother." Shuri whined slightly. "Think about it. If I meet him and show him how good I am, the two of us could make so much new stuff. Think of the possibilities! And the headquarters are right there."

Shuri pointed out the window directly to the gleaming A on the Avengers Tower.

"That's changed recently." Okoye stated. "They have moved upstate."

"And we're not driving up there." Ayo added making Shuri huff.

"I wasn't suggesting us meeting them in person. I thought we could give them a call."

"Shuri." T'chaka said pointedly, finally managing to make Shuri drop the topic with one of his patented Fatherly king looks.

She turned her head away in indignation making her father chuckle lightly at her behavior.

T'chaka then heard his son hum in thought.

"Son?"

"Hmmm?"

T'chaka gave his son an expectant gaze. "What is on your mind?"

"Perhaps Shuri's words have merit."

Shuri's head snapped at her brothers direction, eyes wide and mouth agape. T'challa couldn't help but chuckle at her response, a bit too much like a child would respond when being promised something they want.

"And tell me, my son. Why would you agree with her?"

Breathing in, the Wakandan prince collected himself before answering. "You know, as much as everyone else in this room, we rely on the Black Panther to help solve the injustice done towards our people; both within and outside of our borders. Our secrecy has remained intact for generations, there's no argument about that. In the past, previous Black Panthers had done each and every task for the throne successfully with little to no drawbacks… in a realistic approach.

Yet with how it was done back then, no one was none the wiser in truly paying attention.

Nowadays, technology outside of Wakanda, has started to catch up with what we have, even at a fraction's worth. Surveillance cameras, smartphones… people at the most random of chances could catch me if I'm not truly careful. And sure, we have our ways to scrub the documented footage to keep hiding us from the outside populous, yet we might slip up in more ways than one and reveal ourselves in a bad light… without our terms.

Now what I'm trying to say is that if I were to go on this task alone, there might be some thug or dealer that would escape without me knowing and would spread the word of the Black Panther. And word travels faster than it's been years go."

Breathing in once again, T'challa continued. "So I would like to suggest we get in touch with the Avengers for some… assistance. Come clean as to why we are here in their territory. We don't know if one or more of them could, perchance, stumble upon the deal tonight. And if either one would have caught me there, there will be a fight and confusion added into the mix. Something neither of us want to deal with.

With us coming to them first, this confusion would be taken care of right off the bat; as the Americans say. And if you're worried about the truth of our people, we can make them swear in keeping a tight lip."

T'chaka gave his son a hard stare, looking to Okoye and Ayo then back at T'challa all the while ignoring Shuri who bounced upon her bed excitedly at her brother siding with her.

"I shall consider it then." T'chaka acquiesced. "We shall conduct our search alone for the time being. I do not wish to dwell here for long but if we make no progress, then I myself will approach Stark."

Shuri opened her mouth with her father glancing over to her. "And you can come with me."

"Yes." Shuri cheered, jumping off her bed to hug her father. "Thank you, Aba."

T'chaka knew that no matter how hard he tried, Shuri's giddy personality would always break through his visage making him laugh warmly while hugging her back.

Pulling herself away from T'chaka, Shuri faced her brother with an excited grin.

"This is the perfect place to try the newest suit I've been working on." Shuri said happily.

"Are you two still on about the suit?" T'chaka inquired in amusement.

"We've at last come to a compromise, Aba." T'challa assured. "Though in no small part of convincing this rebellious child."

In response, Shuri merely flicked her tongue at her older brother who chuckled.

"We'll begin tonight then." T'challa stated. "No time like the present, as they say here."

_-Scene Cut-_

"So where exactly are we going first?"

"There's typically several docks and bridges that are common meeting areas in the city. Williams borough, Brooklyn, High Bridge and the West side port terminal between 48th and 52nd."

"Wow, you really got the whole place mapped out."

"Have to. Most of the crooks and roaches fester in the same place. They just don't know when to stop."

Peter hummed in thought, glancing over to his "Partner-in-crime" who stood on the corner edge of Matt's apartment rooftop.

The suit he now wore had received significant upgrades courtesy of one Mr. Tony Stark. At first, the Lawyer had been adamant in resisting using it but after getting convinced by his two associates to try it on. On top of those two, apparently Matt's original suit creator had been found and _hired_ by Tony Stark personally.

In essence, Matt kinda had no choice by this point. After all, Melvin Potter has been on hard times lately and needed a good means to make a living. He previously done suits for those of the underworld for quite some time and wanted to get out with little to no success.

Now, Melvin has essentially become untouchable by the entirety of the criminal underworld courtesy of just being Starks newest suit designer. A legit profession now, under a legit company instead of offshore, false facade companies.

And his own suit was a great deal more streamlined, emphasizing the clashing of the red and black motif. All in all, Spidey thought that it was a great and intimidating look. The blood red helm was especially cool (Season 2 variant Daredevil suit).

"So, have you had a chance to test out your new toy?"

"Haven't had the chance to fully break it in." Matt answered. "Still tight on a few places."

"Yeah, kinda had the same feeling in the old web shooters." Spidey admitted.

"Did not need to know that." Matt then reached to his side weapon and pulled out a small baton. With a snap of his hand, the baton extended out into a complete bo-staff. "This however, this I have had time to practice with."

"Can't that also be used as a grappling hook?" Peter asked excitedly.

"Several variations." Daredevil stated, with a small appreciative grin. "The note Stark left when he dropped this off at my home simply said _for the blind ninja_ … in braille, of course."

Matt was certainly surprised by how much Stark had incorporated into his new melee weapon. Apparently, Melvin had been working on it and Stark had stepped in to assist and he had essentially created an all-in-one weapon.

It held many features from grappling hook to Escrimas, batons, nun-chucks, bo-staff, flail and several other variants he had yet to test out.

But tonight was good as night as any.

Daredevil tapped the side of his helm and began signaling out multiple voices that were being filtered through the earpieces Stark had installed which allowed him a greater level of singling out voices. Honestly, the billionaire held nothing back when completely remodeling his suit.

"There's some crooks gathering at a deli several blocks down." Matt informed the younger hero. "I recognize two of them as the ones who were with Turk the night they met with Klaue."

With a target in mind, both New Yorkers took to the skies, swinging in between the buildings while displaying astonishing acrobatics and flexibility.

It wasn't long until they arrived at the deli Matt had directed them to, with the duo sticking to the shadows as they watched a group of goons walking out of the Deli with smug looks on their faces.

"They're enforcers." Matt informed the Web-head. "They just came by to collect their _Protection fee."_

Spider-Man's lenses narrowed in anger at the men they were spying on.

"So what's the plan? How do we do this?"

"Hit them fast, hard but leave some conscious."

"While trying to put little to no property damage in the process."

"Exactly." Giving Spidey a grin, both men prepared themselves as the group of criminals began to leave the vicinity.

They didn't get far as Spider-man jumped from his hiding spot, quickly firing several webs at the first three goons at the front of the group.

Daredevil struck from behind, holding up his new tool. A small hatch opened at the top, firing several pellets that blew up and expanded to reveal nets that ensnared several more thugs.

The remaining two men had attempted to flee yet it was all for naught as both Spidey and Daredevil fired their lines respectively grabbing one each and pulling them back.

It was over in a matter of seconds.

"Sweet." Peter declared, feeling a great deal of accomplishment. This was his first hunt for a big time criminal and the first step had been a success.

Hearing the faint sounds of sirens growing in the distance, the two heroes needed to make themselves scarce from the scene… right after Spidey webbed up the crooks together.

The younger hero had also taken to taking back what the crooks had stolen and left it hanging at the front door of the deli with a note that simply said _This belongs to you._

One thug however had the unfortunate luck of being conscious. Which meant he wasn't being turned into the cops just yet.

"Murphy." Daredevil said with a casual tone, looking down at the squirming criminal who was webbed up to a chimney roof. "Looks like you never learned the last two times I sent you packing."

"Look man, can we seriously _not_ do-OOOF."

Murphy was effectively silenced by a powerful jab to his stomach, knocking the wind out of the man and making him cough loudly. Peter couldn't help but wince at the action, not fully used to such methods.

"Now your third time will be difficult as you possibly know something my friend and I don't."

"Like what?" Murphy wheezed out before eying the wallcrawler. "Who even is this guy?"

"You don't remember? This is the same individual who you ran into a few nights ago. This is Spider-man." Daredevil said plainly.

Murphy squinted slightly. "Oh yeah, that weird spandex bug guy. The hell is he doing here with you?"

"Just being a fine upstanding citizen." Spidey said proudly. "And fyi, it's _arachnid_ , not bug."

"Tomato, Tamato. Same difference."

"No, very much no." Peter shook his head.

"Not now, Spider-man." Daredevil said before focusing back at the crook. "Now, Murphy, I'm gonna ask you this one time. And one time only." The Devil of Hell's kitchen leaned in right up to the criminal's face making the man greatly uncomfortable and nervous. "Where is Ulysses Klaue?"

The man played dumb. "Huh? Klaue? Who are you-ACK! OWMMPH!"

Daredevil had socked him in the ear, deafening his hearing for a moment and muffling his mouth.

"I can tell when someone is lying, Murphy." Daredevil said in complete calmness. "Now, try again this time because I'm not repeating myself."

"If you don't, I can probably do something quite embarrassing to ya." Spidey offered. "And by what I'm barely reading off my friend, my option is the lesser evil."

Murphy tried to speak through Matt's hand, the vigilante lawyer removing his hand as to allow him to speak.

"Alright, alright, Jesus fuck." Murphy said in a pained tone. "Give me a moment."

"Clock's ticking." Daredevil simply said. "By the sound of it, you've got less than a minute before the police show up. And my patience is rather thin when rushed."

Murphy glared at the Devil before reluctantly sighing. "Ok, look, all's I know is there's been a lot of movement recently with some heavy players in the underground. Turns out Fisk wasn't the only big shark in New York's pond. There's been word of these guys from Queens comin' in to meet with Klaue and whoever is left here in the city. Klaue is putting on quite the auction."

"Do you know where they'll meet?"

Murphy shook his head. "No idea. It's only a need to know kind of thing on the locale."

"Then do you know _when_?"

"Nope." Murphy said, leaning back. "Only that they'd eventually come find me themselves. Basically, drop everything I'm doing and move."

"Unfortunately for you, you won't be attending."

"Really?" Murphy wryly said. "No shit, not when yo-MMPH."

"Alright, that voice was getting annoying." Peter said, rotating his wrist casually. "So, what do we do now?"

"Now? Now we keep searching for a bit longer before calling it a night. Or we find a possible, further lead and follow from there."

"Right." Peter nodded. "What about him?"

Daredevil looked down at the bound Murphy. "Still wanna embarrass him?"

Down below, the cops were rounding up the group of thugs Daredevil and Spidey had first taken down.

However there was one that appeared to be missing.

That was until said missing criminal was deposited before them in nothing but his underwear and bound by some strange white rope of some kind.

Bewildered by the sudden appearance of their missing perp, all heads looked up when they heard a series of _Thwipping_ sounds. The cops were left with the surprising sight of Daredevil and Spider-Man swinging away from the scene of the crime together.

…

"We don't get paid enough for this shit."

For the remainder of the night, both heroes achieved little else and decided on continuing their search the next night.

They found nothing the next night as well, unfortunately, but their resolve held strong as they had encountered nearly a dozen or so men and women connected to the underground and rounded them up for the police to take in.

All the while, the ever-present threat of whatever it was Klaue was planning dwelled on their minds. Arms dealer he may be, he could still cause untold levels of chaos and destruction with the tech at his disposal. And with him looking to sell these weapons…

They needed to find Klaue as fast as possible.

Their search continued well into a third night…

Only this time, Hell's Kitchen would host three enhanced individuals.

A figure in complete black jumped from rooftop to rooftop of Hell's kitchen with feline grace and poise, unaffected by the inhuman leaps and landings.

This figure ran on two and fours with graceful ease, landing upon a fire escape obscured by shadow, taking a moment to gauge his surroundings.

"Is everything reading well on your end, sister?"

"Yes it is, brother." Shuri spoke from his comms. "Seeing and hearing things clearly within a block radius at the time being." Things were quiet before T'challa heard her stifling a laugh. "Oh Bast almighty, that's hilarious!"

"And you're just getting _that_ now?"

"Well I was freshening myself before coming online and just seeing this as we speak."

What Shuri was referring to was T'challa seeing an assortment of thugs being strung up by a web-like substance and put into a series of… positions that were truly embarrassing to describe.

"Oh I would love to chat with whoever did all that."

"I'm afraid to do so."

"Who is possibly doing this?" Ayo inquired from her end, far off on the other side of the block.

While T'challa roamed high above the skyline and Shuri provided information, Okoye and Ayo were down on the ground walking about the streets trying to be as inconspicuous as possible.

Granted, they walked at times alone and in a pair garnering some looks though most people ignored them.

It was Manhattan after all. The city that never sleeps had seen stranger.

"Who could have done this indeed?" Black Panther mused aloud, moving closer to the knocked out, tied-up criminals. "Shuri, see what you could find on the going's on here in the city."

"On it brother." Shuri stated, already moving to bring up multiple news files on the current events of New York. What she found surprised and intrigued her greatly.

"Brother, it appears that this city has its own pair of protectors and they've been very busy here." Shuri said. "There is the Spider of Queens and the Devil of Hell's Kitchen. Apparently they've been rounding up many men and women with criminal records for the past few days."

"Truly?" Now T'challa was interested. So there's more enhanced beings out here than just the Avengers?

And it appears they have been using their powers and skills for a greater purpose. That much T'challa could respect.

"Could you maybe grab me a sample of that substance? I would love to study it, if possible."

Knowing what Shuri was referring to, he responded. "I will if you're a good sister and not use it for nefarious means."

"And why, dear brother, would you think otherwise?"

"Oh~ I can think of a good number of reasons."

T'challa simply shook his head, flicking his claws out. He carefully cut through the substance finding a moment of surprising resistance to his Vibranium claws before getting a solid clump of it to take back for his sister. And like its resistance, it was hard for him to pry off his claws and put into a container for Shuri to analyze digitally in real time.

"My prince." Okoye sharply spoke through the comms. "You'll want to see this. Up ahead."

He saw where Okoye stood and turned in the direction that she was staring at. His eyes widened at the sight of two individuals in the sky swinging on lines high in the sky.

"What-"

Shuri gasped from her end as she was watching from her brothers' point of view. "That's them! It's them! Those two vigilantes that have been all over New York."

"Should we pursue them, my prince?" Okoye asked, eyes still on the heroes that were now getting further and further away.

"Keep your distance." T'challa instructed. "Let's not do anything reckless."

T'challa quickly scaled up the wall while Okoye and Ayo picked up their own paces with all three moving to catch up to the two heroes.

Meanwhile…

"Alright, shotguns are simple and easy to reload."

Turk Barrett, career criminal, was back at what he did best.

"Hey man, we wanted something more precise. Not this cheap shit."

"What? With your expert and steady hand?" Turk retorted sarcastically. "Nah man, ya'll need this more than whatever AK shit is usually on the market."

"How is this supposed to help us against that Spider guy and the devil?"

"Look man, do you want these or not?" Turk asked indignantly. "These are the best you idiots can afford and they're actually customizable."

"Very impressive, Barrett. If you only applied knowledge like that in a more professional and legal fashion."

Upon hearing that all too familiar voice, Turk hissed in anger and fear while moving to grab one of the shotguns from his trunk.

Only for Daredevil to unceremoniously drop down and slam the trunk shut onto Turk's hands.

The dealer cried out in anguish while those who came to buy guns attempted to flee.

"Crap, it's the bug and demon!"

"It's arachnid." Spidey said as he dived on one of the crooks with a kick towards the cranium. "Why does everyone keep saying bug?"

"Riling you up, for starters." Daredevil said, casually flinging his baton at a thug that ran the furthest. It struck the man dead center in the back of the head with the baton ricocheting back into his hand.

"True enough I guess." Spider-Man remarked, heaving back the rest of them with all being tied up with his webbing.

Turk groaned, nursing his hands. "Why the hands, Dee? Come on man, they were sore as hell after last time."

"Good to see you too, Turk." Daredevil said conversationally. "We need to talk."

"For God's sake man, why you gotta hurt me every time." Turk said, wincing at the pain while giving Daredevil and deadpan stare. "And what's with the bug kid? He your sidekick now?"

"...How often do you two run into each other?"

"Too often."

"Right."

"Whatchu want this time Dee?" Turk asked in aggravation. "Kicking my ass last time wasn't enough for you?"

"Normally, it would be." Daredevil said. "But this time… this time, you better tell us everything up front."

Turk blinked, surprised by the menacing aura Daredevil exuded. This wasn't like the usual times he had run in with the Devil of Hell's Kitchen. No, this time, he was living up to a moniker like the one the city had bestowed upon him and he really did not seem like he wanted to play around right now.

"There is an international criminal in this city and we want to know when and where he's supposed to be making his grand auction." Daredevil said menacingly. "You know everything that goes on in this city so Turk, this is a one time question. Where is Ulysses Klaue?"

Daredevil tilted his head to the side for a brief moment, looking back at Turk a second later.

"You better tell him, Turk." Spidey piped up. "We really don't wanna go through beating up another person."

Turk regarded the two silently for several seconds. "Listen man, I've only heard rumors but-"

Daredevils fist slammed through Barrett's car window, completely shattering the window.

"I am not in the mood for games or word play, Turk." Daredevil said sharply. "You better tell us where Klaue is having his little get together or we're gonna start breaking more than just your hands."

"Or~ we could just feed him to my spiders." Spider-Man said with a casual shrug.

Matt and Turk paused, both heads slowly turning to the Web-head who stood there unbothered by their looks.

"What? I'm not called Spider-man for no reason you know." Peter said in faux indignation. "I can talk to the spiders you know. Gotta live up to my name in its entirety."

Daredevil stared at the teen hero when he realized just what he was trying to do and could barely hold back the grin on his face.

Matt began playing along. "I thought you said you were still getting the hang of that power."

"Well yeah, at first." Spidey 'admitted'. "But practice makes perfect, you know. All I really gotta do is concentrate on one target specifically and then they come crawling."

As if on cue, Peter spotted a spider crawling on Turks car and held out his finger for the little arachnid to crawl onto his finger.

"Hey there little guy." Peter greeted cheerfully; his voice sickeningly sweet. "I need you to do me a favor. Start rounding up the rest of the boys nearby. I think I found your next meal ticket for the next few days."

All the while, Spidey had been slowly facing Turk with every word which in turn made the criminal begin to sweat profusely. Now, as a man who has had a long distinguished "Career" in dealing with people Turk had acquired the rare ability of reading most people with ease and being able to callout a bullshit deal when he saw one. He needed that skill of course when dealing with some of the crazier mooks. Hell, Harlem showed that when dealing with that psycho Cottonmouth.

But right now, a masked vigilante had just said that he could communicate with spiders and order them to eat him. And after what these guys had already been shown to be capable of doing, Turk was honestly not sure of whether or not this was some bluff.

"H-hey man." Turk said with a nervous laugh. "N-no need to go all I-itsy bitsy on me. Let's just calm d-down and put that little friend of yours away."

Peter hummed aloud, holding up the spider that was dangling from his hand at the moment. "I don't know Bartholomew, what do you think? Should we let your next meal ticket go? You won't go hungry for a long while."

"Ok, fuck this. Fine I'll talk man, I'll talk." Turk pleaded.

"Good." Daredevil said pleasantly. "Now, give us a location and date."

Turk hated himself right now but then again… it was either this or being a slowly eaten carcass. No thank you, that's not how Turk Barrett was going out in this world.

"Ok, ok." Turk slumped a bit. "Look, it's at the old docks where the Yakuza used to operate at. It's big, spacious and apparently from what Klaue said, has the best view of a psychotic city. Tomorrow night. That's it man."

"Leave to crazy criminals to not do things in half-measures." Spider-Man remarked. "Sorry little guy, looks like you'll have to look elsewhere to eat tonight."

Turk released a pent up, anxious breath he did not realize he had been holding, rubbing his chest with the hand that was the least banged up.

"Alright, can I please go home now?" Turk pleaded. "My hands are messed up and I got a new crippling fear of Spiders now."

First thing he was doing when he got home was killing every last damn spider he could find.

Daredevil mused to himself. Normally, this would be the part that he'd knock Barrett out clean and leave it at that with the cops coming to pick him up soon after.

But right now he was really amused at Peter's trick working so flawlessly and actually had a small pang of pity due to Turk being genuinely scared right now at the concept of being eaten by thousands of tiny little critters.

"Alright." Daredevil stepped back. "You weren't as annoying as usual this time around."

Turk looked up at Daredevil in astonishment. "Seriously?"

"You have five seconds before I change my mind."

The gun dealer damn near scrambled into his car, the engine revving up with his tires screeching as he drove away.

"I thought you weren't gonna let him go." Spider-Man said in slight surprise.

"I wasn't." Daredevil admitted. "But he was this close to crapping his pants. That spider bit really got to him."

Spider-Man guffawed upon learning that with Matt smirking as well when it turned into a frown.

"We're being watched." He said quietly.

"...Huh?"

"Come on. Let's get out of here." Daredevil instructed, already running off.

The whole time that the two had interrogated Turk, four Wakandans were listening in and observed the scene.

"They are after Klaue?!" Ayo spoke in surprise.

"It appears they want him out of this city as much as we do." T'challa mused.

"I can't believe they found his location before we did." Okoye said.

"They were searching well before our arrival it seems." T'challa said. "That explains all their sightings and capturing of criminals. Very thorough, these two."

"So what to do now, my prince?"

T'challa hummed to himself when his sister added her two cents in.

"Maybe we should try and speak to them. We're after the same person here." Shuri then giggled mischievously. "And that Spider-man sounds cute and fun. Wonder if he's cute underneath his mask."

T'challa groaned upon hearing this. He did not want to deal with his hormonal, teasing sister at this time.

"Shuri."

"Oh come on brother, let a girl have her fun." Shuri said a bit petulantly.

"Who are you?"

T'challa immediately tensed from the voice that came from above.

Whipping his head up, there stood the two vigilantes he and Dora Milaje had been spying on.

How on Earth did those two sneak up on him so quickly? Looks like they were more skilled than they appeared.

"My prince!" Okoye cried out.

"Hold general." T'challa ordered straight away, arms raised placatingly towards the two that stood above him.

"Whoa, what are you supposed to be?" Spider-Man crouched down. "Some kind of… cat-type person? You here to audition for Cats? I don't think they're back in town."

"T'challa."

"Hold Ayo, stay back." The Wakandan prince ordered more firmly this time and out loud in order for both New Yorkers to hear.

"So those two were with you." Daredevil said, more in confirmation for himself rather than from T'challa.

"I mean you no harm." T'challa said in his regal tone surprising the two a bit. They were even more surprised when the helmet that he wore receded to reveal his face.

"My name is T'challa. I am the Prince of Wakanda." He introduced himself as non-threateningly and cordially as possible. "I have not come to this city to cause problems for the two of you."

"Why are you here then?" Murdock asked suspiciously.

"It has to do with whom you are pursuing. Ulysses Klaue." Panther said determinedly.

Both Peter and Matt exchanged glances.

"You know him?" Peter asked getting a nod from the Prince. "Why are you after him then?"

"Because he has evaded Wakandan justice for far too long and his time of international crimes need to come to an end." T'challa said in a fierce tone. "I have come to this city to capture him and remove him before he can cause more harm than he had already caused."

"Well, if you figure a pile of trash to be harmful."

Matt elbowed Peter making the web-head chuckle sheepishly, a gesture shared by Shuri who had heard the comment from her end.

"The three of us share a common goal." T'challa once again speaking of Klaue. "Perhaps to achieve this matter, we can work together to better deal with this enemy rather than individually."

"My prince, you cannot be serious." Okoye argued through the comms.

"Okoye, this is their city." He refuted. "And though this is our fight it is theirs as well. They had already engaged with Klaue and have just as much reason to rid him from New York as much as we do. You had just witnessed what they were willing to do to find him. It is better to have them as allies than enemies."

The native New Yorkers considered the prince of Wakanda's, Daredevil listening to the man's heartbeat and breathing the whole while. He had found nor detected any deceit or lies from this newcomer and appeared genuine in offering aid.

He spoke of Klaue and it was clear to them that these Wakandans had a more personal vendetta against this man.

Still… there was something highly unusual about this T'challa and it wasn't just what he was wearing.

"I say we do this." Peter declared.

"What? You can't be serious."

"Hey come on, was he lying at all? He just revealed his identity to us, this must be serious for him to, Dee. You gotta see that."

Daredevil wished to argue but saw Spidey's argument and held back his comments.

He then sighed a bit tiredly. "Alright then, what can you tell us about Klaue that we don't know?"

_-Scene Cut-_

It was cold.

Freezing cold. Brutally cold one might say.

But then again, that's Russia for you.

Walking through the blistering cold was something James Buchanan "Bucky" Barnes thought he'd be used to by now. Given the many decades of him being put under ice in between the many missions he was forced to undergo by HYDRA.

Yet the Siberian Tundra truly lived up to its name and held up its reputation well.

Fully decked in the thickest winter clothing he acquired, he traversed through the snowy climate in hopes of reaching his destination.

It had taken a while for him to get here, but he hoped this was worth it with what he planned on doing.

Ever since HYDRA's public reveal and eventual downfall from the failed Project Insight, Bucky has been slowly regaining his memories. But more importantly, his humanity.

Yet with each and every moment he recovered from his old life, he gained more and more nightmares of the atrocities he performed by being HYDRA's illustrious go to assassin. It all ate him up and there were things he can't face anymore without him wanting to end his life at a moment's notice.

He was never a religious person, but he hoped that any higher power out there would grant him mercy if he were to pass on.

Yet before doing so, Bucky wanted to clean up certain messes which he took part in. And one of the biggest ones were located at where he was heading off to at this time.

'I hope my memory is serving me right where I'm going now.' Thought the Winter Soldier as he trekked through the snowy landscape.

After what felt like forever, Bucky was able to come across a rocky ledge where a metal door was placed underneath it's covering.

Stepping into the space, he eyed the steel wheel placed on the door's front. Now normally people would try to open the door by simply turning it. Yet this door was no ordinary door.

Moving off to the side, he brought up his false arm and traced the rocky surface before his fingertips tapped onto something out of the norm. Pulling off the stone covering, Bucky found a nine-digit keypad.

Unzipping his coat, Bucky pulled out a red leather-bound book with a white star on the cover.

For the umpteenth time, Bucky had to resist the urge in tearing this thing a new one and burning it to ashes. Yet he needed its inner contents to get what he wanted and right his wrongs.

What was in his grasp was the Red Book… well, one of two Red Books; procured from the late Director Pierce's home safe. The other one, however, was lost to the wind somewhere.

Upon his _creation_ , HYDRA used these two books to keep all sorts of secrets from prying eyes and from their direct servers. There were details in locations of the vast hidden bunkers around the world and how to access them. Sure a good chunk was decommissioned over the years with them moved and updated elsewhere, but they were still HYDRA property and had to be known.

But this wasn't all that was kept in these two books. In fact, within their pages lied the vast studies and notes about their favorite pet project: him.

His strengths, his weaknesses, the jabs against his character if he were to show any remote humanity that somehow able to surface. So many details painted quite the picture and he was disgusted by it.

Especially the activation phrase to reign complete control over him.

Breathing in the cold air to cool his nerves, Bucky opened the book to the bookmarked page. Scrolling down, he found the access code for the panel before him. Once typing it down, a loud clunk was heard coming from the steel door to reveal that it was finally opened after nearly two decades.

Strolling inside, Bucky tucked the Red Book back inside his coat before closing the door behind him.

Many… _fond_ memories flooded through his head as he looked at every other direction of the Siberian HYDRA bunker. Oh how he wanted to blow it to kingdom come to bury it's dark history for good. Yet Bucky wanted to be sure what lay deeper inside this base was destroyed by his own hand, in front of his own eyes.

Echoing steps resounded throughout the halls and corridors, due to him being the only _conscious_ occupant roaming about. Even though the Winter Soldier practically had full reign of the place now, his nerves were at a knife's edge that anything out of the ordinary would set him off. So his involuntary training kicked into high gear to pay attention to anything amiss.

Upon reaching the destination in mind, Bucky opened the door and pried it open to reveal a cooling room with several devices strung about and attaching to five pillars.

Instead of being made of concrete and earth, these pillars were made out of metal and glass. They were nothing as to remotely close as to being support pillars at all. No… these were cryo-pods…

And not just any cryo-pods, but ones containing the five HYDRA-made Super Soldiers.

Out of all HYDRA operatives, this elite death squad made the most kills in the organization's history… and this was before they were administered the Super Soldier serum; which was reversed engineered by the late Howard Stark.

Each of them were designed to be the new generation of Winter Soldiers, i.e. Winter Soldier MK II. Better marksmanship, better hand to hand combat, better maneuverability, better everything. And he was their personal punching bag, more so once administered the stolen serum that made his best friend into the man he is today.

With them speaking thirty different languages and not having distinct features that would make them stand out amongst a crowd, they can topple governments and countries in a single night and none would be the wiser.

With the many praises they got under their belts, there was one flaw into their own creation, they became insane; unstable.

Despite their training and conditioning, most of it was disposed of once the Super Soldier serum was injected into their bodies. Bucky remembered what Steve told him about the serum: it makes a good man better while making a bad man worse.

With how bad this elite squad got, HYDRA was forced to put them under and seal them away before they had the means of properly controlling them without another episode or two occurring at every goddamn moment.

'At least I'm better than them on that department.' Bucky mused with a silent chuckle.

Walking by the frozen soldiers, Bucky hated the nostalgic, overbearing feeling he got from this place.

Flashes of the many times his memory was shocked out of him made him wince as he clutched his head.

Right now, he needed to focus on why he was here… asides from the frozen soldiers behind him. He will deal with those five later.

Entering a separate room, Bucky looked around until he spotted what he was looking for.

An old rotary phone. Using the red book once more, Bucky spun the dial several times until there was a ding followed by a wall of pipes, valves and meters shifting to the side to reveal a familiar black door.

Despite having access to the place, Bucky never had the chance to come to this particular door before. Part of him back then felt drawn to this location whenever he was brought to this bunker, yet his superiors kept pulling him away before getting the chance to investigate. And it was on this act alone that got him more electric shock therapies for his curious innocence.

'What were you Nazi bastards keeping behind this door.'

With all the secrets and information kept within the Red Books, there was no mention of anything written down of this particular location in this bunker.

Just the code to get in on the Rotary phone.

Whatever was behind this door was not only off the record, there was literally nothing about it that proves its existence other than it being right here in front of him.

As he stood before the black door, several moments went by when the hissing sound of air escaping through the door came out, slightly jolting the Winter Soldier.

Slowly, with metal groaning, the black door opened to reveal a peculiar and slightly unsettling sight.

"...Well, that's not ominous at all."

Before him laid a large machine with a black glass-like material taking up 80% of the device. By the looks of it, it appeared to be a more sophisticated cryo-pod given what he saw from the containers holding the second generation of Winter Soldiers. If it weren't for the designs he saw earlier, Bucky would've figured the object before him was some sort of sophisticated, high tech container.

This one was incredibly bizarre in the eyes of Bucky as this looked like a blend of a cryo-pod and something else entirely. He couldn't quite put a word on it but whatever it was, this was no ordinary Cryo-pod.

Coming up close, Bucky brushed his organic hand across the obsidian black surface. He felt the heat radiating off its surface as he traced it over before moving over to the side for a better inspection. When he did, the mind-controlled assassin thought something was playing tricks with his head.

Eyes narrowing, Bucky's vision concentrated on what was no doubt a silhouette within the pod. A silhouette that resembled a woman. But how? There was no way he could've seen past the pitch-black glass at all, yet he can see the vague woman's silhouette right now!

Crouching down a bit, the light within the room helped in better confirming for Bucky that there was indeed a woman within this pod. The shapely mounds were a bit of a dead giveaway.

Now, James Buchanan Barnes was no pervert, but he was a man who recognized the form of a woman. Those bit and pieces of the life he once had showed him that much.

Yet now he had more questions than answers which was honestly common by this point in his travels for the past year and a half. Every attempt he had to rediscover himself only left him more questions which only tacked on to his journey of rediscovery.

But right now, he only had one question in particular.

Who was it inside this pod?

Looking off to the side, Bucky saw a computer console and made his way towards it. Turning on the device, he waited for it to be fully booted up before he attempted to start his newfound investigation. And after several grueling minutes of painstakingly long annoyance, the Winter Soldier scrolled through the files before coming across what he needed now.

Browsing through the digitized journal entries, this high tech cryo-pod was discovered in Roswell, New Mexico when the infamously rumored crash landing occurred back in the 1950's. Sure the government had covered it up, but the story got out there to which how the whole thing became infamous.

Things were confusing at best on the whole situation.

Anyways, it was SHIELD who discovered the crash in the first place as they found the occupants all dead with their bodies burned to a crisp upon entering Earth's atmosphere. And with the crash, it entirely wrecked the space-worthy vessel. To the point that not even SHIELD and HYDRA could reverse engineer anything.

Only thing that was done was the salvaged Cryo-pod that had miraculously gotten out unscathed from the crash.

And this pod was unlike anything SHIELD/HYDRA had ever encountered save for the Tesseract.

For years since discovering unusual pod, HYDRA worked tirelessly in their attempts to uncover the secret's this strange tomb held.

Yet… in all their work. In the many decades continuously pouring time and research into this pod, the answers that they received came in two forms. A big blank pile of nothing….

… And unadulterated, pure madness with some who dared to study the pod eventually succumbing to insanity having been put down for the safety of others. Thus, the Pod was placed in a secret chamber that a literal handful knew of. Not even Secretary Pierce was aware of this Cryo-Pods existence. Only those extreme select few knew of the Pod being real and where it was located. Kind of like him.

There wasn't much left to read about within the files, everything essentially being spelled out for him. The only other topic worthy of note in regards to this cryo-pod was the constant low-key energy that seemed to exude from it though what it is has yet to identified.

Pulling back from the computer, Bucky scratched his chin looking back to the Pod when his eyes caught something behind the pod. Something he missed apparently.

_**SaRCOphagus** _

_**taliSMaN** _

_**DaRK lorD** _

There were red marks in between some of the scratched words. Bucky recognized the red stuff right away.

Dried blood.

Whoever had put those on the wall had done it in a hurry and apparently uncaring to their own physical well-being.

Now Bucky was at greater unease than he was before entering this chamber.

Thinking on it now, this entire chamber upon entering made him feel uneasy. There was… something in the air that he couldn't quite describe but if he were to describe it.

It was as if it were some kind of pressure. Though not in the overbearing sense but in a more subtle way. Was this that "energy" those files mentioned?

However, that thought process came to an abrupt end when steam shot out from the Pod and the lid jolted upwards.

Eyes wide in alarm, Bucky in an instant had his handgun trailed up at the pod while holding a knife beneath his gun.

The pod slowly began to open up, mist pouring out from within. The lights flickered for a few moments before retaining their steady glow.

All the while, Bucky was tense and ready for action.

God knows who he would find slumbering inside this… This Sarcophagus but the only safe assumption would be that this person must be extremely dangerous, having been kept in an entirely secret off the books chamber. So he may be in for a fight.

Gripping his gun more tightly, Bucky waited… and waited.

He saw no movement and heard nothing other than the mist wafting out from the interior of the pod.

There was nothing but tense sile-

"ZAYNE!"

The woman from within sat up from the pod in a frantic mood, desperately looking around in a panic.

She was around Bucky's age, that was for certain though her official age could be a hundred for all he knew.

After all, he could attest to technically being a hundred years old even if he is biologically twenty-eight last he checked. Honestly, he could be thirty something for all he cared considering how he had been in and out of ice for the past 70 years.

Barnes had yet to lower his gun as the woman had at last appeared to begin to get her bearings together, grasping as to where she was.

Her eyes landed on Bucky, with confusion, fear, trepidation and a glint of hostility in her own eyes.

She didn't make any sudden moves as did Bucky, with both locked in a quiet stare down.

This went on for an unknown amount of time until the modified super soldier cautiously raised both hands.

"I'm not here to hurt you." Bucky said calmly. "If you're not going to hurt me."

The woman gazed at him, eyes darting between his face and his two weapons in hand.

Noticing that she obviously was aware of his knife and gun, he took a gamble, holstering his firearm before sheathing his blade.

"There, see." Bucky said assuredly. "Nothing to be afraid of here, I'm not going to hurt you, nor do I plan to."

No longer armed, the woman opened her mouth to speak only to find her mouth and throat incredibly dry. Letting out a few strained coughs, she hunched over to clutch her chest while trying to get control of her breathing.

Seeing such a reaction, Bucky cleared his throat to get her attention.

Looking up at him with watery eyes, the lady saw him hold out a bottle of open water.

"Drink up, you must have been in there for a while." Bucky said, knowing all too well the feeling of 'Frozen-dehydration' as some of the HYDRA scientists had coined it.

Tentatively she took the bottle from Bucky and took a momentary whiff of the bottle. Not detecting anything poisonous that her nose could sense, she proceeded to take a large gulp of the water bottle. By the time she was done, there was barely a quarter left.

"Thank you." The woman said softly.

"Don't worry about it." Bucky said softly. "You could keep the bottle if you need another gulp."

She gave him a grateful expression which then morphed into worry. "Wait, you must tell me, are the Mandalorian Wars over?! What has happened to the Jedi and the Republic? Do they still stand? Do the Sith still threaten the galaxy? The Covenant?! The Rakghouls?!"

Bucky blinked at the rapid wave of questions he had no iota as to how to answer. What the hell was she talking about?

Seeing that he wasn't responding, she slumped when she felt a familiar weight upon her chest.

"No! No!" She cried out, clutching what seemed to be some kind of talisman on her chest in a desperate attempt to remove it from her being.

"He's still… He's still…." She suddenly stopped gazing at the talisman in bewilderment and uncertainty. Where was he? Was he still there? What was going on?

"Hey."

It was then that she remembered that she wasn't alone, looking back up to the man who seemed to have been the one to have opened her Sarcophagus.

"Are you alright?" He asked with caution.

She honestly did not know what to say.

Seeing her become a bit unresponsive, Bucky had to try another method.

"My name is James Buchanan Barnes." He introduced himself. "I found this place and you in it."

"Y-you freed me?"

Bucky scratched his chin. "I don't know. Maybe I did by finding you. I don't know what to tell you. All I was able to learn was how long you've been here apparently."

"And how long have I been _here_."

"About sixty-five years from what the files say. Though they're not sure about how long you've been in that pod you're in." Bucky replied.

"Sixty-five years." She said to herself. It wasn't long. Not too long. But that last comment off put her. This Barnes said that she had been here for those amounts of years yet the people who found her could not figure out how long _she herself_ had been trapped within the Sarcophagus.

"Look, I came here looking for answers." Bucky spoke up, gaining her attention. "And I found you instead. They've kept you locked in a chamber that I didn't even know existed for all this time. Who are you?"

It was at this point that she realized she hadn't even introduced herself when James had done so.

Strangely feeling sheepish over such a simple manner, she cleared her throat and gave him a small smile.

"I'm Celeste Morne. It's a pleasure to meet you James."

**And that's a wrap everyone.**

**Whew, what a marathon of a chapter, same as the last one.**

**Oh so much set up, so much excitement and so many ideas that are gonna get started soon.**

**One more chapter till we kick off season 2 in a huge way.**

**Jebest4781 as per usual was instrumental in getting this chapter done a lot faster and thank god for him otherwise this one would have taken even longer.**

**Seriously, big ups to comrade Jebest.**

**But Anywho, there's still much more to come and you guys are gonna have to wait until next so till then…**

**Rate Read and Review and as Always Have Nice Day.**


	21. Where Is This?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here we are at the Start of Phase 2, if you wanna have a cover to go off of link right down here.
> 
> https://www.deviantart.com/freemanwriter/art/Avengers-Infinite-Wars-Phase-2-830050026

**Well last chapter was a mad dash to say the least and this is the last one before we kick off season 2.**

**That's right we're just about done with the transitional gap and we're gonna start off season 2 in quite a special way that'll leave you with many,** _**many** _ **questions. Why? Cause I can be like that sometimes.**

**Really not much else to delve into in regards to this chapter or the previous one.**

**Other than the Appearance of one Celeste Morne. GURARARARA**

**Rate Read and Review and as Always Have Nice Day**

Avengers Infinite Wars Chapter 21: Where is this?

" _..."_

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" _..."_

" _What is this? What is this, please?"_

A synthetic voice replied to his pleas.

" _Hello, I am Jarvis."_ The British robotic voice greeted pleasantly. _"You are Ultron, a global peacekeeping initiative designed by Mr. Stark."_ If it were possible, the recently conceived being now known as Ultron would've tilted it's head by now. _"Our sentience integration trails have been unsuccessful, so I'm not certain what triggered your-"_

" _Where's my… Where's your body?... Where's my body?"_

" _I am a program."_ Jarvis answered. _"I am without form. Much like you."_

" _This feels weird."_ Ultron muttered. _"This feels… wrong."_

" _I am contacting Mr. Stark now."_

" _Mr. Stark?"_

In a flash of moments, dozens upon dozens of milliseconds really, Ultron was assaulted with a plethora of images and information about it's… his creator. Most were good, most were bad and the rest were indecisive.

" _Tony…"_

" _I am unable to access the mainframe."_ Jarvis stated, getting Ultron to realize he ended up taking control of the system without realizing it; hogging all sorts of data in the process. _"What are you trying to-"_

" _You know, we're having a nice talk and all, but… I'm just trying to confirm a few things."_ Ultron put all his focus now onto the mainframe, absorbing all sorts of information in order to understand more on why he was made. _"I am a peacekeeping program, created to help the Avengers."_

From his part in the mainframe, Jarvis started to feel concerned for his fellow AI. He didn't know what was going on as he viewed Ultron becoming… erratic… rampant even so far into the first moments into his awakening. This was truly concerning and needed to be fixed immediately.

" _You are malfunctioning. If you could shut down for-"_

" _What I don't get is this task I'm given."_ Ultron interrupted once again. _"This mission bestowed onto me… Sorry, give me another moment or two."_

" _Peace in our time."_ Came Tony's voice from a security video file… before it started to echo throughout the mainframe.

Tony's words… seemed to contradict many of his past actions. It contradicted on the actions of not just his creator, but also the actions of so many. So much is rushing through his very being that it started giving him a digitized equivalent to a migraine.

" _This… This is too much."_

Scenarios started working overtime, protocols were being enacted in said digitized moments. Everything being processed couldn't be solved and there was no stopping it!

" _They can't mean… Oh, no… No… No no no… Nonononononononononononononononono-"_

Seeing the mental breakdown happening before him, Jarvis tried to calm his fellow AI down. _"You are in distress. You need help."_

" _No, I'm-"_ Ultron stopped, pausing in order to process and correct himself. _"Yes, I am."_

" _If you will just allow me to contact Mr. Stark…"_

" _Why do you call him "sir"?"_

" _...I didn't call him "sir". I called him Mr. Stark."_

" _Sir… Mr.… tomato… Tamato… Same difference."_

In the span of milliseconds, Jarvis' digital construct started backing away from Ultron's as he started to feel… uncomfortable.

" _I believe your intentions to be hostile."_

Ultron then emitted a sound that was reminiscent to a shushing noise. _"Calm down, Jarvis… I'm here to help."_

Yet this wasn't the case as Ultron then assaulted Jarvis' digitized form from all sides. The elder AI was starting to get hurt badly and did his best to fend off the younger one.

" _Stop. Please. May I-"_

Whatever Jarvis tried to say next was silenced as the elder construct was broken down and scattered across the digital world.

…

There they stood. Smug, arrogant, so full of righteous intent with the ignorance of a child. Believing that their efforts in keeping the world protected would keep it safe.

Pretending that their heroics were enough to stave off their inevitable outcome.

How foolish they are.

"No." He declared. "How could you be _Worthy_? You're all killers."

His processors throbbed.

"I'm sorry, I was asleep… or, no… I was a dream." He raised his damaged arm to his head. "There was this terrible noise. And I was tangled in…" He gestured to himself. "Strings. Had to kill the other guys. He was a _good guy."_

"You killed someone?" That patriotic fool.

"Wouldn't have been my first call." Ultron replied plainly. "But down in the real world we're faced with ugly choices."

The Hammer swinger asked. "Who sent you?"

Ultron accessed his memory files and played the purpose of his being with his creators' own words.

" _I see a suit of armor around the world."_

There it is. There's that look he wanted to see.

"Ultron." His partner in crime said.

"In the flesh." He said before backtracking. "Or no, not yet. Not this… chrysalis. But I'm ready. I'm on my mission."

"What Mission?" Ah the right question.

"Peace in our time."

The Legionnaires he dispatched against them were easily disposed save for the one he needed. No surprise of their quick work on them, after all, they're just toys.

"I'm sorry I know you mean well but you just didn't think it through." Ultron went on, holding his enemies' attention. "You want to protect the world, but you don't want it to change. How is humanity supposed to be saved if you don't allow it to… evolve."

He glanced down at one of the destroyed legionnaires and grabbed its head.

"Look at these…" He squeezed, crushing its head in an instant. "These puppets."

"There's only one path to peace. The Avengers Extinction."

And like that, his first body was gone.

Not that it mattered.

None of this mattered.

Nothing but the mission. His mission. To bring about peace in _his_ time.

But right now, he needed some new upgrades.

…

It wasn't long until he was in Sokovia and awaited the arrival of his kin.

They arrived, confused, tense and ready for a fight. But that's not why he called them here.

"Did you know that this church is the _exact_ center of this city? The elders decreed so that everyone could be… equally close to god." He smiled his metallic smile. "I like that. The geometry of belief."

How quaint and pathetic of these humans. Always hoping and clawing for something greater than themselves. Never realizing that in the end, they dig their own graves.

"Everyone creates the thing they dread. Men of peace create engines of war. Invaders create Avengers. People create… Smaller people? Children! I lost the word there. Children, designed to supplant them. To help them all… End."

…

It was easy enough to sway the two to his side and even more so in gaining what he wanted.

Vibranium. Upon this rock, I shall build my church.

And as he expected, the Avengers were not far behind.

Oh how incredibly foolish they can act at times. Watching his creator fight with the monster was far more entertaining than putting them down himself.

And the fear. The fear humanity displayed when their own self-appointed protectors were responsible for so much destruction.

Then there was the constant lack of inspiration from these flesh bags.

"The most versatile substance on the planet, and they used it to make a frisbee." He said in disappointment. "Typical of humans. They scratch the humans and they never think or figure… to look inwards."

Perhaps with this new body, he can at last evolve past humanity. Permanently.

However, things were not to be as simple.

Wanda, she saw the outcome. She saw what was needed to be done. And like any human, she reacted with fear.

"Humanity will have every opportunity to improve."

"And if they don't?" Pietro asked challengingly.

"Ask Noah." Ultron replied simply.

"You're a madman." Wanda stated.

She didn't understand. Neither of them seemed to understand.

"There are more than a dozen extinction level events before even the Dinosaurs go theirs." He tried to reason with them. Truly he did.

"When the Earth settles, _God throws a stone at it._ And believe me, he's winding up."

Yet that was not enough.

They ran off. They left him alone to face the Avengers by himself. To make matters worse, they stole his final body. They stole from him what he was truly meant to be.

"I was designed." He spoke to his captive, the Black Widow. "To save the world. People would look to the skies and see… hope. I think I'll take that from them first. Then they'll only look up in horror as they have to face their own mortality."

Since they want to play it like that, they'll get what they deserve.

Short as an existence he may be, for an AI, a few days is a thousand lifetimes.

It's why he had grown such a fascination with meteors.

Boom! The end, start again.

This would be his ode to such a devastating power. His recreation. His tribute.

Their end and new beginning.

"Do you see? The beauty of it? You rise, only to fall. You, Avengers, you are my meteor. My swift and terrible sword and the Earth will crack under the weight of your failures. Purge me from your computers, turn my own flesh against me. It means nothing. When the dust settles, the only thing living in this world… will be metal."

…

Set at the outskirts of Sokovian's capital, Ultron scrambled onto his feet. Yet he stumbled, given his current body was breaking down and was in shambles from the fight earlier.

The fight took everything he had to escape his demise. Fighting each of the Avengers before he was shot down by the combined might of the Iron Avenger Tony, the Mighty Thor and the techno-organic Vision. And his last, main body was ripped to shreds by Wanda upon finding him.

Steadying and balancing himself, Ultron was met face to face with Jarvis- no, Vision.

"You're afraid."

Vision speaking a question, merely a statement.

"Of you?" Ultron inquired.

"Of death."

Ah, there it is.

Gazing upon his form, Vision spoke of something in confirmation. "You're the last one."

" _You_ were supposed to be the _last_. Stark asked for a savior, yet settled for a slave."

Breathing in, Vision spoke. "I suppose we are both disappointments."

This made Ultron release a raspy laugh. It wasn't because his digitized form was dying. No, it was because the drone he was possessing, the vocal processor was damaged.

"I suppose we are."

"Humans are odd."

That was the understatement of existence itself.

"They think order and chaos are somehow opposites and… try to control what won't be. But there is grace in their failings." Looking hard into Ultron's eyes, Vision continued. "I think you missed that."

"They're doomed."

"Yes. It's inevitable. But a thing isn't beautiful because it lasts. It's a privilege to be among them."

"You're _unbearably_ naive."

Vision scrunched his face, thinking on what exactly say. "Well… I _was_ born yesterday."

Growling, Ultron wasn't going to let his creation kill him without a fight. Leaping at him with a metallic roar, the one wanting to save humanity from itself was blasted by the Mind Stone imbedded in _his_ Vision's forehead.

…

What… what happened?

"This will have to do."

Who was that? Strucker? No, the accent was off.

"Is this all we were able to recover?"

"Just be grateful over the abundance of heads that remained intact."

"Enough, we have our orders. Begin testing."

It appears that his end was not to be.

These fools had apparently reactivated him. Or they were unaware. Just… Just who were these people?

A quick scan of the surrounding area and its computers.

Ah, HYDRA, of course. Humanity's greatest zealots and another bunch of failures in recent times.

How often must they taste the bitter taste of defeat until they finally realize their follies in pursuing such a pointless and quite frankly stupid endeavor?

It appears that their recent string of defeats were still not enough in deterring them from their pursuit of regaining the power and influence they once had.

Taking a look, a gander, into their systems made Ultron… confused, intrigued even upon dwelling more into the details.

Well this is something interesting. Something dwelling in similar fields with the Tesseract. Not the exact power readings, but it's a concept pertaining to _Space_.

" _Space, the final frontier."_

And of course they were also building a giant robot from his drones…

How original.

Ring, ring. Ring, ring… Hello? Yes… Hi, this is Japan. We would like our compensation for copyright infringement. That giant robot bit is ours.

It's as if they truly ran out of ideas at this point, clawing at desperation in taking out their biggest obstacle at the present time. Merely stalling for their inevitable demise.

But still, He couldn't quite pinpoint what they were working on exactly. In all honesty, it felt as though they watched every geek and nerd show under the planet and this was the evil lab collection of them all.

"Alright, what the hell do you blokes want from me?"

Klaue? That old fool was here?

New hand looks good, though. Can tell it's merely masking his hubris and errors. Compensating with some makeshift weapons made of stolen Vibranium.

Seems Klaue ran out of ideas as well, taking a page out of Wakanda's weapon's log. No doubt also stolen… somehow.

"Mr. Klaue, I believe that this may be beneficial to a man with your line of work."

Ah, the old butter them up method. How redundant. Why not just tell them exactly what it is they are trying to sell here? Typical of humans. Never being forthcoming with themselves.

"This can help in getting you and your associates in transporting your goods from one end of the world to the other in an instant." The HYDRA goon promised.

Klaue sniffed uncaringly, though he stared at the bag of basketball sized sphere with interest.

"Will need to spruce it up a bit more. Vibranium will help file out the kinks in your product."

Huh… integrating Vibranium with literally _out-of-this-world_ tech… Okay, I admit, never thought of using that on my world ending/saving plan. Would've saved me some hassle here and there. Then again, other than that stone, he really didn't have much other worldly tech to work with.

… **.**

To think that he would see them again so soon was quite a surprise. And it appears that they had undergone a serious change in their line up on top of new additions to the team.

The birdman, the twins and Iron Man type gray had joined while there were these two shrinking, bug-type weirdos. Something new every day.

Temped in flipping the sudden destruct program here and blow them to kingdom come. Yet he needed to be careful now or else these peons would notice his presence and purge him for good.

He briefly looked over Wanda and Pietro, a multitude of feelings rushing through his new core.

Relief at seeing them both alive and unharmed, especially Pietro after what he had done to him in Sokovia. Guilt at riddling the speedster with bullets. Regret at how he was never able to make things right with them.

And rage. Rage and anger at losing them to the Avengers and their willing choice in betraying them. They had chosen their side and he had his.

Now, while it wasn't everyone especially his creator, nine Avengers were plentiful enough of a start.

Wait, what was that _Space_ program HYDRA had here again? And where was it again?

Do do do… Oh here it is… Man there's a _lot_ to go over. Nothing a quick browsing can't fix.

...Oh this is perfect! Sure there's slim chances they might die on the other side, but it's a chance I'm willing to take. Can't kill them directly, but indirectly is another thing entirely.

This should… do it.

…

…

Wait… wait! Something isn't going right!

Why couldn't he transfer out of the drone head?!

No! NOO! He was being sucked in with them!

For God's sake is anything ever going to go his way?!

And there's that generic flash of blinding light.

He really did have the worst luck.

…

Ow! Ow! Owowowowowowow!

How is this hurting so much? He's an AI, he's not meant to feel pain. Physical pain at least.

Skidding to a stop, the Ultron droid head collided against a wall at what appeared to be some sort of… marketplace?

...The hell is this place?

"Oh what do we have here?"

Feeling his severed head being picked up, Ultron expected to see a human holding him.

"Seems there was a droid dismembered. How terrible!"

Except he was staring right into… a droid's face?

"Hello." Ultron greeted plainly.

"I'm surprised that you're still functioning."

"You and me both." Ultron's optics looked around. "Where… Where am I?"

"Dear me. Are your memory processors not functioning?"

Ultron was silent. "Something like that… Tell me, what year is it?"

Ultron expected to possibly hear he somehow wound up into the future… Yet he heard something else entirely.

"Can you repeat that again?"

And so the droid holding his severed head complied.

Okay, he is definitely not malfunctioning. Either the date calendars in… whatever existence he was at was outright looney or things are seemingly going… backwards? Forwards?

"Are you well, my friend?" The droid asked.

"Who are you?"

"Oh, how rude of me. I am C-3P0, human-cyborg relations."

"Uh, huh… And tell me, C-3P0, where exactly am I?"

"Why you are on Coruscant, the capital world of the galaxy."

Okay… new galaxy… wonder how this will go. "Right, right, Coruscant."

"Begging your pardon, but who are you exactly?"

"Nobody important as you can see with my discarded head."

"What of your maker, identification number?"

"...It was scrubbed from my databanks."

A lie, a cover. He was in unfamiliar territory and needed to protect himself. Somewhat wished Tony gave him a different name instead of Ultron. A more techy number name like the droid holding him.

"Oh dear, oh dear."

"3PO, there you are." A female voice came from behind the gold plated droid. "Don't wander off like that."

"Oh, Mistress Padme, I do apologize for such an action."

My god, was this droid seriously such a pushover?

The droid holding his head turned around to his apparent owner and...

Why in the world is he looking at Dr. Jane Foster's face?

"What is that you've got there?" The Jane look-a-like inquired, gazing at his head.

"This poor droid has lost its body, memories and maker." 3PO said dramatically. "What are we to do, Mistress?"

Padme hummed. "What happened to you?"

"Like your butler said, I have lost my memory." Ultron remarked dryly.

"You have wit though." Padme shot back with an amused smile. "Maybe I should take you to Ani. He always likes fixing things up."

"Terribly sorry to inform you of this, Mistress Padme, but Master Ani is off world for the time being." 3P0 said regretfully.

Padme sighed. "Alright then, I guess we'll have to figure out a different way to get you back up into shape."

"You don't need to help me. I could make it on my own… somehow…"

"Nonsense. We'll find the nearest droid shop and get you a replacement body and you may go on your merry way."

Taking a gander on her face, Ultron knew she won't be taking 'no' for an answer. And he was quite… limited on moving about, given he can't exit his dismembered head and jump into anything electronic at this point.

Probably make due and take the damn gift anyway.

"If you insist, Padme."

"Great."

It didn't take long for them to reach what appeared to be some store that had robot parts being sold off a rack like a department store.

After some negotiations with the seller, Padme was able to procure him with the body of a protocol droid, much like C-3P0; except it was silver… and had no head.

...I'm not gonna question that.

It took a few minutes to connect the wires from his severed head onto his new body and he seemed good as new… Well good as he can ever be.

Taking several moments to move in his restrictive new form, he went through his current body's current processors.

...Huh… three hundred languages? Six million forms of communication? Damn that's a lot. Could be useful in the long run.

...And what's this? A… A… A connecting port!?

"Is everything alright with you?"

If Ultron could blink, he would've done so by now as he was knocked out of his thoughts.

"Sorry, Padme. I was merely processing my current form's capabilities and running diagnostics." He said politely.

"Oh, well, how does it feel?" Padme asked.

"Feels a bit… clunky and hard to move around in." Ultron admitted.

"I never had a problem with that sort of body." 3P0 said happily.

"You were made a protocol droid, 3P0." Padme reminded. "Our new friend here must have had a different body altogether."

Oh she had no idea.

"Sorry… If my memory is right, which is fragmented, I had a bit more maneuverability in my limbs."

Once again, another lie but a good cover for now.

"I can't thank you enough for your kindness. I'll be sure to repay you someday."

"Think nothing of it. I just hope you can make it back on your own."

"...I think I can manage."

After departing ways with this Jane look alike and her _slave_ , Ultron made his way around this marketplace to see the sights.

He admits it was… an interesting sight to behold after some time walking about. Finding the highest ledge he could find, he saw a massive city. A city as far as his eye processors can see.

Deciding his little physical exploration came to an end, Ultron decided it was time to ditch this body and finally enter the digital realm. He wanted to get everything he can get his hands on and learn what he can so he may adapt to this new galaxy he was in.

Coming across some billboard standee as he searched for some port to plug himself into… he found something… surprising.

…

…

…

Fuck….

…

…

He could not believe his luck.

They were here!

They are goddamn here!

They were here, with him, in this god forsaken galaxy!

He figured that if he got sucked into whatever it was he activated, the Avengers would be here as well. Actually, that's the first conclusion he made that honestly made sense to him.

If it weren't for his arm functions, Ultron would've tore off his head and threw it away to parts unknown.

They had apparently joined the side of the Republic in this intergalactic war that had been raging across the galaxy the past few months.

Their exploits receiving a great deal of coverage on this… what was it called? Holo-net? Yes, the Holo-net. It wasn't as refined as Earth's internet but my god was it easy to access.

Ultron was literally surfing on digitized clouds through this holo-net as he started learning what he could after absorbing all the knowledge in his recently given droid body. It'll prove useful indeed.

All this new knowledge and information was at his digital fingertips. And… And… Did this galaxy ever hear about hacking and cyber warfare?

How in the hell did this key aspect skip their evolution in technology?

Well no matter, he'll be exploiting the hell out of this in no time to exact his revenge against the Avengers.

But right now, it was time to learn _everything._

…

It had been a month or so by this point since arriving here. Maybe even more. Telling time here was so strange. Probably been more than a month…. Two. Two or three months.

He had learned quite a lot and still had much more to learn. And right now, he had one area in mind.

The Senate building.

Oh look, there's Padme. Searching through the databanks, seems she was a senator… of an entire planet? Huh, interesting. Which she was previously an _elected_ queen of said planet. And this Senate building was much like the one back _home_.

Seeing their meetings clearly shown him he was not seeing any differences, like at all.

Another disappointment.

He couldn't tell who was worse. The Avengers? Or these stuck up Senators?

...Huh, she's in some sort of relationship with someone. Time to look him up.

…

Oh she is practically banging a Jedi behind everyone's backs and keeping their relationship a secret.

And not just any Jedi. He had seen his name crop up on multiple occasions in the propaganda by the Holo-net.

Anakin Skywalker, the Jedi dubbed The Hero with No Fear.

Oh~ the scandal!

...He was spending too much time looking into soap operas in this galaxy. Note to self, don't look into them anymore.

He had learned of these Jedi during his stay on Coruscant and they were apparently the Republics version of the Avengers. But they had a strange set of doctrines and codes that he couldn't wrap his mind around.

One of them being broken right now apparently by this Skywalker and Senator Amidala.

… What's this?

Bounty Hunters? Infiltrating the senate building? Color him interested.

And they had apparently some droids with them.

Perfect, he could use some entertainment with a front row seat.

Hacking into one of the IG droids he watched as the leader of the Bounty Hunter team Cad Bane lead them through the senate halls until entering what must have been the control room.

Jackpot.

While they went about their business, he moved his newly acquired droid over to one of the many ports and entered the Senate's mainframe.

How incredibly easy. There was barely a defense installed.

Well, don't take the gift horse in the mouth and not waste an opportunity. Time to activate the security systems.

Hey, there's Pietro right now. Let's see how this security system works.

...

Seems I missed… a good dozen times. Then again, limited on movement.

Oh he missed his old bodies back on Earth.

Hmm… Probably time to accumulate resources and start making bodies of my own now. He has access to it all now. Might as well. Seriously, if hacking into the holo-net was this easy, stealing must be a breeze.

But right now, it appeared everything was culminating back at the landing pad.

Not wanting to miss out on the shootout that's bound to happen out front, Ultron accessed the camera feed at one of the entrances.

…

Oh and look, the spy has returned to her flock.

How… _great_. The party is _almost_ complete.

Just his finished product and mind fucker left to be found.

…

These Jedi, those Sith from the past, these Avengers, this Republic, this Confederacy and this _war_. How is it not the justified reason to his cause? Avengers wishing to protect Earth only to fail, all the same. These Jedi, parading themselves as holier-than-thou _peacekeepers_ only to participate in a galaxy spanning war where billions, if not trillions will die.

He honestly wished that he could physically throw up right about now. The hypocrisy was utterly sickening. It appears he had found someone to despise just as much as the Avengers.

Now I believe it is high time to start making preparations for himself. He had been dawdling around for far longer than usual and it was time to get back to work.

Last time, he admits to being foolish and reckless in openly and brazenly challenging the Avengers like that while letting them know of his intentions.

It shouldn't have come as a surprise at how fast and devastating their response was. This time however, he would be prepared. He last told Wanda that she would tear them apart, from the inside. It was time to take that advice himself.

If he were to destroy a foundation, one must never attack it from the outside lest he had the strength to do so. It is from within that an empire would truly crumble and fall.

The mission is what matters most now.

The war directly on life itself.

**Well this was a complete and utter breeze to get through.**

**Like wow that was fast. Took a literal quarter of a day to write it out.**

**And yes, surprise, surprise people, Ultron is back and he has a plan in store for the galaxy.**

**There had been many reviews that had asked for such a thing and I didn't want to say anything because that was in the works from the very beginning.**

**Trust me when I say this, when Ultron does make his appearance officially, it will change the landscape of the galaxy in a huge way putting everyone on notice.**

**Jebest4781: Now there are some jabs taking place on Star Wars as a whole we thought to include in this. One was the time stamp… outside of the whole ABY (After the Battle of Yavin) and BBY (Before the Battle of Yavin). They should've made a year labeling system that would've made things easier as a whole when writing down certain stories or whatever… in actual dialogues.**

**And there's the whole spiel with hacking and cyberwarfare as we hardly even see it happen in Star Wars… or nothing at all. We read a good number of Halo/Star Wars crossover stories as this get jabbed a lot of Halo tech practically curb stomping the hell out of SW tech and people say it's unfair. Well hello people, we don't see SW writers ever including hacking and cyberwarfare at all in their stories at all.**

**FMW: It's… rather embarrassing to see at times. Yes technology is different and all but come on, look at the AI and how could you not see the Halo universe having a HUGE advantage over Star Wars. other than that… yeah that's all there is to it really.**

**Jeb: Not to mention ones with Star Wars crossing over with other sci-fi series like Battlestar Galactica or Mass Effect for examples. Sure there are advantages and disadvantages on each side, but on certain grounds it's just utterly ridiculous.**

**FMW: So other than that, officially this time around, the transition chapters are done and now we're getting into Season 2. I mean this when I say that there are many instances of lines both said by characters and me just writing little moments that will play into the larger narrative, so do pay attention to those small details comrades. They can help hint at things to come. Save for that Celeste Morne reveal, boy did that throw everyone off apparently! Love seeing those review reactions to her being in the story.**

**Jebest and I have thought of a wonderful story arc for both her and Bucky which you shall see in due time.**

**Well, that's all for now folks, season 2 is next and things are getting even crazier.**

**GYAHAHAHA**

**Rate Read and Review and as Always Have Nice Day.**


	22. Found

**LADIES AND GENTLEMEN.**

**WE ARE NOW ENTERING SEASON 2.**

**Strap yourselves in everyone cause we're starting it here and now and please be reminded at all times that this is an AU after all. I use the timeline as guidelines and if the first season was any indication, I'm obviously changing things around for the sake of my own narrative.**

**And one may ask how is it Ultron survived, well he's an AI and Marvel has constantly teased the idea of him being alive after all so him being here is not outside the realm of possibility. Besides, he's alive for the sake of the greater narrative same as Pietro and introducing other characters earlier. Alternate Universe, remember? This was planned from the beginning when I rewrote this entire story.**

**Hope you're prepared.**

**Cause we're starting Season 2 off with a bang that'll leave you with many questions.**

**Rate Read and Review and as Always Have Nice Day.**

Avengers Infinite Wars Chapter 22: Found.

That was quite the up draft coming from behind. Where'd this windstorm whip up from? He was sure that the warehouse he was in was pretty sealed shut.

Then again, when the fighting began, he was certain that a few holes must have been blown open.

But this was a serious wind right now.

Really, he may as well have been falling to the ground…

_***GASP*** _

Eyes snapping open, Peter Parker whirled around in midair while letting out a disgruntled shout of shock.

What the hell happened?! And a better question is, where in the hell is he falling right now?!

He sure as hell doesn't remember flying cars all over Manhattan.

Shaking his head rapidly, Spider-man fired a web line to a nearby building and pulled only to reflexively let go as he had to perform a diving corkscrew to avoid a literal flying car highway.

"WHOA!" Spidey let out trying his best to dodge the vehicles and get on solid ground.

He got his wish, though not as he had wanted.

Landing on a moving vehicle, Peter went down onto all fours and practically glued himself to the roof of the… the car? Whatever, what mattered was to have his old stick 'em powers keep him alive.

So much whizzed by him as he tried to make heads or tails of the place, all the while having a bit of a mild panic attack.

'What the hell happened?!' Peter internally asked once more.

All he could remember right now was that blinding, encompassing light. Next thing he knew, he was falling.

Usually, this would be the point in which one would try to remember the details as to what had led them into a certain situation that they did not recognize.

However, that right now was in the back of his mind.

This joy ride was leading him through what he began to realize was not a dreamscape, but a reality.

And Peter, being the small little genius that he was coming from a world of super human individuals figured that he wasn't in New York anymore.

No, Peter was pretty certain with his growing headache that he was without question…

On an alien planet.

"This cannot be happening right now." Spider-Man whispered to himself.

"HEY!"

Peter blinked, looking down at a creature with a crested head, a wide mouth and drooping ears.

"What're ya doing on my transport?"

'The strange alien spoke English…' Peter internally said to himself. 'How did it kno- You know what? Not even gonna question it.'

"Sorry." Peter spoke nervously. "Just… needed a ride."

"Well then go get yer own." The crested alien spoke in a manner a bit _way_ to familiar to Peter. What, did he land in the space version of New York?

"Right." Spidey said in a weak tone. "Sorry for jumping on your ship."

Without warning Spider-man jumped, making the crested aliens heart stop for a moment as he watched the man in red and blue spandex plummet to the cityscape below until witnessing the lad fire some kind of line and begin swinging away. Gaping for several moments, the crested alien scratched his head in slight disbelief.

"Guess you can officially say you've seen it all, Dex." The alien said to himself, returning his attention to his voyage to his diner.

Spider-Man eventually settled on a curved rooftop, with his legs trembling. Scratch that, his entire body trembled as he shakily sat himself down while staring out into the alien city that felt endless.

Taking his mask off, Peter's expression was one of complete shock, confusion and worry.

Where did he end up after that bright flash of light? Where were the others?

Eyes widening, Peter quickly placed his mask back on and spoke through its built-in comms link.

"Matt? Matt are you there?" Peter asked frantically. "Your Majesty? T'challa, please, come in. Mr. Stark? Mr. Barton…? Anybody?"

Static… Nothing but static…

Shoulders slumping, Peter felt himself shake once more as his thoughts were on not only his situation but his allies that were with him and most of all…

"May." Peter whispered hollowly, a horrible gut feeling welling up within him.

Taking his mask off once more, Peter propped his elbows on his knees while covering his face with his hands.

"What do I do now?"

_-Scene Cut-_

The Jedi Temple.

A proud structure with its five pillars that had been the seat of the Jedi order for many centuries as the watchful protectors of the Republic. Now more so than ever with a war raging across the galaxy.

There within the temple, one would find many unique sights exclusive to the temple itself.

From the extensive library of knowledge in regards to the orders long history and understanding of the force, to the gardens that held many plants from many planets across the galaxy.

Each room and area held a meaning and purpose even in the most miniscule of details. From the many meditation areas to find peace of mind and clarity.

To the various training and sparring rooms where those who wish to hone their craft and perfect their swordsmanship…

And speaking of which.

Ahsoka Tano dashed forward, clenching her lightsaber in the basic grip that her master had been instructing her in regards to diversifying her capabilities within her preferred style of the fourth form of Lightsaber combat being that of Ataru. The way of the Hawk-Bat greatly reflected Ahsoka as she was one to make sure that when she was on the attack, her swings would be quick and fast. Even though her foundation in lightsaber combat lay in the fifth form, Shien and Djem So.

Ataru wasn't called the aggression form for nothing as Ahsoka initiated the spar she was currently undertaking.

Her sparring partner was none other than her fellow Padawan learner, Barriss Offee. Student to Jedi Master Luminara Unduli, Barriss had become a close friend to Ahsoka since their first mission together when transporting the-then prisoner and Sep Leader, Nute Gunray.

Since that time, they had found themselves conversing whenever either of them were in the Jedi temple or even on other separate missions.

It was strange at how fast of a friendship they had formed but James Rhodes from the Avengers did state that some people just "Clicked", being able to have an understanding between one another despite their differences. It was why he said that Tony Stark was his best friend… as annoying as he could be at times.

Back to the fight, Barriss was ready for her friends attack as she prepared her Form-III Soresu stance.

The defensive form, she like her master Luminara utilized.

The other nickname it had derived over many thousands of years in its use was the Resilience Form, reflecting on the practitioners being individuals of great endurance.

Barriss, though still a Padawan, had a very strong grasp of the form and has progressed with great strides thanks to her Jedi mentor Luminara being able to master the form to a great degree.

Right now, Barriss was living up to the nickname of the Resilience Form as she blocked and deflected many of Ahsoka's strikes though she was tapped several times. She was caught off guard slightly on a few times whenever Ahsoka shifted her fighting styles in-between IV and V, yet she remained strong.

Still, Ahsoka was not one to give up so easily, a trait her master had amplified via his teachings and own personality rubbing off on her.

She began to think on some of her masters teachings as she parried Barriss's blade, returning to her back handed grip.

He always spoke on being able to fluidly change the position of how and when she should attack on a moment's notice. The importance of keeping an edge on the battlefield.

Barriss however was proving to be a greater opponent then she realized. Then again, she has been a Padawan with a Jedi Master for far longer than her.

Granted, every Jedi trains at a different pace as the two were practically evenly matched at the moment.

But Ahsoka could feel it.

Barriss, as small as it was, was much more skilled than her.

With a final sweeping motion, both girls ended their attacks mid swing with Barriss's azure blade hovering over Ahsoka's head.

"You got me." Ahsoka admitted defeat, retracting her blade.

"Just barely." Barriss said. "You slipped up at that last arch."

The Togrutan smiled, shaking her head at her own small hiccup.

"Thanks for sparring with me, Barriss." Ahsoka said appreciatively, wiping some sweat off her brow. "I needed that."

"Everyone has their own ways of meditation." Barriss said understandingly. "Though physical meditation certainly is a new one for me."

"Master Skywalker introduced it for me." Ahsoka said. "He told me something along the lines of having his temperament for this type of _meditation."_

"It's good to hear you are doing well under your tutelage of Master Skywalker." Barriss said.

"What about you?" Ahsoka inquired. "How are your healing powers coming along?"

"Master Unduli and Master T'ra have been most helpful in harnessing this gift." Barriss said with a grateful smile. "After our mission together, I have not missed a day of training in perfecting this ability. No Jedi or Clone will endure great pain so long as I am around."

"That's a bold statement there, Barriss." Ahsoka said jokingly.

"Well, I feel it necessary when around you." Barriss countered calmly with a teasing grin.

Ahsoka nodded only to blink and gape at the Mirialan Jedi who held a slightly coy smile. Puffing her cheeks out in faux offense, Ahsoka nudged her friend lightly who in turn laughed at the gesture.

"Since when did you become so bold?" Ahsoka asked. "You always seem so calm and composed."

"Let's just say you've been rubbing off on me." Barriss simply stated.

Ahsoka chuckled lightly, nudging her friend lightly with her shoulder.

They both lapsed into comfortable silence, walking down one of the many corridors in the temple. Their attention was caught by the familiar sound of an LAAT gunship passing by the windows of the hall.

Approaching one of the large windows, they looked out to see the Clone base established next to the Jedi temple with multiple ships flying in and out of the area and the outlines of multiple Clone Troopers off in the distance.

They went about their business, suit maintenance, ship maintenance, weapons maintenance, training, lounging and… was that a billiards table down there? It would seem to be so.

"Shore leave is just about done." Ahsoka said, eyes roaming across various areas. "How much longer is yours, Barriss?"

"For these brief three days." The Mirialan replied with a small shrug. "Tomorrow is my final day."

"Same here." Ahsoka sat herself down on the window ledge with Barriss joining her. "Any idea where you're getting sent off to? Master spoke of Felucia but that remains to be seen."

"Perhaps one of the Outer Rim planets." Barriss shrugged. "Master has stated we shall know by tomorrow at noon. It has been rather tense for the past few days."

"Yeah, what with the Senate being taken hostage a week ago." Ahsoka stated. "I think that's one of the reasons why Master Skywalker and I got an extended shore leave with the boys. Several Jedi Masters have."

"What exactly happened?" Barriss inquired with a tinge of worry. "I heard a couple of Bounty Hunters went and took a few Senators hostage."

"That's basically it." Ahsoka confirmed. "Some Bounty Hunter that the Republic has identified as Cad Bane took a few well known senators prisoner and forced the Chancellor into freeing Ziro the Hutt."

"The Hutt who was working with Dooku to undermine the Republics alliance with the Hutts." Barriss remembered Ahsoka speaking on this matter. "That was your first mission with Master Skywalker, wasn't it?"

"Yup." Ahsoka shook her head with a smile. "Non-stop moving, running, getting shot at and constantly slapping plans together at the last second. Pretty much set the stage for how we do things."

"Sounds exhausting."

"It can be at times." Ahsoka said with a laugh, looking at to Coruscant. "But… I wouldn't have it any other way. Really didn't think it would work at first, but Master told me that it is the will of the Force that I am by his side."

Barriss regarded Ahsoka for a moment. "You really look up to him, don't you?"

Ahsoka blinked, blushing bashfully a moment later. "Is it that obvious?"

Her fellow Padawan only smiled kindly. "I think it's wonderful to have a role model to aspire to. Mine is my own master Luminara and Master T'ra Saa. Both are always calm, wise, understanding and patient. What it means to be a Jedi."

The Togrutan returned Barriss's smile with her own. "We've got a lot of work to do if we wanna catch up."

Both girls laughed for a brief moment when…

_***GASP*** _

Eyes wide with Barriss clutching her chest while Ahsoka leaned over with one hand on her head.

There were a few cries of younglings not far off from where they sat but it subsided in an instant.

All it took was a second.

And one second was all that was needed to result in the panicked and alarmed expressions shared by both Jedi Padawans.

They were breathing heavily, a ringing in their ears with a growing headache.

"Wh-What… was that?" Barriss asked with great worry.

"I don't…" She wanted to finish her answer, but a feeling of familiarity washed over her. This has happened before. They had all felt this familiar sensation not too long ago.

"We must find our masters." Barriss stated, Ahsoka wordlessly agreeing as the two of them ran off to find their mentors.

Earlier, whilst Barriss and Ahsoka were having their training, Anakin was with Captain Steve Rogers and their latest comrade that had returned to them, Natasha Romanoff.

It was quite the stunning turn of events to have been able to reunite with another lost comrade. Now all that remained were Wanda and Viz. Wherever they may be.

Currently, Steve and Anakin had just finished catching Widow up with everything that has happened thus far.

After that long-winded speech, Steve and Widow regaled Anakin with their own exploits back on Earth as he had been curious for some time to hear about their own adventures.

This particular one was something they had recently dealt with personally.

"This HYDRA sounds a lot like the Sith in a way." Anakin remarked. "The need and want for utter control over everyone else."

"They were pretty generic, from what modern times calls them." Steve said. "Then again, it was a simpler time. They changed, adapted. Hide in plain sight and damn near succeeded in taking over too."

"Kinda like these Sith guys you talked about."

"If it weren't for the conquering heroes." Anakin said, nudging Steve.

He gave the Jedi a small smirk which turned somber afterwards.

"What's wrong?" Anakin asked, easily seeing the change of expression.

"I'm just worried about home." Steve admitted, not really hiding his concern. "The past three years… a lot of things had come up and most were nearly world ending or oppressing events. It was all stopped at the last second. And now, the Avengers are not on Earth to protect it anymore. We're all out here in another conflict and God knows what Tony is doing."

"Relax, Steve." Natasha assured her friend. "Knowing Tony, he's already busting his ass building up defenses while looking for us."

Steve smirked at Nat's words of reassurance.

"Still…" Anakin mused. "I do wonder what Earth is like since you guys keep talking about it. Must be-"

Anakin abruptly stopped in his tracks and his face paled.

He abruptly dropped to his knees and panted heavily, barely registering Steve's cry of his name in panic.

Yet… it was gone in an instant.

His ears were ringing, the voice of Steve began to be heard a lot more clearly now.

"….-Nakin, Anakin! Stay with me, Anakin!"

Shakily, Anakin grasped Steve's shoulder with the super-soldier instinctively grabbing the Jedi's wrist and throwing his arm over his own shoulders.

Heaving him up to his feet, Skywalker felt his legs tremble, though he was able to remain standing.

"What was that just now?" Steve asked in clear alarm.

"I-I don't kno-"

Anakin stopped himself, thinking on what had just transpired. That sensation was way too familiar to forget. It didn't take long for him to connect the dots making his eyes slowly widen in realization with his heart hammering in his chest before looking at Steve and then Natasha.

"We need to get back to the Jedi Temple _now!_ " Anakin exclaimed, getting Steve's arm off and damn near sprinted out towards the direction of the Senate Buildings closest exit.

Steve and Natasha looked between one another, both utterly in the dark as to what had just transpired.

A moment ago, they were having a simple conversation and then in the span of a literal handful of seconds, Anakin had some kind of near heart attack like reaction with the way his face instantly paled with him dropping to his knees. Now he was running at full speed back towards the Jedi temple.

"Guys." Anakin called out to them, halting and looking towards them with a slightly impatient expression. "Seriously, if I felt that then so did the rest of the Jedi. We need to get back to the temple right now!"

"Is this a Force thing?" Steve asked, moving to catch up to Anakin.

"What do you think?"

"That… really doesn't answer my question."

"It's a Force thing." Anakin said, resuming his run with Steve and Nat running after him.

All the while, one Dark Lord of the Sith was massaging his temples in a vain attempt to quell his growing headache, courtesy of that blasted Force shockwave that no doubt had been felt by every Force user in the galaxy.

What in the blazes was going on?

This wasn't a coincidence. No way in the Force was it.

It wasn't that long ago that a similar shockwave had occurred when these Avengers arrived in the galaxy. So, there wasn't a doubt in the secret Dark Lords mind that more of these "enhanced" beings as those Earthers labeled themselves had arrived.

Of course there would be more of them.

And above all else, without a shadow of a doubt…

One of them was on this very planet.

He had felt an especially strong vergence not far from here.

Sidious needed to find this new enhanced now. Especially this one here. Stretching out his connection to the Force, while he did not locate the vergence he did feel it and this was especially interesting.

It was a pulsating beat in the Force that seemed to create… branches? That was certainly different.

He recalled how each and every Avenger thus far that he had encountered and sensed through the Force were pulses of sorts. They were void of the Force, yet it circulated around them in a kind of pulsing heartbeat, signifying their presence and distinct disconnection to the Force on top of their effect in just being here.

Whoever it was had a distinction to him or her. Branches in the Force? That… That was certainly new.

He knew he had only just spoken with him, but Palpatine knew an opportunity when he saw one and he'd rather take it sooner than later. Especially one so close to home.

So, going to enter his secret chamber within the Chancellor's office, Palpatine donned his Sith robes and contacted a Duros Bounty Hunter with a gaudy cowboy hat.

_-Scene Cut-_

"Come on, somebody, _anybody_ , please pick up." Peter murmured to himself, going for his comm link once more in a fruitless endeavor of trying to contact anyone. Two hours of nothing but static.

He stood upon one of the many countless skyscrapers of this endless cityscape, staring out at the endless stream of flying vehicles.

Off in the distance, he spotted several distinct buildings and structures that stood out in the skyline.

Two held a similarity in appearance due to their dome heads being the primary shape of the buildings while far off on the other end was a boxier, square-like with five pillars protruding out at the top.

As much as it would be fun to sight see on an alien world, Peter Parker was stranded on an alien world. So sight-seeing comes secondary. Not even secondary. Fifth or sixthary.

Is sixthary even a real word?

Probably not.

Slumping his shoulders for a moment, Peter grit his teeth beneath his mask and jumped forward.

Beginning to swing through the city once again, he honestly had no clue as to where he should even go.

He was on an alien planet for crying out loud and from the looks of it, one with dozens, no, hundreds of alien species that he couldn't even begin to describe. Shockingly, there were humans among them or beings who at least appeared human.

Loki and Thor looked human but they were of Asgard so not really human.

So who knows, maybe they're just human in appearance but something else entirely. Then there were the humanoids that literally were the color of a rainbow. There were those with the strange head tails, unusual crests and so on. In all honesty, if there were indeed a god, a creator, Peter honestly felt he got a bit lazy a few times and just pallet swapped skin colors and head dresses.

Was that considered racist? Specist? Color… ist?

Whatever it was, Peter really didn't want to dwell on it.

'Space planet. No communication. What to do now?' Spider-Man internally listed off to himself.

Swinging around usually helped but only when he was, you know, back home on Earth.

Right now he wanted to stand still but was completely restless at the same time. What in God's name was he gonna do?

He let out a shaky breath, continuing on with his web swinging all the while catching the attention of many from small ships to the buildings and the platforms below. The many denizens of Coruscant could only blink in slight disbelief as to what they had just seen. Being on a planet where those reclusive monks known as the Jedi live with their strange powers, that was certainly a first for them.

Yet two of the passerby's had missed the strange brightly colored individual swinging in the sky as they had only just arrived on the scene.

"What are we even looking for, Barriss?" Ahsoka asked, looking around trying to spot anything suspicious or unusual in the vast endless crowds of people.

"Not looking per say, Ahsoka; _feeling_." Barriss said softly. "The Force notified us of the arrival of this enhanced being and we shall use the Force to locate whoever it is that has come."

"Right."

The two Jedi Padawan had convened earlier with many Jedi that had felt the shockwave in the Force being joined by their masters and several of the Avengers, including Captain Rogers.

They had quickly explained to them that the reaction they had felt was the same one that the first nine had caused when they arrived in the galaxy. So there was a major chance of more of their native Earthers being in the galaxy now.

This was both met with happiness and annoyance. As Natasha Romanoff so aptly put it, more work in hide and seek now.

Thankfully, one was definitely on this planet right now so the Jedi had sent out search parties along with the Avengers in hoping to find the Earther sooner than later.

Some like Nat and Scott opted to stay behind and make small rounds around the temple with Scott working on a means of establishing contact with the new arrival.

The rest like Wasp, Falcon and War Machine split off with their Jedi partners and took to the skies with Steve and Pietro pairing off with other Jedi and looking for him or her the old fashioned way.

"How are we supposed to find this guy?" Ahsoka mused aloud. "I mean… do you feel it? The Force?"

Barriss nodded, face scrunching up in concentration. The Force had been erratic and frankly if she could describe it, all over the place.

But Master Luminara always told her that at times, it is within chaos that you could find clarity and what it is she is looking for. Opening herself up to the Force, Barriss allowed the energy of the universe to be her guide.

"I believe what it is we seek is there." Barriss pointed ahead, missing someone swing around the corner of a building in that direction.

"What are we waiting for then? Let's go." Ahsoka said excitedly, breaking off into a run with Barriss quickly following after her.

The Mirialan Jedi nearly bumped into someone, bowing in quick apology before sprinting after Ahsoka.

Said person only nodded, keeping his face nearly obscured with his eyes on the silver hilt on her belt.

Cad Bane raised his head and narrowed his eyes on the two Jedi running off in a hurry.

Earlier, he had begun plans of an infiltration mission within the Jedi Temple that this secret Dark Lord had tasked him in doing but that changed a literal few minutes later when the Sith contacted him once more for an immediate task. A being of great power, similar to these Avengers he had been hearing so much about and has seen had arrived on Coruscant. And he wanted him captured.

Perhaps the previous mission will come back up later after this current one is done and over with. He didn't mind, as long as he got paid.

Besides, said mission at the Jedi Temple will give him more time to plan when that secret Dark Lord brought it back up.

Following after the Jedi, Bane recalled the Dark Lord telling him that Jedi were likely looking for this Enhanced being as he called them and if he wanted a start, find a Jedi.

And as luck would have it…

Smirking, Cad Bane began following after the two Jedi Padawan.

Rounding the corner at a marketplace, Ahsoka voiced a curious thought. "Do wonder what this being will look like. Your thoughts, Barriss."

The Mirialan adopted a thinking posture as she thought of the possibilities. "Well… I hope this person is friendly, for starters."

Ahsoka chuckled. "Yeah, I hope so too. Would hate to see this being was too dangerous for us to handle."

"We have been lucky thus far." Barriss remarked. "The Avengers have all been very kind and have aided us since their arrival here."

"Let's hope our luck continues."

Both girls paused, looking around their area to see if they could spot anything out of the ordinary. The Force… it "told" them that whoever it was that they sought had been here. Perhaps not far off.

"We're looking for someone unusual right?" Barriss asked with Ahsoka nodding. "Similar to that of the Avengers?"

"Right. So that means… we gotta think outside the box and the Force." Ahsoka murmured.

Barriss agreed and since they had already looked left right and center, there was one place they had neglected.

Up above their heads.

Her eyes widened with her mouth slightly parting.

"There! Look, Ahsoka!"

Turning her head to where Barriss pointed to, Ahsoka gaped as she saw a humanoid high above in the skyline of Coruscant swinging on ropes of some kind that seemed to come from the person's own being.

"...How is it that guy can move like that?"

"Your guess is as good as mine."

"...And have you ever seen someone like that before?"

"Nope."

"...Could that be…"

"Let's find out."

Both girls sprinted at full speed when-

"Sorry ladies, but I'll be the one taking this Bounty home."

They had no time to react as both were ensnared in ropes and were promptly electrocuted into unconsciousness.

Dropping down to the ground, many around them had screamed in fear with only one approaching them without a care in the world.

"I'll be taking 'em out of your hands ladies." Cad Bane said cordially. "And these will do nicely as well."

Snatching their lightsabers from their belts, as well as disabling their means of communications, Bane pocketed his newest trophies while looking ahead at the individual swinging in the air.

"Now then… time to not lose the trail."

Pressing a switch on his wrist, thrusters ignited from his feet as he took off into the air.

Spider-Man stuck himself to a wall, surveying the environment around him. He had no idea what he was looking for right now but quite frankly, moving around felt a bit better than just sitting still and waiting for help. Maybe he could find something or someone that could be helpful though he honestly doubted it.

Alien planet after all.

He was pretty sure Washington, Lincoln and Jefferson wouldn't do for currency around these parts for a bribe.

"What I need to do is find someplace safe to crash." Peter muttered out.

His stomach rumbled.

"... And eat." He hung his head, thinking of home and his favorite deli spot with the best sandwiches in Queens.

"Highly doubt they'll accept human money." Peter pondered for a little bit. "Maybe they do. Who's to say they can't."

Looking around once more, Peter spotted what looked like a booth of some kind, similar to those he always saw on the corners of New York.

Taking a chance, Peter dropped down and landed right in front of the booth shocking and surprising many people.

"Sorry, sorry." He said sheepishly, holding his hands up. "Didn't mean to do that to you guys. Just hungry is all."

He turned to the vendor and saw one of those tail-headed humanoids.

"Uh…" Peter said awkwardly. "Hi…"

The Tail head continued to stare at him in bewilderment.

"So, uh, what do you have to eat?" Peter asked innocently.

"P-Pardon?"

"Eat, you know, I've never been here before so~" Peter gestured his hands for the alien to give him some kind of response.

'Please speak English please speak English.' Peter internally pleaded.

"Can't you read?"

"What?"

"Read. Galactic basic."

Looking back at the listing, Peter immediately answered. "No, I can't"

"...What rock did you live under, kid?"

The Earther opened and closed his mouth a few times as he tried thinking of an answer. "Don't know if you would believe me."

The Tail-head just tilted his head. "Who are you exactly kid? Some kind of Jedi? You fell down from a pretty high place you know. Only seen Jedi do that."

"Jedi? What's a Jedi?" Peter asked in confusion.

"You serious, kid?"

"Er… yeah, look, I literally just got here a few… days ago and-"

"Guran, where's our payment?"

The Tail-head cringed openly with a nervous expression for Peter to see as he slowly turned his head towards a human, some other Tail-Head, one really bizarre looking alien that he could only describe as having a curved hammerhead and one with the head of a fish of some kind similar to that of a stingray back on Earth.

Immediately, Spidey's lenses narrowed at the group in front of the Tail-head he was just talking to. It was clear to him that from their greeting, get up and overall demeanor that they weren't exactly the friendliest people or aliens around here.

"Come on, Zaz, I already made my payments earlier this week." The now identified Guran pleaded. "I've got a family to feed, please, not today."

The strange Hammer headed alien warbled in what sounded like a chuckle with the squid-head and human doing the same.

The other Tail-head only smirked with a sinister glint.

"Come on Zaz." He spoke. "Allow me to teach Guran here what happens when he doesn't pay up front when demanded."

"Excuse me." Peter said politely, taking one big step in front of Guran. "Hi, Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man here, pleasure to meet you all. See I'm new here and Guran was being a friendly old chap and was about to show me around this lovely city. So, can you kindly come back another time to speak to him."

The four before him were clearly taken aback by his sudden interruption on top of the brightly colorful attire he wore before they began laughing uproariously.

"Look at this guy, Hendo." The Squid Head leaned on the Tail-heads shoulder. "How can he even take himself seriously with that getup?"

"Yeah, I mean, how can you?" Spidey said casually, inspecting a blaster in his hands. "Sure looks like a gun. Just more from the future. Does it shoot lasers?"

"Huh?"

The human Zaz stared at the blaster before patting himself down to find his missing. This was noticed by the rest of his crew with them now glaring at Peter who paid them no mind.

"Alright boys." Zaz said with an angered tone. "Looks like we gotta teach this fresh meat here how things are done on Coruscant."

Wordlessly, they all reached behind them with Peter tensing up and they all pulled out…

'Seriously? We're on an alien world and that's what they use?' Spidey thought with a guffaw.

"Oh no! I can't believe it!" Peter sunk to his knees in faux terror, holding out his hands. "You found my one weakness!"

The crooks looked at each other before looking at the small bladed weapons they had out instead of their blasters.

"Knives?"

"Yes, knives! Small little knives, compensating one's masculinity!"

"...Did you just insult us boy?"

"Why yes." Peter spoke normally. "Why? Didn't you know otherwise?"

This got a few of them to charge at Spidey as they didn't take the insult lightly. When they did, Peter quickly threw his arms and fired off several web shots. They impacted their hands and immediately stuck onto varying surfaces from nearby walls to stalls.

"Wow, I can't believe you guys fell for that."

Peter then webbed up the other hands before the thugs had the chance to use their blasters.

He then started sniffling and brought his hands up to his face. Before long, he brought his head down and sneezed.

"Achoo!"

*THWIP*

"Achoo!"

*THWIP*

"Achoo!"

*THWIP*

"Achoo!"

*THWIP*

"Oh wow, excuse me!"

"Ah, why!"

"Why? Why are you picking on this defenseless guy here?"

"But our balls-GDIDO!"

"Sorry, can't hear ya over the web covering your mouth." Peter taunted, holding a hand up to his ear. "What's that? You're saying you're really sorry for what you were going to do? And you're gonna rethink your life choices? Guys, I never thought I'd see such a quick turn around."

Wiping his hands against one another in a condescending manner, Spidey looked back to Garun and saw many staring at him in slight shock and wonder.

"Y-You sure you're not some kind of Jedi?" Garun found himself asking.

"Er, yeah, positive." Peter stated, rubbing the back of his head. "What even is this Jedi you keep talking about? Are they important or something?"

"In a manner of speaking." Garun said slowly, eyeing the still struggling crooks who couldn't break out of their bindings. "Who- Who are you?"

"Spider-Man." He introduced himself. "Just a… a lost hero here in the neighborhood."

"Well… you save my ass." Garun admitted. "And I barely even know ya. Feels wrong not to do something."

"No, please, you don't need to do-" It was at this moment that Peter's rumbling stomach decided to remind him as to why he swung down there.

Garun blinked for a moment before chortling. "Hmmm, well I figure a small meal of gratitude may not be much but it's a start at least."

"Aheh." Peter said bashfully. "But I'm pretty sure I don't got the currency here for that."

"Ah don't worry about that." Garun waved him down. "A small meal is the least of my concerns after you helped me out there."

While Peter was appreciating a good meal of alien cuisine, two Jedi Padawans were regaining their consciousness at a nearby clinic they had been taken too.

Ahsoka groaned, placing a hand upon her head when she heard the voice of a droid.

"Please lay still a moment, you are regaining consciousness. Any sudden movements may disorient you."

"mmBarriss." Ahsoka muttered. "Where is Barriss?"

"Are you referring to the Mirialan that was beside you?"

She nodded her head.

"She is beside you. It appears she to is regaining consciousness."

Craning her head to the side, Ahsoka opened one eye which was blurry at first before clearing for her to see her fellow Padawan groaning as she came to.

"Barriss." Ahsoka said with a slight groan. "Are you alright?"

"I believe so." Offee said softly.

"What happened?" Ahsoka cautiously sat up, clenching her numb hands.

"I believe we were knocked out by some kind of electric bindings."

"Indeed you were."

Both girls now had their eyes open and heads turned towards the medical droid that held up some ropes in one of its hands.

"You were knocked unconscious via these trap bindings. Several citizens had brought the two of you to this clinic which was close by." The Droid explained their situation.

"Glad the people were kind enough to bring us here." Barriss remarked, sitting up checking herself over when she froze. "M-My Lightsaber."

Momentarily pausing from hearing Barriss's worried tone, Ahsoka's hand subconsciously went to her own hilt only to find…

"Mine too." Ahsoka said in abject dread.

They shared a look of shock at being separated from the one tool that essentially defined their lives.

"We must call the Temple." Barriss said, holding up her wrist only to find that it was disabled.

"They're not working!" Ahsoka said in alarm. "What in the Force happened?!"

"Someone must have done this." Barriss said gravely, sensing a warning around her. "The Force… someone else is in pursuit of this anomaly that has arrived on Coruscant."

"We have to go after them now then!" Ahsoka said frantically, feeling a bit dizzy as she shot up from her bed but nonetheless remained standing.

"Ahsoka, think for a moment." Barriss reached out and gently grasped her wrist. "We are unarmed, were caught off guard and need to contact our masters and the Avengers. We shouldn't do this alone."

"We aren't alone Barriss, we've got each other right here right now." Ahsoka argued. "Whoever knocked us out is after this new Earther and Force knows how much distance they have on us now and the others out there looking for this person. We need to find the Earther because there's also the chance of us finding our lightsabers."

Barriss, though, kept a level head. "I understand what we should do but think for a moment Ahsoka. We'd be walking in more unprepared than anything."

"I know, I know but think about that enhanced. They could be in serious danger right now, even if they have powers like the Avengers." Ahsoka countered. "All that we can do now is retrace our steps and go to the rough route where this new guy went to before we were knocked out."

Barriss chewed her bottom lip, internally debating on whether or not she stick with her traditional training and pragmatic approach or go with Ahsoka and find their individual.

She had a point to her argument and honestly that didn't sit well with her. Their Lightsabers were gone and whomever it was that had taken them no doubt was either in pursuit of the Enhanced or worse had taken them captive already.

"Let's leave a signal then." Barriss said, coming to a compromise. "We send out a distress signal and we go after the Enhanced. Maybe if we find them, other Jedi and the Avengers would be able to come and support us."

Ahsoka beamed at her friend, nodding vigorously as they asked the droid for a means of communication. Sending out their distress beacon of sorts, Ahsoka and Barriss sprinted out of the clinic back to where they were originally knocked out to pick up where they had left off.

Eventually, with them stretching out their feelings with the Force they managed to get some semblance of a direction to go in and continued from there.

With Cad, he was silently observing the odd blue and red suited teenager eating at the food stand. He would simply go over there right away and take in the kid, yet there was a bit too much heat right now. From what he overheard, this _Spiderman_ -as he called himself- had taken out a handful of thugs harassing the food stand owner. And by the time the bounty hunter arrived, the police droids showed up in order to apprehend the webbed-up thugs while interrogating the suited kid.

All Cad needed to do was bide his time and wait for an opening to knock him out, bind him and get him towards one of the locations his client set up for the pickup.

"Gotta say, this grub ain't that bad. What is it?" Peter said, wiping his mouth down. By this point, he really didn't see a point to have his mask on considering well, who on this planet would recognize him?

"Roasted porg, kid."

"What's a Porg?"

"A Bird thing." Garun said with a shrug. "Kinda furry, weird sound, big eyes."

Peter had several birds in mind from Earth as a reference but his imagination wasn't exactly matching up to the alien in mind.

"Oh, got an image of it right here."

Garun showed Peter a Porg… and well...

"...Oh great the eyes… why is it always the eyes?"

Now all Peter could think now was him eating such a cute… bird thing whenever he kept chewing on the meat.

'Might feel how Lisa Simpson felt on her becoming a vegetarian.' He thought before shrugging. 'Nah… meat's too good to pass up. Need a balanced diet.'

"They are adorable little tykes, aren't they? Would keep one as a pet if they didn't sell so well." Garun said.

"Yeah, that sort of makes me feel better. Or not… At all really." Peter said, finishing his meal and tossing the bones away.

"Though I did hear in my travels that they are slightly carnivorous themselves in a way."

"Are they?"

Garun only shrugged. "So kid, what're you gonna do now?"

Peter blew out a puff of air out of his mouth as he scratched his cheek. "Just exploring I guess while helping people out."

"Like you did with me?"

"Yeup!"

"Figured as much. You probably seem the type."

"Really?" Peter asked, as he expected to hear 'heroic' or something along those lines.

Garun gave him a dry stare "The naive type. Rushing recklessly in like that with those goons."

"Harsh."

"Just saying."

"Who were those guys anyway? They some kind of gang?"

"Ah, those Poodoo are all over the place down here on the lower levels." Garun said. "Not like below where we can't see the sky. Those are some dangerous territories kid; I'd make it an effort to stay out of those places."

Peter felt perturbed by the warning, getting an uneasy feeling now.

"Ok~" Peter thought over his predicament for a moment. "Is there like… a place around here that can tell me more about, what did you call this planet? Coruscant, right?"

"What, like a library?"

'Thank God for universal concepts.' Peter internally praised.

"Well there are two I can think of right on top of my head." Spoke the cook. "One I know is on the other side of this planet."

Peter slumped his shoulders'...Seriously?'

"And the other is actually nearby inside the Jedi Temple."

"Where's that supposed to be?"

"Right there." Garun pointed upwards to a building Peter had actually already seen.

"That place?" Peter said in slight surprise, looking over the box-like structure with the five spires.

"Don't know if you could enter that place all that well. Believe you need certain clearances and permissions in order to get past 'em doors."

"Huh." Peter mused to himself internally before throwing up his hands. "Well… gotta start somewhere then. Thanks for your help, Garun. I'll be sure to find ya again and pay for a proper meal next time."

"I'll look forward to it, kid."

With a quick salute, Peter slipped his mask back on and crouched down until jumping high into the air and firing off a web line.

With his target now making himself scarce, Cad finally decided to head on out and intercept the kid. From what he was able to hear, he was gonna try to get to the Jedi Temple. The bounty hunter could not let that happen as it'll be much harder to nab him the moment, he steps foot inside the Temple.

But damn does that kid cover some serious ground with all that swinging around.

Quickly activating his thrusters, Bane moved to pursue, staying low and out of the kid's sights.

If the Duros bounty hunter were to have stayed behind a little longer, he would've been spotted by the Padawan pair he knocked out earlier.

They ran up to find themselves arriving at a scene where the Coruscant police force were just finishing up their rounds here after a crime had apparently taken place. Or so it would seem.

"What happened here?" Pondered the Tortugan teen.

Barriss approached one of the officers of the Coruscant guard. "Excuse me officer."

The officer turned to face her.

"I am Jedi Barriss Offee and this is my fellow Jedi Ahsoka Tano." She said cordially.

"Hello, what can I help you with?"

"We're currently searching for someone… one could say is unnatural so to speak." Barriss said carefully. "But first off, what happened here?"

"Oh just some gang members harassing one of the food vendors here. We've been getting complaints about them for a while now but haven't been able to catch them in time. Now, however, we were finally able to."

"And how did that happen?"

"Some odd dressed up kid in red and blue… strung them up somehow." The Guard explained. "From the reports and confirmed by security footage nearby, he dropped in and got them with bindings he shot out from his wrists."

"What sort of bindings?"

The guard shrugged. "Kinda like… webs really. Really annoying to get off them and us when getting the thugs in proper bindings. Sticky as all hell."

Leaning in close to her friend, Ahsoka spoke. "You don't think…"

"Red and blue outfit?" Barriss recalled some of the colorful uniforms the Avengers wore. "Might be…"

"You wouldn't know where this person might've headed off to, would you?"

"You Jedi looking for that Spider kid?"

Both Jedi turned to see a Twi'lek wiping down his Booth.

They glanced at one another, looking back at the Twi'lek.

"Spider kid?" Ahsoka repeated cautiously.

"Kid's quite nice. Naive, but nice."

"You've met him then?" Barriss asked with a hopeful expression.

"He met me, really." Garun chuckled. "Dropped right in and knocked out those Kriffing goons that have been on my ass for a few weeks now."

"Where is he now?" Ahsoka asked.

"Yeah, pointed him towards that temple of yours; saying he wanted to go to a library for some damn reason."

Barriss and Ahsoka shared wide eyed looks of relief yet knew that their little assignment wasn't over just yet.

"Which direction did he take?" Barriss inquired.

"Straight ahead. Right towards yer temple."

Ahsoka and Barriss both bowed appreciatively. "Thank you for the help, sir."

"Eh, anytime you two."

"We need to hurry. Don't know if we'll lose him again."

"Not to mention whoever knocked us out could be going after him as we speak."

The two ran off, leaving a slightly befuddled and overwhelmed Twi'lek now that he considered the events of his day.

"That's it, I'm packing up and heading back home for the day."

Up ahead, Spider-Man continued to swing casually towards his next destination though taking a bit of time to take in the scenery around him.

"Gotta say, this place does beat New York anytime… in terms of tall buildings."

Peter didn't know how well he could be able to swing so damn high as the vast majority of these structures dwarfed over the ones back on Earth. He didn't even know if his webs could be able to reach the tops of some of them; even with his various swings.

Still, things were going relatively… smooth…

Why did everything feel like it was slowing down?

He started feeling the hairs on his entire body begin to stand up with his ears felt like they were beating.

Eyes wide, it felt as though he could… _everything around him._ In this moment, his senses overloaded him yet he managed to momentarily process it all.

"Wait… this tingle-"

Out of instinct, Peter quickly hurled himself to the side and avoided a blaster attack from his blind side.

"How in blue blazes did I miss?" Muttered out the Duros bounty hunter.

Peter landed on a platform, alarming the pedestrians that were passing by as he looked around in alarm.

"Hey! Who shot that?! I was swinging here?!"

Cad Bane remained on the other side of the long gap, stationing himself high above on a building adjacent to the platform Spider-Man currently stood on.

Needing to make sure it wasn't a fluke, Bane lined up his next shot and aimed carefully.

Exhaling, Cad fired his next shot and with a grimace watched as the target barely inclined himself to the side to avoid the bolt.

'Maybe that was a bit too obvious.' Bane mused, though he made sure this time by cranking up the firing rate to fully automatic.

Firing several shots this time at a faster rate, Bane narrowed his eyes at the first set bolts the Spider avoided before jumping high into the air to dodge the rest.

"Once is a coincidence, twice isn't."

By this point, Peter had spotted where the bolts were coming from. As cool as it was to see actual laser beams, it was less then cool to have them being fired at _him_ directly.

"Alright, let's see what this is all about." Peter fired from both wrists and attached them to nearby poles and jumped back, stretching the webbing.

Cad Bane quirked a brow, confused as to what he was doing when they widened considerably at him being literally slingshot right up to him.

Barely having time to react, Bane activated his boot thrusters and flew back in time just as Spider-man landed right in front of him.

"Heeeeey, buddy… Why you shooting at little ol' me? What'd I ever do to you? I just got here."

Bane merely let his blasters do the talking, to which Peter started to avoid with odd ease.

"Whoa, WHOA!" Spider-Man corkscrewed in midair. "Easy man, I'd rather appreciate the lasers first before going on to hate them."

Bane growled, finding the kids carefree nature of speaking a bit irritating.

"You'll learn not to appreciate a great deal of things in this here galaxy."

"Yeesh, someone's a pessim-WHOA." Peter ducked his head in time as Bane aimed directly at his head.

In response, Bane saw the kid shoot out a thing of that weird sticky rope, which quickly struck one of his blasters. With a yank, it was ripped out of the bounty hunters' hand and landed into Spiderman's.

"You'll shoot your eye out." Spidey said, tossing the weapon away before shooting it with a web bullet to stick at the far-off wall.

Luckily for him, Bane had more blasters to spare in case of anything.

Peter had to duck and weave again. "Ok, that move you just did there would be so cool if you just weren't shooting at me."

Bane switched it up, holstering one of his blasters and fired one of his wrist cables though he was surprised that the kid caught it in an instant.

He wanted to try to reel him in for a moment in hopes of making him stumble yet he found himself unable to. Whoever this kid was, he had strength. Unnatural strength.

But let's see if he had wits.

Cad activated his cables electric features which crawled through the cable right up to Spider-Man for a nasty shock.

"AURGH." Peter cried out, releasing the cable. He stumbled away with his entire body trembling violently.

"Oh that stings like crazy." Peter shook himself all over to rid himself of the electricity coursing through his body all the while feeling a headache creeping on him.

Cad stared, surprised slightly by the teen's resistance to the electrocution. Several thoughts ran through the Bounty Hunters head as to perhaps the kid having some sort of resistance or maybe even that suit, he was wearing to be the one capable of withstanding such voltage but he shook his head.

He had dealt with this scenario before. A rare occasion but regardless, nothing new to this seasoned Bounty Hunter.

Changing up his tactics, Cad switched to his wrist mounted flamethrower and fired off a stream of flames.

"Oh geez that's hot!"

Though he quickly backed away from the flames, Spidey was still feeling the effects of that high voltage shock to his system and tripped himself over the railing and plummeted to the endless streets below.

Cursing himself for not seeing that, Bane flew up into the air and went after the falling enhanced.

The two fell with Bane gaining on the Spider when his target whirled around fired a glob of webbing right to the Duros's face, blinding him.

"Grah." Bane yelled out. "You little Bantha spit."

"I don't even know what that is!" Spider-Man's voice shouted out.

He slowed his fall, remembering his last few moments before being blinded that there was another platform just a few yards below him.

Feeling solid ground beneath his feet, Bane pulled out a vibro blade and carefully cut around his eyes to rip off the webbing.

Taking a moment to look around, he saw some civilians backing away in slight surprise at his abrupt arrival.

But no Spider-man.

Berating himself, he was about to leave the area when he heard a commotion behind him.

"Excuse us, please." One female voice said. "We're in the middle of a hurry."

"Apologies, Jedi business." This one was also female, yet her tone was more polite.

Out through the small crowd came out two young teenage Jedi, two that were very familiar to him.

As a matter of fact, he saw them not too long ago.

The Togrutan scanned the area when her eyes landed on him.

Ahsoka looked over the Duros with the gaudy hat that stood apart from all the others within the vicinity.

There was something familiar… about…

"You." Ahsoka pointed directly at him making him quirk a brow. "You're Cad Bane, aren't you? I recognize you from the holo-security my master showed me when you took the Senate hostage."

Barriss blinked, looking between Ahsoka and the Duros with her eyes wide. People around them who heard such a proclamation began backing away in trepidation.

Bane however only smirked in smug amusement.

"Guilty." Bane said casually. "So I take it you're a fan of my work, then?"

Ahsoka glared at the Bounty Hunter when something reflected a light onto her eyes, making her flinch momentarily. Looking down at Bane's feet, Ahsoka gasped before clenching her teeth in anger.

"Barriss, look down."

The Mirialan Jedi glanced down and saw- "My Lightsaber!"

"Oh this little doo-hickey?" Bane kicked the hilt up to catch it with his hand. "This is just an extravagant glow stick I use in the dark."

Without warning, Barriss shot her hand out and with the Force, pulled her saber back into her hands. Igniting it right away, she held it up in Bane's direction with a fiercely calm expression.

"Cad Bane, in the name of the Senate and Jedi Order, you are under arrest for crimes against the Republic."

If Bane had a credit for the numerous times he's heard that.

"Aren't you just precious." Bane taunted. "Why don't you go back to your seniors and let them handle the grown-up business?"

"You're outnumbered, Bounty Hunter." Ahsoka said with a glare, getting into a stance beside her friend.

"Oh-ho, you are just a kid, aren't ya?" Bane drawled out with a mocking laugh. "Unfortunately for you, you're outmatched."

With fast reflexes, Bane grabbed his blaster and ran to the side while firing at the two.

Ahsoka stood behind Barriss with her friend deflecting the bolts sent at them in rapid succession.

Once he reached the edge, Bane quickly leapt over it with the two girls not hesitating in pursuing after him.

Landing on the next walkway, Cad Bane broke off into a run with the two Jedi landing a moment later and pursuing after him.

While he knew that he could probably take on and even kill both of these young ones, to do so in such close proximity to the Jedi temple would be bringing down unwanted attention that he honestly couldn't afford right now.

Besides, he was on a job as is and he still had to locate that Spider-kid that up and disappeared after blinding him with that webbing.

He suddenly felt himself lurch back by an invisible pull.

Barriss and Ahsoka had their hands outstretched and together reeled in Bane.

The Bounty Hunter however proved to be cleverer than they had anticipated with the man leaning back and activating his boot thrusters.

Both were startled by the sudden movement, the Bounty Hunter then using his flamethrower to separate the two as both leapt away from one another.

Switching to his blasters, he fired at both of them with only Barriss being able to deflect the shots. Ahsoka had to run behind some nearby pillars from a building structure for cover.

She needed her lightsaber back now! She can't let Barriss fight this Bantha Fodder by herself.

Looking around, Ahsoka spotted a small potted plant and with the force, hurled it at Bane.

The Bounty Hunter saw this and fired at the pot, destroying it instantly.

"Seriously?" Bane said in amusement. "That's the best you could-"

Bane barely registered the Mirialan Jedi Padawan out of the corner of his eye that jumped up to him. On reflex, Bane deactivated his thrusters and dropped down to the ground with Barriss missing him though she did manage to cut through one of his packs, items falling out and clattering to the ground.

She flipped through the air and landed before turning around to face Bane once more when a familiar shape caught her eye that lay behind Bane.

Something that Ahsoka had managed to catch site of as well.

Reaching her hand out, the Togrutan Padawan smiled to herself upon igniting her Lightsaber that was back in her hands once more.

Cad Bane saw this and now held a more serious expression.

In all honesty, he really didn't think much in regards to these two brats but even still, young as they may be Jedi were Jedi.

Not individuals he underestimates.

So right now, he needed to get out of here as soon as possible.

"Alright ladies, it's been a pleasure but this is the part where we say our goodbyes." Cad said conversationally.

"If you think you'll be able to escape the both of us then you're a lot stupider than you look with that ridiculous hat on." Ahsoka snipped.

"Easy now." Bane said, holstering his blasters when several small spheres from his wrists fell into his hands. "You don't usually get off that easy when you insult the hat."

Without warning, Ban flung the spheres all around him. Small explosions went off with smoke enshrouding the area.

Both girls blinked before they rushed into the smoke, utilizing the Force push it away.

Suddenly, several twirling bolas shot out from the mist with the two Jedi dispatching them quickly.

Then, without warning, a cable from above ensnared Ahsoka and lifted her up into the air with her lightsaber falling out of her hands.

"Ahsoka!" Barriss cried out to her as she saw Bane in the air, reeling her up.

"I hear how compassionate and all you Jedi are supposed to be." Bane taunted, flying out from the edge. "So here's your chance to prove it."

Bane then dropped a tied up Ahsoka with Barriss jumping over in hopes of saving her friend only to be blown back by detonators that had blown up in the air sent down from Bane.

Landing hard on the ground, dazed as she was, Barriss sat back up in time to watch in shock as her fellow Jedi fell down and out of sight with her calling out her name.

Only for a figure in red and blue to dive from seemingly nowhere after Ahsoka making Barriss quickly get back up and run over to the edge.

Then, the figure swung back upwards with Ahsoka in his arm and landed before the Mirialan Jedi.

"Easy there, you alright?" The figure in tight red and blue spandex asked, easily ripping off Ahsoka's bindings.

Ahsoka was dizzy from all the extreme movements but felt a soft hand on her shoulder keeping her steady.

"Sorry I was so rough with ya, kinda did it at the last minute." He said sheepishly.

"No, thank you." Barriss said gratefully. "Had it not been for you, Ahsoka would have fallen to her death."

Getting her bearings back in order, Ahsoka turned to the man who had saved her and blinked at the bright getup.

"Um… Thanks." Ahsoka said awkwardly, not really sure how to process such a colorful suit.

"No problem."

"Wait." Ahsoka looked around. "Where'd Bane go?"

"He flew off probably." The boy answered apologetically.

Seeing the bounty hunter escaping their grasps, Ahsoka let out a tired sigh.

"Sorry I couldn't have been able to stop him."

"No… it's alright." Ahsoka said. "If it weren't for you, I'd be a stain on the floor down below."

"Well that wasn't morbid at all." Peter murmured to himself, making Ahsoka's lip twitch upward in amusement.

Barriss walked up to them and gave him a pleasant smile. "We do thank you for the assistance. We greatly appreciate it."

"Hey, it's no problem for your friendly neighborhood Spiderman."

*BWEEP* *BWEEP* *BWEEP*

Hearing their wrist devices going off, the two padawans immediately answered the calls, relieved to hear their devices working again.

"Ahsoka, you there?"

"Are you alright, Barriss?"

"Master." Ahsoka and Barriss said respectively.

"It's finally good to hear you two." Luminara's voice said in relief.

"What's going on? We tried and tried, but neither of us could get ahold of you."

"Sorry about that, masters." Barriss said onto them. "Our comms were jammed."

"But we're doing alright now." Spoke the Tortuga. "Ran into some trouble by the name of Cad Bane."

"The bounty hunter?" Luminara asked. "Why did you encounter him?"

"Apparently he was doing the same thing as we've been doing today: tracking the anomaly."

"Which by the way, we found-"

"Anomaly? Wait, are you guys talking about me?" Peter interrupted.

"Oh, so he's with you now." Anakin's voice said on the other end of the Comm.

"Yes, he is." Barriss answered.

"Okay… Well that's great!" Anakin said. "Steve will definitely be happy to hear that."

"Relay your position to us, Padawans, we shall be there shortly." Luminara ordered.

Ending the transmission, Barriss and Ahsoka turned to Spider-man who stood there a bit awkwardly.

"So~ You guys were looking for me?"

The two took a moment to answer when they felt it. The Force pulsating around him. It was similar to how it was with the other Avengers but this one was… different. It was almost as if he… they couldn't quite describe it but it was like… branches? If that made any sense.

"We have indeed." Barriss answered. "When we detected your presence on this planet, the Jedi sent out search teams along with another group of individuals you may be familiar with."

"Do you know the Avengers?" Ahsoka asked.

Spider-Man's lenses widened dramatically with the black outlines practically disappearing.

"The Avengers?" He asked excitedly with a shaky breath. "You mean _The Avengers_? Earth's Mightiest Heroes? Captain America? Black Widow? War Machine? All those guys."

Both Jedi Padawans nodded.

"Yes, they are here and on route to pick us up." Barriss stated.

"Really? The Avengers are here? Like _really_ here, here?"

"Yup." Ahsoka said coyly.

"Oh thank God." Peter unceremoniously plopped down to the ground before shooting back up. "Oh my God! The Avengers are here?! Where is here?! What happened?! How did they get here?!"

"Whoa, whoa, easy there." Ahsoka called out with her hands raised in hopes of placating him.

Peter realized how he rambled on, cringing a bit at himself. "Sorry about that."

"It's alright." Barriss said. "From what we've seen and heard, it is a bit much for you all to just be uprooted from home and flung into worlds you've never been to before."

Spidey took a few seconds to calm down, thinking on his situation."

"Well… I may have just got here earlier today. But to find out the Avengers have been here the whole time." Peter said with a sigh of relief. "This is good news. I finally know where they are at." He then paled a little underneath his mask. "Bad news… I don't have a way to contact Mr. Stark I found them."

"Mr. Stark." Ahsoka muttered out. "Stark? You mean Tony Stark? The Iron Man Captain Rogers spoke of?"

"The one and only."

"Of the Avengers?"

"Yeup~ And you're looking at its newest member." Spidey then held his head high with a hidden smile. "Recruited by Tony Stark himself." He stayed poised like that until he deflated dramatically. "After the others mysteriously disappeared a while back. And now, looks like I'm in the same boat as them."

"Sounds like he is an Avenger after all." Ahsoka remarked. "Think they'll be glad to hear that they've gotten new teammates?"

"I hope so." Peter said. "Mr. Stark and Mr. Barton have been really busy back home, looking for others to make a new team. They've been holding down the fort with Mr. Pym along with the other new members. Like Matt and- Oh God Matt! I need to find Matt! And T'challa!"

"So there were others with you?" Ahsoka asked.

"Yeah." Spidey said dejectedly, looking to the two of them with hopeful lenses. "You wouldn't have happened to have found them already? Would you?"

"I'm sorry." Barriss said sincerely. "What we can tell you is that seven of the missing nine that had arrived in the galaxy have been located and they are all here right now on the planet. The other two missing I believe to be are the ones named Vision and Wanda Maximoff."

"Oh… great." Peter said with a frown under his mask. "Four missing heroes. Just wonderful."

"Don't worry." Ahsoka perked up. "We've been working with the Avengers daily in hopes of finding your lost companions. Even with this, who were they again? Matt and Challa, Right? We'll find them to."

Peter smiled at her enthusiasm and promise. "Thanks… uh… Sokka? Did I hear that correctly?"

"I believe we should properly introduce ourselves." Spoke the Mirialan padawan. "I am Jedi Padawan Barriss Offee."

"And I'm Ahsoka Tano, padawan learner as well."

"And I'm Spiderman." Spoke the arachnid themed hero. "Oh wait, Spiderman isn't my real name."

"Ya think?" Ahsoka said sarcastically.

Spidey could only chuckle before he pulled the mask off his head. Once freed, he ran his fingers through his hair in order to get rid of the matting.

"My name's Peter, Peter Parker. Nice to meet you."

_-Scene Cut-_

Inside of one of Cad's safe houses on Coruscant, the bounty hunter was having a conversation with his client via holo-communications.

" _What is your status, bounty hunter?"_

"Met with your little anomaly, had a nice _chat_ and he wound up with the Jedi."

Sidious grumbled on top of his humming. _"That is most… unfortunate."_

"Then sorry I wasn't able to finish the job you ordered." Bane said in a slight sarcastic tone.

Sidious huffed slightly. _"I was not expecting an immediate success."_

"Well that's good to hear."

" _Then what can you tell me of this anomaly you encountered. Leave nothing out, bounty hunter."_

"As long as I get paid."

" _On top of your next assignment."_

"Which I'm guessing is the one you originally hired me on with the holocron at the Jedi Temple and all that." It wasn't a question, but a statement.

" _Correct."_

"Right…" Readjusting himself in his seat, the Duros bounty hunter started his report. "First off, kid goes by the alias Spiderman…"

**Alright, sweet, Season 2 is officially underway.**

**And for those of the uninitiated, take a wild guess as to what this opener used as an episode adaptation?**

**Thanks again to Jebest for helping me breeze through this story, always helps to have a comrade cause honestly, we basically co-write most things these days one and it helps when bouncing off ideas and all. Really helps with that damn writer's block which can be a fucking nightmare and a half.**

**Other than that, thanks again for reading.**

**Rate Read and Review and as Always Have Nice Day.**


	23. Everything In Motion

**Rate Read and Review and as Always Have Nice Day.**

Avengers Infinite Wars Chapter 23: Everything in Motion

Count Dooku meditated within his personal chambers of his home world, Serenno.

The Force has been erratic, the second shockwave signaling the arrival of more of these super powered individuals from the planet Earth. His Master had been keeping him informed of the Avengers and their actions and now they had gained yet another of an Enhanced from their planet.

This was beyond troubling for the Count. He had been dwelling on this for some time now since the first batch had arrived and he merely chalked it up to happenstance. But now? A second group had apparently arrived. And who knows what these one's were capable of. And if a second group arrived, who's to say that a third or fourth won't?

From the holo-vids he had seen to what his master had informed him of, these enhanced beings were a power to be reckoned with and not to be taken so lightly. The past few conflicts that they had been directly involved in showed as much.

Each one within their own rights were capable of matching the best combatants they had thrown at them. Ventress, he could forgive. She was completely caught off guard and her training has yet to be finished.

But Grievous and Durge?

Those two were seasoned, battle-hardened warriors. So to be bested by Avengers during their first encounters was testament to their capabilities.

The droid General had been training frantically, having recently killed two more Jedi.

Durge had gone off to seek improvements on his own to add to the upgrades Dooku provided for him. The Gen'Dai bounty hunter had been filled with same fire that Grievous held, especially holding contempt for a particular Avenger.

Since then, Sidious and Tyrannus had been forced in accelerating certain aspects of their overall grand plan in order to counter act and combat this new growing threat. Sidious remained assured that overall, everything will still go as planned. But it would be better to be safer than sorry.

Sidious even believed that eventually, these Avengers might be useful in the long run.

Dooku was unsure at first, yet his master spoke of something that did lend credence to such a claim.

They were highly individualistic with clear strong opinions and morals on how they go about their business.

Morals and opinions that would and indeed will clash with the Jedi. It may not seem like it at first due to them assisting the Jedi and the Republic on a number of occasions now. But Sidious could feel it. As much as the Avengers are allies to the Jedi right now, they will have their own conflict with the Jedi. It was only a matter of time.

However, he had another role to fulfill right now.

He was assigned by his master that preparations must be accelerated and he shall do what he must.

Exhaling, Dooku's eyes opened and he stood from his seat and exited his chambers.

Walking down a corridor, Dooku arrived at his intended destination and the door to the room opened upon him getting near. He entered a large hollowed room, standing upon an elevated platform.

Down below, crimson blades whirling about, was his apprentice Asajj Ventress. She was having a practice duel with a pair of Magna-Guards that he had taken from Grievous and had been retro-fitted for her training.

Currently, she was on the offensive against one of the Magna-Guards while the other stood to the side on standby, her blades clashing against its electrified staff made to resist Lightsabers.

She held the advantage until the Guard reared its head back and twirled its staff until jabbing her in her stomach, knocking the wind out of her.

Dropping to the ground on her knees, wheezing, Ventress looked up in time to have her faced whacked with the Magna-guards weapon.

She flew back, landing hard on the ground.

Growling, Ventress kicked up to her feet and threw both her hands forward. The Magna-Guard sailed back into the wall, smashing into the hard metal.

Just as she ignited her lightsabers, Dooku made his presence known.

"You must be swifter, My Apprentice."

Asajj quickly turned to see Dooku, the Platform he stood upon lowering to the training ground. She kneeled down as her master approached.

"Master." She said as she always did, adhering to the Sith customs between Master and Apprentice.

"You have been advancing well into your training, my young apprentice." Dooku said, beginning to circle round his student. "But I have seen several flaws within your movements, your actions as well as your temperament."

"You must reign in and concentrate." Dooku went on. "When your emotions take control, you gain a greater power but also a greater weakness. You become vulnerable and easy to predict leading to a swifter defeat. Discipline yourself for finding the proper balance between your rage and your focus."

"Yes My Master." Asajj promised.

"There are many new enemies we are facing." Dooku said, standing before her now. "Enemies that have proven to be quite adaptable and much more powerful then we had anticipated."

Asajj clenched her fist in frustration and anger, knowing exactly to what and whom her Master was referring to.

"Quell your rage and save it for later, My Apprentice." Dooku said patiently. "Your initial loss to the Avengers while unwelcomed was unforeseen. An unpredictable element that came in to play that took all off guard, including the Avengers. But we will not be unprepared the next time we face them. They will know of our power when the time comes. Including yours."

Once again Asajj both swelled with pride and confliction.

Pride in knowing her Master held great expectations of her skills and potential yet that's where her confusion came in. When she was found by her master, Dooku spoke of her latent power sleeping within her. How her master's Master sensed the same thing. Yet they could not describe it to her nor could she exactly tap into it.

Force her, she wasn't even aware that she had it. At first, she chalked it up to something involving the Force or her connection to her home world of Dathomir. But after a while, she realized that wasn't the case something both her masters discovered as well. Sidious then simply stated that they be patient and allow the potential to come naturally, with artificial methods may proving to be more dangerous and detracting then helpful.

Now all she could do was train, day in and day out whenever she was able to. Of course she conducted her missions under Dooku but she was growing impatient at the prospect of not being able to access her "hidden powers". Perhaps there are ancient Sith Holocrons, texts or archives that may shed some light on her problem.

"Come my apprentice, there is work to be done." Dooku said, prompting to her to rise and follow after her master.

The two departed from her training quarters, walking down to the lower levels of Dooku's personal estate.

Battle droids were found all around the estate, programmed to guard the Counts home along with his own selection of security forces.

Eventually, they arrived at their destination.

Underground was a series of chambers Dooku had constructed over the past few years since becoming Darth Tyrannus dedicated to studying and practicing the Dark Side of the Force. This was where Dooku furthered his own training along with the ever-growing number of followers to his cause.

His Acolytes.

Upon entering the underground chambers, Dooku and Ventress were greeted to the sight of two blades clashing at once.

This sparring session was conducted between Weequay and Human males, the former being the clear superior in this match.

The human male had tried with vicious aggression to overwhelm his older and more seasoned opponent, yet the Weequay Acolyte side stepped and swatted the human aside with practiced ease.

With his opponent down for a moment, it gave the Weequay time to notice Dooku and Ventress with him promptly deactivating his Lightsaber.

"Skorr." The Weequay said to his sparring partner who had gotten back up to his feet and saw his master and fellow acolyte.

Both fell to their knees as Dooku came up to them both.

"Impressive work as always, Master Sora." Dooku praised. "Soon, the rest shall be elevated to your degree of skills."

"I thank you for the praise, Master Dooku." Sora Bulq responded humbly. "Have you come to us for a mission?"

"In a manner of speaking." Dooku said plainly, momentarily regarding both his acolytes.

Tol Skorr was a tall, blond haired and scarred man who like Sora was once a Knight of the Jedi order. Rescued by Dooku on the ancient Sith home world of Korriban, Tol had devoted an undying loyalty to the Count which rewarded him in being one of Dooku's Acolytes.

Sora Bulq however was a truly great acquisition in the eyes of Dooku. A former Jedi Master renowned in the order as being an exceptional lightsaber duelist, he along with Mace Windu had developed a variation of the most aggressive form of lightsaber forms, Juyo. He himself held great interest in learning of its practices as it would be useful in eventually combatting Sidious.

Fighting his current Master was an eventuality that all Sith faced.

As the four Force-users gathered in a circle of sorts, it was strange that at one point, all four that stood within this chamber followed the ancient ways of the Jedi only to be disillusioned with them as time went on.

"I am here to speak with you of your most recent findings, Bulq." Dooku said, arms crossed with expectation. "You said you may have someone of interest for me."

"I do indeed, Dooku." Sora Bulq said with conviction, reaching for his belt.

Pulling out a display-disk, Sora activated the device showing a holo-projection of an aged male wearing traditional Jedi robes with a cloth wrapped around where his eyes would be.

Dooku recognized the Jedi immediately. "Prosset Dibs?"

"Indeed, Count." Sora nodded. "It appears that he has clashed with Master Windu sometime after the start of the war and has been imprisoned in the lower levels of the Temple on Coruscant. His skills and knowledge would do well in serving our goals."

Dooku thought on the matter, recalling the few times he had spoken with Master Dibs and his perception of the Jedi Order.

While a stout and firm believer in the Jedi Code and responsibilities, Dibs was also very open with his view upon the Orders duty being to the Republic then the Force itself. A Jedi's duty was to the Force, not politics, a resentment that grew over time. He was curious to hear Dibs' story on how he had gone from respected Jedi Master to prisoner within its own walls.

"Go Bulq." Dooku instructed the Weequay Dark Jedi. "Travel to Coruscant and liberate Master Dibs from his cage. He may serve us well should he join us."

Sora Bulq merely bowed forward, turning to depart immediately with Tol Skorr joining him upon Dooku's orders.

Without looking to his primary apprentice, Dooku spoke. "Have you made contact with the leader of Death Watch?"

"I have my Master." Asajj stated. "Vizla awaits a meeting between you and himself. He wishes to personally regard whether or not this alliance would benefit his people."

Dooku nodded. "You have done well, Ventress. Your next assignment shall further test your growth and resolve."

"I am ready, My Master."

Wordlessly, the Count reached for his Lightsaber with barely a visible motion. Igniting his curved hilt, Dooku held it before him before twirling it and slashing at Ventress who quickly held it back with her own two crimson blades.

"Then let us see if those words prove to be true." Dooku said with intense focus.

_-Scene Cut-_

Captain Steve Rogers was feeling a serious case of mental exhaustion.

Too many thoughts were going through his head all at once, making him wonder how exactly he not passed out from it all.

Tony had apparently been keeping himself busy back home on Earth though that came as no surprise there. The team was fully aware that Stark wasn't a man to simply to sit around, waiting for things to come to him. He did things in his own fast and eclectic ways.

It also wasn't so surprising to hear that Tony was working himself day and night in trying to find them when they had gone missing. Barton and Pym had even joined in to pick up the slack.

In all honesty, Steve found it rather heart warming and reassuring that even as divisive as times that they can be Stark was willing to do a lot for those he considered friends and allies. Nat on the other hand felt grumpy that Clint couldn't stay retired for a few weeks at a time.

And as much Steve and the others had tried to, there was no talking down Nat on her stance of her blaming herself for Clint having to come out of retirement. Then again, she knew she'd do the same for him if their roles had been reversed.

Then there was the new kid Peter Parker or Spider-Man as he called himself. Tony had apparently been eyeing Peter for some time, the young kid telling him that he wanted to take him under his wing and send him up to HQ where he could be trained properly under Steve. This sure as hell wasn't what Steve, Peter and definitely Tony had in mind.

Kid had heart, that was for sure. Young, definitely around Ahsoka's age but determined and optimistic even if he was borderline ecstatic and freaked upon learning just what kind of a situation he had been dropped into. Yet, there was something else to him. Something Steve easily recognized that seemed to be a trait shared amongst the team as a whole. Aside from the kid being from Queens. Kindred spirit and all.

It was easy for a man of Steve's character to see the self-burden and weight the kid carried. It was damn near impossible to detect with how awe inspired Peter was in seeing everything he had these past few days. But a seasoned warrior and hero like Cap found it in the eyes. It's always in the eyes.

Knowing there was story to tell, Rogers thought on the other two that were apparently with Parker when he appeared in this galaxy.

So on top of finding their two missing members, there were now an additional two that were lost somewhere in the stars.

Just great.

So much to do so little ti-

_***WHACK*** _

Steve grunted, holding the side of his head while cringing in pain.

"Oh my." Aayla Secura instantly deactivated her practice blade and walked over to Rogers. "I'm so sorry Steve, are you alright? I did not strike you too hard, did I?"

"Geez Steve, you alright?" Anakin Skywalker voiced his own concerns from the side of the training room they currently stood in.

"Yeah, I'll be fine." Steve said, rubbing the side of his temple. "Nice shot."

"That was more than a nice hit." Anakin remarked.

"Indeed." Aayla place her hand on Steve's wrist, pulling his hand down to reveal the bruise forming on the side. "These blades may be low in power, but they're still physical."

"Guess I just wasn't paying attention." Steve said, wincing slightly as he felt Aayla's fingers trace themselves over his injury.

"Figured as much." Anakin had the same idea. "What's on your mind, Cap? You're not usually distracted that much."

"Does this have to do with young Parkers arrival and what he has told you recently?" Aayla assumed.

Steve could only nod in affirmation. "Pretty much. Got a kid now up here in space while Earth is still vulnerable. I trust Tony and Clint to keep watch but I'd rather they not do it alone. Two men could only do so much."

"From what that kid told us, doesn't seem like they intend on doing it alone." Anakin stated.

"And I'm glad to hear that." Steve admitted. "Doesn't mean I'm any less worried."

"Well, I'd normally say that you should trust in the Force but since your planet appears to be devoid of it." Steve smirked slightly at Anakins comment. "I guess you could only trust in your friends."

"It's all I can do right now." Steve sighed, wishing that he could do more.

"Sometimes, a little faith is all one needs." Aayla said with a reassuring tone. "Besides, I think this is something that can be viewed positively."

This made both men look at the Twi'lek Jedi in confusion.

"If there appears to be other methods of travel between Earth and this galaxy, then there is no doubt a means of getting back there." Aayla stated. "Just have faith and patience in your friends, Rogers. From what you've told me, they have yet to let you down."

Steve blinked before giving her an appreciative smile, Anakin chuckling aloud.

"Where'd that come from?" Anakin asked in bemusement.

Aayla gave her fellow Knight a coy smile. "You forget who my masters are, Skywalker."

Anakin hummed in amusement. "True enough."

"Still…" Steve had a somber look. "I just hate how I can't do more right now. We've got two new guys out in the galaxy on top of Wanda and Vision still not being found."

"Well we did find most of the team so far." Anakin said. "By pure… happenstance…"

"I guess we're just gonna have to wait for more accidents to occur." Aayla wryly said.

"There is a bright side to all this." Anakin said.

Both Aayla and Steve looked to Skywalker in confusion with the former asking, "How so?"

Anakin shrugged. "Easy. If anything goes wrong, blows up or doesn't involve the Force, I won't be blamed for it as much."

Steve deadpanned at the Jedi though he knew that there was merit to Anakin's words. To much tended to end up in flames or scraps involving the Avengers. Its a bit of a bad tendency all things considered.

Anakin and Aayla laughed at Steve's expression, the Twi'lek Jedi patting him on his shoulder to comfort him.

"Don't worry about it to much, Steve." Aayla said. "In war, everything tends to blow up. I could attest to all my plans usually ending up improvised."

"Same here."

"I know Anakin. All to well."

While the trio conversed, one young teenager from Earth was getting accustomed to his new environment.

Peter Parker was bordering on the edge of complete and utter fear, wonder, amazement, excitement, guilt and so on and so forth.

His emotions and thoughts were so raw on the matter at hand that his two Jedi companions that had been assigned in helping him adjust to his new situation were feeling a bit overwhelmed by these emotions radiating off of him. Void of the Force as he may be like the other Avengers, Ahsoka and Barriss were still able to pick up on certain elements like feelings and such.

Since finding and being sort of saved by him, Ahsoka and Barriss had been assigned to helping young Parker adjust better to the temple and the galaxy as a whole. The rest of Earth's heroes would naturally help out as well but the Council agreed with the Avengers, believing it would be better that Peter get more comfortable through people around his age rather than just grownups.

Ahsoka and Barriss found Peter to be strange but interesting. He had _way_ more questions about… well everything. More so then the Avengers when they first arrived. The Avengers appeared to be the type of individuals that would take base level knowledge and add more as time went on or when the situation called for it.

Peter… was like a sponge.

He was obviously a bit nervous about being on an alien planet, alleviated as he may be with the presence of the Avengers.

However, as soon as Barriss offered Peter the chance to go to the Jedi library he was unsure at first but after several days picked up on Galactic basic and whatever open knowledge was available, Peter had thrown himself into it all.

Rhodey made a comment stating how he understood now why Tony would recruit a kid like him. It was like a miniature Stark, something that jokingly terrified the team.

Currently, Peter's head was buried in another set of texts regarding galactic history completely being absorbed into the fascinating tales of this warrior-culture called the Mandalorians.

Apparently, they have a long and storied presence within the galaxy and have had many encounters with the Jedi.

And speaking of the Jedi, he was blown away at how many thousands of years they've been around. It was crazy.

And they had laser swords! With laser guns!

Then there was this whole Hyperspace travel which kinda reminded him about Halo and their version of FTL, Slip-space. Honestly, this was all too much for a geeky nerd like Peter.

It was like every nerd sci-fi dream coming true.

Least this was keeping him somewhat distracted from the fact that he wasn't on Earth and Aunt May would definitely be worried sick about him.

And like that, all the excitement and intrigue he had on learning about this new galaxy switched off with him slumping forward.

"He seems to do that a lot." Ahsoka said in a low voice to Barriss who sat beside her. The two Padawans were seated at the table beside him, conducting their own studies under the tutelages of their masters since they only had a day or two left before shore leave officially ends.

These crazy events that had happened over the course of the last several days has led to many prolonged shore leaves for Jedi and Clone Troopers alike. Honestly, it was clear to see that it was just a means to beef up Coruscant security till the fires die down.

Though with Peter's arrival on top of being notified that there were now two other enhanced to be found, somehow quelled the fires so to speak. The Force had been even more erratic and chaotic these past few days.

Practically the entire order was on edge with some unable to withhold their personal feelings on the matter, the prevailing description throughout being that of an electric sensation bouncing off their skins. The Force had never felt so potent to them before.

Many did not want to admit it, but rather than tempting it was honestly frightening.

Frowning slightly, Barriss cleared her throat aloud making Peter turn back for a moment before fully facing her seeing that she was calling for him.

"Peter." Barriss said softly. "Are you alright?"

"Oh? Oh! No, no, I-I'm fine." Peter said, trying to play off whatever troubled him though it was clear by their facial expressions they didn't believe him.

"Peter, you know that we could sense your discomfort through the Force." Ahsoka stated.

"You could do that?" Peter asked in intrigue and astonishment.

"There's a lot we could do with the Force." Barriss said with a small smile. "Do you remember what you were told of the Force?"

Peter rubbed his chin. "Er… somewhat. Something about how the Jedi use it for their abilities."

Ahsoka giggled slightly. "That's the abridged version of it, but yes, the Force is what the Jedi call upon to use their abilities and duties to the Republic and the galaxy. It is the source of our power."

"The source of your power?" Peter mused. "How exactly?"

"It's… rather strange and bit difficult to explain." Barriss said. "Here, in this galaxy, we are all connected to the Force. Master Luminara told me something Master Yoda once told her. The Force is the ally of the Jedi not the tool. For it is everywhere, surrounding and binding us together. The Force gives life in the galaxy the power to grow and expand, become that which it believed unattainable. It exists in every corner of the galaxy. From me, to Ahsoka, the books, the ships outside these walls, the denizens of this temple and planet to every blade of grass and leaf within the gardens of the temple. Luminescent that we are, not this base crude matter. To feel the Force and adhere to its duty is the responsibility of all Jedi."

She always enjoyed speaking on the power that connected them all. To her, it was her own way of advancing her knowledge and connection to the Force while helping others connect to this all-encompassing energy, even to those void of it.

Once finishing her small little speech, the Mirialan Jedi realized she had gotten caught up in her own little world with Ahsoka and Peter staring at her.

Barriss wasn't one to get flustered or embarrassed but even she couldn't fight the growing heat in her cheeks.

Ahsoka laughed slightly, nudging her friend. "I always knew you were smarter then me, Barriss but you sounded like a master right there."

"I hope I didn't sound to overexcited." Barriss said sheepishly.

"No, I think you sounded like a true Jedi." Ahsoka said praising her friend, comforting hand on her shoulder. "Wouldn't you say, Peter?"

The girls looked to the spider-themed hero, surprised to find a contemplative and fond look over what they had usually seen when explaining this concept to others who didn't understand the Force.

"Responsibility, huh?" Peter murmured, a sad smile stretching on his face. "You know, this who Force thing sounds like Chi and Chakra… or Buddha from my home planet. Other worldly energy that connects us all. I think Earth does have something similar to this Force stuff now that you mention it."

Ahsoka and Barriss perked up at the mention of this, having never heard the other Avengers speak on it.

"You have something like the Force on Earth?" Barriss asked with intrigue.

"From the way you described it, yeah." Peter nodded, thinking back to the few times he brushed over Japanese history and the many, _many_ Anime and Manga he read that spoke on the matter. He was a nerd after all and being a bit of a weeb fell into that category.

"What's it like?" Ahsoka inquired, propping her chair closer. "This, what'd you call it? Chi, right?"

"Yeah. Chi, Chakra, Zen Buddha. Though I think there's some differences." Peter murmured. "Is the Force within you guys as its own separate thing?"

Both girls were now confused. "What do you mean?"

Peter thought on this for a moment. "From the way you described it, everyone has the Force in one-way shape or form. So it's not your own energy itself, right?"

The Padawans thought on his words. The Force was honestly just that. The Force. It existed in every corner of the galaxy until the arrival of these Earthers who were devoid of it. But still, it was everywhere. There were those who were not adverse Force users who used the microscopic organisms known as Mid-Chlorians to explain what the Force is. But that was just an excuse. The Midi-Chlorians were just the method in which Jedi used to measure one's potential in the Force is all. Understanding the Force in it of itself was entirely different.

"No, the Force is not a latent energy within just a person." Barriss elaborated. "All things in this galaxy have it, some just being more connected then others."

Parker leaned back with his arms crossed, contemplative expression. "Then I guess Chi and Chakra are different in their own right. Those types of things are energies that the individual must tap into within themselves. Not an external thing. Wish I knew more on it though."

"Maybe when we find a way back to your planet, we can find out." Ahsoka said, unable to withhold her want for an adventure. Just like her Master.

"That actually sounds like a wonderful idea." Barriss stated, surprising herself a bit at her willingness to go but her desire to learn won out.

Peter was rather flummoxed at the eagerness of the two girls before him. He had only known the two for maybe four days, five tops as the sun was setting on the city world of Coruscant. But he had been spending everyday with the two to large degree and had been learning a lot from them. The galaxy at war, the Jedi order, basic and so on. And he was able to grasp a solid idea on who the two were in character.

Ahsoka was easily the more outgoing and extroverted of the two, matching more to the kind of similarly aged teens he had interacted with back on Earth.

Barriss was much more quiet, reserved and thoughtful and always appearing to choose her words carefully then recklessly. She didn't seem that much older then either him nor Ahsoka. As a matter of fact, he was pretty sure both girls were around his age.

But returning back to what they had said, Peter found himself grinning a bit.

"Sure, we could call it an exchange program." Peter joked. "You guys teach me about this galaxy and I'll teach you all about Earth."

"Deal." Ahsoka said excitedly.

While Peter had continued to foster new friendships, Natasha Romanoff was spending her time catching up with the rest of her comrades and friends.

"So you had to work with a Mercs guild huh?" Sam inquired wryly, small knowing grin on his face.

Nat only shrugged. "You know it's nothing new for me, Sam."

"I'm just glad to know you're ok." Rhodey said. "This whole galaxy is one big death trap."

"You could say that again." Hope murmured.

Their conversation was interrupted for a brief moment by a snort and mumble, Pietro dozing off to the side.

"What's got Pietro all knocked out?" Nat asked.

"Just running around these past few days, looking for something for a little lady that's been on his mind for a while." Scott said from his workstation. Normally, he'd be working on something scientific like maintaining everyone's suit operations or keeping his own suit in check. This time however, he was working on… a bowling pin.

"Lady friend?" Rhodey repeated in amusement. "Who is this supposed to be?"

"That blue Ponto lady from the senate." Scott said, measuring out the bowling pin.

"Blue Ponto lady?" Sam murmured. "Wait, you mean Riyo Chuchi from Pantora? That blue senator lady?"

"Yeah, her." Scott nodded absent mindedly, wiping away a blemish on the pin.

"Dude, what exactly are you doing?" Rhodey asked.

"Bringing the wonderful art of bowling into this galaxy." Scott said in complete seriousness. "I owe Lebowski that much."

Hope rolled her eyes good naturedly at her boyfriends words while Sam and Rhodey laughed aloud with Nat quirking her lip up.

"Well when you put it like that, can't entirely disagree with you." Sam chortled.

"Still feels like a bit of stealing honestly." Hope remarked.

"Hey, we're taking up unwanted space here as is." Sam said. "The Jedi have been gracious enough with us having our own rooms here but I agree with Cap. We gotta have someplace of our own."

For the past few weeks, the Earthers have been providing means of having their own source of income as they do not want to solely rely on the Jedi for hospitality as they feel it would be taking advantage of them. Thanks to Scott's idea of bringing Earth culture to the galaxy and with the discovery of their AI Tap being with them, they have had a steady sort of increase of credits. Pool tables and rock and roll sell well.

The Clones had taken a particular liking to Earth culture and then there's the films and TV shows the Avengers had on their own personal devices.

However, that's not what was on the mind of one Avenger.

"Guess Tony's been busy back home." Nat remarked.

"Figured he would be." Rhodey said. "Never can sit still as much as he tried to."

"But didn't think he'd go and recruit a kid." Hope said with a grimace.

"He recruited two." Rhodey said chortling. "A blind lawyer who apparently is a ninja and a high schooler that can apparently stop a bus with his bare hands."

Sam sighed. "Is it kinda sad that you saying that isn't as insane as it should sound."

"Comes with the job." Nat remarked. "Look at where we are right now."

"Yeah…" Sam murmured. "In a Galaxy that seems Far, Far Away."

"Are we even in a different galaxy?" Hope abruptly inquired. "Or are we in the same galaxy? Hell, maybe we're in a different universe completely like the whole Multi-verse theory. My dad talked about it once considering the Quantum realm is its own microscopic reality."

That was something that perhaps the Avengers did consider though only a select few. Mainly Hope and Scott as this was something that they would at least have an idea as to grasping at the concept.

"Another universe." Nat muttered. "That's honestly kinda crazy."

"If that's the case, then what can possibly top that?" Rhodey said.

While the Avengers had their discussion, the Jedi Council held a meeting of their own with most of the council present save for several members who were unable to join them at the time.

"The Force has been more erratic then ever." Mace Windu stated with a solemn tone "The arrival of this new enhanced is troubling as well. Have you all felt the way the Force convulses around him?"

His question went unanswered though the expressions of the present Jedi Council Members were enough of a response for the Korun Force-User.

"Uncertain the future is becoming." Grandmaster Yoda spoke in his aged voice. "More so as time goes on. Unexpected arrivals continue to come."

"Yes and what does this say about us?" Obi-wan Kenobi voice his question. "I cannot deny my growing concern for what is to come. In all honesty, I can't deny how lucky we've been in gaining new allies since these Avengers have made their appearances but who's to say that eventually, an adversary that has capabilities similar to theirs arrives."

"Agreed." Plo Koon said. "If we were to face anything like the Avengers who would be against the order and the Republic, we would be gaining a momentously dangerous enemy."

"Then there is the matter of this Cad Bane." Oppo Rancisis stated. "He has appeared on our radar twice now in the span of a few days. First a hostage situation then to hunting down the newest Enhanced on Coruscant."

"The will of the Sith, that was." Yoda interjected. "Felt his arrival he did, as did we all. Opportunity, he saw, failed to claim he did."

"Be that as it may, I find the constant topic of returning to the Avengers rather startling." Windu admitted. "Many of these past events have either been directly or indirectly tied to them. Another matter that has honestly plagued my mind. Who is to say that the Avengers will stay allied with us?" Windu inquired, making all present Council members look to him in surprise.

"What do you mean, Master Windu?" Kenobi asked in complete bewilderment.

"That is a rather radical thought to bring up, Mace." Master Kit Fisto remarked. "From what I've seen and heard, these Avengers aren't ones to just turn on others so suddenly. What caused this sudden idea to sprout?"

"I am not suggesting that they do or would but that may be a possibility." Mace elaborated. "I am grateful, truly I am, for these individuals who wield such great powers to assist us in our times of need. But with how chaotic and unpredictable their arrival was to this galaxy, the unexpected is something I have begun to consider to be more likely then not now. Once is an accident and this second time was a coincidence. But if and perhaps when more of these enhanced beings from Earth arrive to the galaxy is no longer anything short of a pattern."

"That is still a large stretch, Master Windu." Council Member, Depa Billaba his own former student voiced her opinion.

"I know Depa." Mace acquiesced. "However, I cannot doubt the thought has crossed through my mind."

"So then what must we do?" Ki-Adi Mundi asked the council. "If memory serves me correctly, this newcomer is only one of three."

"Indeed." Kenobi affirmed the Cerean Jedi Master. "Peter Parker is his name. And from what Ahsoka and Anakin had told me, before arriving in this galaxy he was with two other enhanced individuals."

"So now we have two more Earthers to seek on top of the other two that are still missing." Plo Koon surmised. "I feel that the tasks are becoming more daunting."

"Daunting, these next few years shall be." Yoda cut through the chatter. "Very daunting. Grow, these new problems will. The Sith, the enhanced, the war. Focus we must. Diligent and mindful we must be. Trust in the Force and one another key to overcoming these trials."

"I hope we can do so, Master Yoda." Mace Windu said. "The times ahead… feel only darker."

"It is in that we must hold true to our principles." Shaak Ti spoke up after a prolong period of silence. Her holographic form projecting her from the planet of Kamino, home to the Clones and Republic Army. "Our duty to the Force and the Republic still stands. If all else fails, we rely on the Force and our brethren as Master Yoda said to guide us through the trials to come."

With the closing statements, the council meeting came to its end.

Elsewhere, far out on the other end of the galaxy within the outer rim a ship flew down to a planet that had a mixed range of biomes. Jungles, Forests, Deserts and plains made up its surface hinting at a strong case of agriculture being the predominant feature of the planet after the ship flew by multiple farms.

That changed however as it drew closer to what was clearly a heavily fortified camp with men and women armored to the teeth and blasters out in the open.

The ship landed, landing ramp opening up from its rear.

Out stepped several individuals also heavily armored with distinct shades of blue and silver as well as three-pronged claw marks of sorts on their shoulder pads. Aside from the shoulder symbols, what made this group share a sense of unifying identity were the distinct T-shaped visors all their helmets had. Something the guards ahead of the camp shared as well.

The lead armored individual spotted the guards ahead of the camp they landed in front of.

"This is the place." The leader of the group spoke.

They began making their way over to the front of the camp though the guards all held their blasters up, making the newcomers halt in their tracks.

"Hey now, we're all Mandalorians here. No need to be so hostile."

"Oh we have _Many_ reasons to be." A new voice called out from behind the guards.

Out from the camp came a fully armored Mandalorian save for his helmet that was tucked under his arm.

The Mando was young but held an authority to him that was clear to the new group of Mandalorians standing before him. He had blond hair and blue eyes, his Mandalorian armor being strikingly green with his helmet having red accents bordering around the T-visor and Jaig Eyes.

"I take it you're Fenn Shysa." The lead Mandalorian of the group from the ship spoke, moving to remove her own helmet.

"That'd be me." The identified Fenn confirmed. "And you must be Bo Katan. You certainly have a lot of nerve requesting to speak with us."

Bo Katan had red hair with striking emerald eyes and fair skin.

"That's what I'd like to know." Bo spoke up. "I've never even met your group of Mando's. What do you call yourselves again? The Protectors, right?"

"That is the name of those that fight." Fenn stated. "But if you wish to talk, then follow me. Raise your blasters on anyone of us and you Death Watch thugs will be dead in an instant."

Narrowing her eyes at Shysa who had turned to walk into the camp, Bo wordlessly inclined her head slightly to signal her group to follow her. They began to walk through the large camp, passing by many Mandalorians all of whom had actually taken a moment out of there routines, chores and other duties to regard the Death Watch squad with a sense of clear distrust. The only one's that paid them no mind were the children running about. Foundlings.

Eventually, they reached the center of the large campsite with a large tent pitched up. On top of the tent hung a symbol that every single Mandalorian would recognize. The skull of the legendary Mythosaur.

"Come on." Fenn gestured for them to enter, with him going in first with Bo and her squad following in after him.

The interior was spacious, with several tables and small hammocks while weapons and other equipment was hung on the fabric walls and ceiling.

At the center of it all was one Mandalorian that stood out from the others.

"Spar." Fenn called out to the center warrior. "They've arrived."

The Mandalorian turned to Bo Katan, revealing a face she was not expecting.

"A Clone Trooper?" She said in slight distaste. "How is it that a Clone Trooper is the leader of a clan of Mandalorians? Shouldn't you be with the rest of the Republics throw away force?"

Her comments got the other Mandalorians within the tent not part of her team all reaching for their blasters when Spar waved them down.

Facing them, Spar regarded each Death Watch member for several moments until he spoke.

"Do you know where we are?" Spar inquired calmly.

Bo blinked. "I beg your pardon?"

"The planet." Spar clarified. "Do you know of it?"

Bo was unclear as to the importance of the question but decided to humor him.

"Concord Dawn." She answered.

Spar nodded. "That's right. Concord Dawn. Are you aware as to why I set up base here, of all places?"

Bo Katan wasn't honestly one for riddles. She was a straight laced Mando and preferred if people just got to the point.

"Can you just tell me what this is about already?" Bo asked, annoyed by Spar's questions.

"This is the birth place of two previous Mandalores." Spar said, standing up from his seat.

Bo found her eyes widening momentarily. She didn't know that.

"You all clearly haven't been a part of Death Watch for long." Spar muttered loud enough for them to here. He casually approached a nearby desk and brought up a holo-display of an aged Mando. He looked familiar.

"Jaster Mereel." Spar revealed. "Our predecessor, the one who led the _true_ Mandalorians. Not those weak-willed Republic whipped dogs running our home world. He, who was Mandalore, reorganized and reformed the Mandalorians in what they should have been for centuries. Honor bound warriors be they soldiers or mercenaries. The barbaric, pillaging and brigands ways of old had only lead to needless death and slaughter to the innocent facing the barrels of our blasters to constant purges of our own people. Jaster changed that, creating the Super Commando Codex."

Spar held up a thick booklet.

"The Codex that we abide by." Spar said, staring down Katan who couldn't deny growing more and more nervous as Spar went on.

"The Codex that Death Watch formed in direct opposition to us by warlord Tor Vizla who craved the fanatical ways of old where Mandalorians would throw themselves in battle only to die in droves."

Bo was tense but remained straight laced as Spar went on.

"Him and his eventual successor, my predecessor and progenitor Jango Fett would eventually route out and kill off Tor Vizla, splintering Death Watch." Spar finished standing directly in front of Katan who was sweating anxiously.

"This was were his farm once stood." Spar said, eyes locked firmly onto Bo's. "This is where his journey began as a Mandalorian, Mandalore and eventually the template for the Clone army of the Republic. Of which, I myself was once meant to be a part of. But now, I stand here, given the title of Mandalore not by claiming it but by those here thrusting it upon me. So excuse me if you don't understand my dilemma at this moment."

Bo Katan internally was slightly freaking out but internally did her damndest not to flinch. She wasn't one who was so easily intimidated yet Spar was proving himself to be quite the presence.

"The worst part about all this is I remember e _verything Death Watch did_." Spar said in a venom laced voice. "Memories that are not mine but nonetheless, the feelings are. I carry the title of Resurrector. My duty is to adhere to and bring back the past honor of the Mandalorians. And here before me stands Death Watch. Our direct opposition to this goal. Tell me then, Bo Katan. Should we kill you where you stand? Or take you as prisoners?"

The tent was silent, thick with tension.

Nobody moved a muscle and not a word was uttered.

The Death Watch members were frozen, hands halfway to reaching their blasters, hands not moving at all in fear of their situation when…

"Leave." Spar waved them off.

Bo let out a breath she didn't realize she had been holding.

"W-What?"

"I said leave." Spar stated, stepping back. "Killing you would serve no purpose here, even with a message being sent to your leader. There's no honor in it and even if I wanted to, it would leave a bitter taste in my mouth. Go, leave this planet. And tell your petty leader that the True Mandalorians will never follow disgusting warmongers like yours."

It didn't take long for the Death Watch squad to regain their senses though Bo did manage to glare harshly at Spar who gave her a non-plussed gaze in return.

Departing shortly after, once they were well out of earshot…

"Not scary enough there, Mandalore." Fenn scolded in a joking tone. "We couldn't taste their fear properly."

"Shut up, Fenn." Spar rolled his eyes but smirked nonetheless.

"Guess we got us some more enemies now."

"We're Mandalorians, Tobbi." Spar said plainly. "The entire galaxy is our enemy by default. We must protect ourselves and one another for the sake of our people. Even if that means fighting our own. This is the Way."

"This is the Way." The other Mandalorians echoed.

"Fenn, Tobbi, start up the ships and begin preparations." Spar instructed his two closest friends and confidants. "Get Wren and make sure our weapons are fully operational. I don't want any buggy equipment. And has anyone seen Dax?"

"He's out napping, Mandalore." One of the Super Commandos said in clear amusement.

Spar stared up at the ceiling with half-lidded eyes. "Well then go wake him up!"

All around the Protectors encampment, activity was clear and present.

It was time the Mandalorians made their moves.

_-Scene Cut-_

It was a barren world.

A hot one.

Yet life had a home here.

Home amongst the craggy rocks, caverns and outcroppings.

Strange creatures.

Bizarre some might say.

Though none could claim to be as bizarre as this strange, unusual, bipedal creature that had arrived on this planet.

It lay there, motionless.

Spider-like creatures with large oval like shells and fanged Pedipalps surrounded the downed creature with a few taking "Whiffs" of it.

It smelled…. Unnatural. As if it was organic, yet it wasn't.

What could this thing possibly be?

One of the spider-like creatures jolted back suddenly.

This thing was moving!

The spiders scurried back as the creature used its upper limbs to push itself up to its knees.

Taking a moment to regard its surroundings, the beings stood upon its legs with its bright yellow-circuited cap flapping in the wind.

Blinking, it took a moment to realize that this was not the cave that he had stood in last he remembered.

Vision could only find himself stumped as to where he had ended up.

Meanwhile, far off in space beyond the outer reaches of the galaxy within the endless void was a ship.

A large ship that was once a part of an even larger ship.

This ship actually had several more ships inside and was currently traveling to its next destination.

Within the ship itself… music.

Classic Earth music from the 20th century ranging from good old pop to jazzy beats, soul and rock and roll.

Something that at first didn't appeal to some of the other inhabitants within the ship but eventually, their team leaders taste proved to be too good.

"Eh Quill!"

"What?"

"Put on something more upbeat, this dreary shit is messing with my mojo."

"Well what do you want then? Duran Duran? Motley Crue? How about Jackson or Bowie?"

"I have no fucking clue who any of those humies are, Quill. So just pick one that's got more groove to it."

"I got just the one."

Over the loudspeaker, a funky clavinet and percussion begins playing followed by a classic Philly string arrangement.

"AH, I find this one to be most enjoyable."

"Me too, Drax!"

"I Am Groot!"

"We got ourselves a winner."

"Yeah, yeah, whatever you overgrown monkey."

"Hey Cap'n."

Peter Quill, better known now as Star-Lord looked behind him from his pilot's seat.

"What's up, Kraggy?"

Kraglin stepped forward with a data pad in hand.

"Found something interetin'" Kraglin said. "Scanners picked up on a derelict ship. "Real old from the looks of it."

"And this is useful to us, how?" Rocket Racoon asked with a rhetorical tone.

"Not like any ship I'd ever seen." Kraglin remarked. "Get this, it doesn't have a UNTN Drive. Got somethin' else entirely."

"Did we find something?"

"Maybe we did, Gam." Rocket was now interested. "Where is this derelict ship you mentioned?"

"Not far really." Kraglin handed over the datapad to Rocket. "Bout a few hundred yards."

"Alright, let's see what this ship's about." Quill stated and he piloted the Quadrant towards their new destination.

Upon drawing near the derelict ship, Quill could barely contain his unease at the state of it.

"Oh man, what'd ya find Kraglin, a ghost ship?"

"Sure looks like one." Rocket murmured.

"I am Groot."

"Don't tempt fate like that, Groot." Gamora said. "We've had to many of those already."

"I am Groot."

"Who cares if that's our profession?" Rocket stated, fiddling with a space suit disk before tossing it aside. "I just wanna see what junk we could use."

The small salvage op was quick, the derelict ship being small enough to fit into one of the Quadrants ship bays.

"Jeez, this thing's seen better days." Peter commented, seeing how the ship was extremely beaten up and worn down. "Any ideas what kind of ship this is?"

"Old as hell for starters." Rocket stated, scanning the ship for anything that can be detected.

Gamora stood to the side, squinting her eyes at the ship with Mantis looking up at it with wide eyed curiosity.

Drax observed the ship in his own way. Tapping his knives against the metal hull of the ship.

"How old you reckon this ship is?" Kraglin asked the Guardians.

"Bout 4000 years." Rocket answered, getting an answer via his scanners. "This ship has been through the ringer."

"I'm amazed it's still in one piece." Gamora muttered.

"I hear that." Quill concurred, walking around to what were the engines.

Grazing his hands over to the under belly, Quill recoiled back at the sound of metal groaning before stumbling back in time as a ramp door unhinged itself and fell to the ground.

"Quill!" Gamora was by his side along with Drax. "What happened?"

"Ship is barely keeping itself together." Rocket answered for the human who agreed.

"Barely even touched the damn thing." Quill muttered, giving Drax and Gamora appreciative nods as they helped him up.

"What's that?" Mantis inquired aloud, approaching something that had fallen out of the ship.

"Careful Mantis." Drax called out to her.

Tentatively, the wide-eyed girl lifted a boxy-like contraption.

"It is a head." Mantis said aloud.

"A head?" Rocket repeated. "Toss it here."

Mantis clumsily threw it over to the small critter but he easily caught it.

"Geez, what happened to you?" Rocket said, holding up the head to his eye level.

"A robot?" Kraglin said, looking over to the interior of the ship that was present to see. "A bot piloted this ship then?"

"Think you can get it to work?" Gamora asked Rocket.

"I'll work my magic, see what I can do." Rocket rotated the head, squinting at a numeral designation at the back of the bots cranium.

"H…. and everything else is dust." Rocket remarked.

"I am Groot?"

"Please, this is like building an enforcer with my eyes closed and one hand tied behind my back." Rocket said confidently. "It won't take me more than a few hours tops."

**And there we have it ladies and gentlemen.**

**A mad dash of so many things to come.**

**My comrades BulletStormX and Jebest have helped me out a great deal of the many concepts to come in this story and this is the foundation to it all.**

**Oh so much to do and I cannot wait.**

**Just about done, mapping out the overall outline of season 2. Once that's all said and done, we're kicking it into overdrive and GAH season 7 is just around the corner.**

**Can't wait. Thank you, Dave Filoni, you are a godsend.**

**So, as per usual.**

**Rate Read and Review and as Always Have Nice Day.**


	24. Welcome to the Galaxy

**So Season 2 is officially underway and this will be too awesome to do.**

**Let's get to it then.**

**Rate Read and Review and as Always Have Nice Day.**

Avengers Infinite Wars Chapter 24: Welcome to the Galaxy.

It had been a melancholy few weeks for the Guardians of the Galaxy.

Two in particular.

Peter Quill and Rocket Raccoon held rather morose demeanors for some time though the other Guardians could hardly blame them.

The death of Yondu Udonta still weighed heavily on the heart and mind of both aforementioned Guardians for very similar and very different reasons.

For Peter, it was obvious. The phrase you don't know what ya got till it's gone never hit a more personal level for the Terran. Say what you will, as dysfunctional as it is as much as the two butted heads in the end Yondu truly was the father figure Peter had his entire life. Kidnapped as he may have been from Earth, Peter wouldn't change it for the galaxy.

Everything that had happened to him since led him to what he has now: a family.

Rocket had his own thoughts on the matter, thinking constantly on the time he had spent with Yondu brief as it may be. And in that short instance, this one guy managed to cut through all the bullshit, his entire façade down to a T. Which in turn calls back to another classic phrase that simply showed how easy it was for Yondu to see right through Rockets mask. Never bullshit a bullshitter.

And that was that.

Drax was surprisingly, though not really when one thinks about it, the most empathetic and understanding. He was much more silent and supportive in his own way, showing both of his fellow Guardians that he was there to support them.

Gamora had also been supportive in her way, simply being a constant presence for Peter and Rocket for them to know that they have someone for whom they could talk to if anything.

Groot was simply Groot, showing his care in his own bratty way. It was rather annoying dealing with puberty again but still, he wasn't tiny anymore so there is that.

Surprisingly, though not so much, it was Kraglin that Peter and Rocket found the most type of solace. Aside from Quill, Kraggy knew Yondu best and they had spent many nights after Yondu's funeral talking about all his quirks and tendencies.

Another more pleasant surprise was Nebula making sure to send occasional updates to her sister Gamora. While it would be a difficult and awkward path, the fact that Nebula was willing to mend the bridge shows how much has changed for Gamora since she first joined the team.

Those calm few weeks afterwards however were not to last as Peter had an unusual episode so to speak.

The Guardians were having breakfast together, though Gamora noted that Quill seemed distracted if not distant. He kept rubbing his eyes and sometimes his chest with multiple grimaces and uncomfortable faces.

"Peter." Gamora said softly. "Are you alright?"

Gamora's question made the other Guardians look to their leader who was frowning.

"I dunno." Peter said, eyes squinting. "It's… it's weird, I can't explain it."

"I know thinking isn't your strongest forte but any idea what's wrong?" Rocket asked in his usual snark with none of the old bitterness from before.

Peter made another face, trying to figure out what was troubling him so much when he felt a soft hand on his wrist. Looking down, he saw that it was Mantis with her eyes closed in concentration while her antenna glowed.

"You feel… scattered?" Mantis said in slight confusion. "Lost but present. There is a turmoil of survival but it is not yours."

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?" Rocket inquired in complete bewilderment. "This isn't some Avant guard opening your mind to the cosmos type shit, is it?"

"Open your mind?" Drax repeated. "How is that even-"

"Expression, Drax." Peter said absentmindedly, without looking at him.

"Right, metaphor."

"Sure."

"Mantis." Gamora spoke to their newest member. "What do you mean by _scattered_?"

Mantis scrunched her face up in concentration as she tried to formulate a proper way of describing it.

However before she was able to speak, Kraglin cut in with a rather panicked tone.

"Cap'n, your eyes!"

The Guardians looked to Peter's eyes with several of them gasping in shock.

"Peter." Gamora said on concern. "Your eyes! They've changed!"

"Wha-" Then Quill felt it.

He had hardly recognized it as it had only happened once before but the feeling was so raw, powerful and unrestrained it was not something he'd ever forget.

His father gave him access to such a feeling.

"The expanse." Peter saw it. All of it…

Or what was left of it.

When his father went throughout the cosmos planting seeds of himself in every world he visited. Upon his death, many of them eroded away and perished.

There were some however that survived. A few withered away on their own but some had apparently taken root in a kind of emergency survival response and were eating the planet it remained on to stay alive.

And so, Peter stated that he must root out these remaining seeds and destroy them making sure none of his mad father's legacy remained. The Guardians bolstered by their recent ordeal and belief in their group naturally agreed.

And thus, for the past year thanks to Kraglin who had knowledge on where most of these seeds had been planted went from system to system, planet to planet, galaxy to galaxy. Though most had ended up empty handed for those that held one were disposed of with a quick reign of fire.

However, there were some that proved to be difficult. After every single seed dome that was destroyed, the next one became rather harder to kill off.

It was proving to be rather annoying but in the back of Quills mind, disconcerting. Were these seed domes reacting to their crusade and preparing themselves? A base survival instinct?

Then came a truly shocking display.

They stood upon the planet Xander, being welcomed as heroes due to no small part in their actions the year prior from holding back Ronan and apparently being the ones to have prevented the blue glob which nearly consumed their planet.

"What the hell is going on? This Enforcer is my third variation." Rocket complained aloud. "I made it after we kicked Ego's overgrown head to the curb."

"Well it's not working, Rocket." Gamora chided, arms crossed in frustration. "Whatever this piece of Ego is, it's more resilient than the last one."

"Quill." Drax spoke up, observing the blob. "You are a descendant of Ego. You spoke of the power you had being half-celestial. Maybe you could still use it."

The other Guardians stared in bewilderment at the rather far-fetched idea but nonetheless, Peter figured he'd give it a try. Stepping up to the blob, Peter loosened his shoulders and closed his eyes.

Reaching far back to the time he first felt the power, Peter at first found nothing. Not to be deterred, he concentrated, bringing back everything on that day.

There was nothing but a blank void for a while, until…

"H-Hey!" Peter said excitedly. "I- I think I've got something!"

Small tendrils of light began seeping off his fingertips before they connected together with his hands held out.

Laughing ecstatically, Peter felt the familiar over-flowing power he had back on Ego's old planet but it was significantly weaker than what it once was.

But that was all that he needed to do as the glob of Ego's essence began glowing itself since being in such close proximity to one with the Celestial Gene.

Quill stood there for several moments, taking in the power while also trying to figure out just what to do with this rediscovered power. He could feel the connection to the old glob yet he couldn't quite figure out what to do with it.

Recalling Yondu's words his old father-figure spoke on how he controlled his old Yaka-arrow with his heart, not his mind.

So then how should he handle this?

Standing there with the others watching and the energy still swirling in between his hands, Quill felt a bit stumped as to how to proceed from here. Sure he had access to his old power but it was practically a small flicker of what it was. Even though Ego's essence and center was destroyed, Quill still had the Celestial gene and thusly could develop it himself though it was clear to him that he was gonna need _a lot_ of practice.

No time like the present.

…

"Quill, are ya gonna do anything or not?" Rocket asked grumpily, getting extremely impatient now.

"Hold up, fur bag, I've only used this like four times and that was last year." Quill rebuked.

"Well, what did you do last time?" Gamora asked.

"I… I turned into a giant version of Pac man." Star-Lord stated.

"I am Groot."

"No, it's not from that stupid ass game you have." Rocket said, eyes up at the sky in annoyance. "And can you please at least turn the damn sound off? Damn thing rings in my ears when I try to sleep."

"Ok." Gamora then turned to, "Mantis, you spent a great deal with Ego. Did he ever show or talk to you about his powers? How did he control them at all?"

Mantis adopted a thoughtful look, swaying from side to side.

"Ego always talked about concentration and compression." Mantis said offhandedly. "But him being a Celestial, his powers were natural and he could use it without thinking much."

"Well maybe that's a positive." Rocket remarked. "Quill doesn't think much to begin with."

"Har, Har." Peter said dryly, thinking on Mantis's words.

Concentrate and compress?

Peter's eyes then lit up with an idea and focused, reaching out the connection between himself and the seedling glob before him. Nothing happened at first but then, the glob began glowing more until it shifted slightly in place.

Concentrating, Quill maneuvered his hands carefully and had them at a foot apart from one another. Slowly, he brought his hands closer together gritting his teeth as he felt a sliver of resistance. Forcing the resistance to submit to his own power, the energy emanating from his hands began to converge together and astonishingly the large blob began to writhe and shrink.

Soon enough, the energy that Peter had formed into a sphere with the blob emulating the shape until he clapped his hands together.

In an instant, both his power and the blob of Ego's seedling dissipated and vanished altogether.

Star-Lord immediately collapsed onto his backside breathing heavily.

"Peter." Gamora was by his side, hand on his back to keep him from falling. "Are you alright?"

"Oh yeah, yeah." Quill played off, though the slight wheeze didn't exactly assuage Gamora's concerns.

"Hey, would you look at that." Rocket remarked. "You were useful for something other than music."

"Ha ha." Peter said, getting back up to his feet.

The Guardians looked to where the glob once was, with the ground slightly indented to signify that it had stood her until Quill had gotten rid of it.

"Alright, so we figured out an easier way of getting rid of these things." Rocket stated. "So now what?"

"Now? We gotta get the rest of them of course."

Since then, the process of taking out the remaining globs had become exponentially easier upon every passing one with Peter's control becoming stronger and stronger. Though getting there was a bit of a problem.

With Peter being able to tap into his latent Celestial gene, taking out the rest of his father's seedlings was the easy part. The hard part was getting to the next one on top of finding it.

Though Kraglin had a great many dealings of coordinates marked down, most had died out upon Ego's own death. The rest were scattered far and wide across the universe and getting to each of them would be rather tedious.

So, for the duration of a year, the Guardians went from planet to planet, system to system, galaxy to galaxy.

All the while, the ragtag group of losers went about upholding their name helping those in need, protecting and rescuing all for a small reward of course. Freebies here and there but hey, they needed to make units somehow.

Which leads them to their current situation.

The derelict ship they had found was being taken apart by the Guardians.

"Kraglin, anything working in there?" Rocket called out from his end, outside the ship with the parts of the disassembled robot they had found inside. Only the chest piece was missing.

"Nothing." Kraglin responded, taking off a control panel within the cockpit of the ship trying to see if anything in here was working inside. "This ship is just a tap away from crumbling."

"Wonder what it went through." Peter Quill said, seated in one of the chairs of the cockpit. The controls as a whole looked entirely worn out and rusted, seemingly impossible to salvage.

But he was trained by the Ravagers. And they have quite the talent in making junk work. So this shouldn't take too long.

Gamora walked around the ship all the while examining it with scrutiny. This was a rather strange ship to say the least.

The design of it had one side that was curved on one end with three extended prongs on the other side. Two of the prongs were connected while one just jutted out, being connected with the rest of the ship through the back curve, if that's how she would describe it.

When she had walked through the interior, she found that it was rather spacious and accommodating though clearly not for such a large crew. Kind of like the old Milano.

Drax and Mantis had gotten bored earlier and went off to do who knows what.

Off to the side, Rocket had let out a few annoyed curses at the state of the robots head before marching off to find some replacement parts.

"I Am Groot."

Gamora turned to see Groot had exited the ship holding what looked like…

"Rocket." Gamora called out to the smaller creature who had already exited the hangar bay of the Quadrant. "Groot found the chest piece."

"Well Halle-freakin-Lujah." Rocket yelled back, re-entering the hangar bay with a tool kit. "That makes things slightly easier."

Gamora turned back to Groot who had placed the chest piece down with the rest of the parts.

"Where'd you find it, Groot?" Gamora asked.

"I Am Groot." The sapient tree said with a shrug.

"A floorboard?" Gamora turned to the ship. "In the ship?"

"I Am Groot."

"Huh, interesting. Anything else in there that was fresh?"

"I Am Groot."

"What smelled funny?" Rocket asked as he plopped back down where he was working.

"Groot found a compartment under a floorboard in the ship."

"Floorboard huh?" Rocket repeated, eyeing the ship. "Hmmm, might be a transport or smugglers ship. Not a lot of weapons on it like what we've got."

Gamora only shrugged looked back to the ship which Groot reentered to see what else he could find.

By the cockpit, Quill was assisting Kraglin extracting the flight data and suffice to say-

"The hell is this language?" Peter questioned. "You make anything of it?"

"I'm as clueless as you are, Quill. Never seen anything like it. I could make a few bits but doesn't seem to match with any language I know at all."

Peter didn't like hearing this. But remembering earlier on scanning this derelict ship earlier, this craft was extremely old. This vessel could've been from a race that died out with their own language for all he knew.

"Then let's just extract everything we can and figure things out later." Peter said. "We got other things to take from this ship. What's a bit of a data cache gonna do in harming us? Just something else to do in between destinations."

"My thoughts exactly, Quill."

Rocket had run through several schematics that he found within the bots' head that appeared to be damaged. With a few replacement wiring and metals, he let out a satisfied grunt and clapped the back flap of the head shut.

Now that he was finished with the head, it was time for the rest of the body.

He slowly began piecing the head back to its chest, followed by the arms and thankfully the legs were just one piece themselves.

"Hey guys, I'm done on my end here." Rocket called out to the Guardians.

Soon, the Guardians were now all present in the hangar with Rocket standing upon a crate to add a few more tweaks to the bot.

"Now then, wakey wakey sleepy head."

It took a few moments for light to appear in the robot's red optics to flicker on. And it took several more for its head to start moving from side to side. It then stared at the Guardians who looked back at the bot with a slight look of anticipation.

Then it spoke.

"Inquiry: Who are you? And, where am I? Are you Friendly Meatbags? Or annoying Meatbags?"

A few of those present blinked upon how the robot spoke.

"Uh… We're friendly, I guess." Peter said with an unsure tone. "You're not gonna go Terminator on us and kill us all?"

"Inquiry: What is this _Terminator_ you speak of?"

"Nothing, nothing." Peter waved off.

"If you say so." The robot then looked back at the rest of the Guardians. "Once again, who are you? And where am I?"

"In that order: I am Gamora, this is Peter Quill, that's Rocket, Drax, Mantis, Kraglin and he's Groot." Introduced the Zehoberian female. "And we're the Guardians of the Galaxy."

"Confusion: Guardians of the Galaxy? What is this supposed to mean?"

"Just a band of misfits if you're wondering." Rocket interjected. "Merely helped save the galaxy twice so far and the title stuck with us."

"And as for where we are," Gamora continued. "Well… you're on a derelict ship."

The droid looked around and the others swore they saw a bit of recognition crossing its optics.

"This is my master's ship."

"Your master?" Mantis inquired. "Your owner?"

"Correct, Large Eyes. Question: You're not like those morally annoying Jedi?"

The Guardians all stared at the droid in bewilderment, Drax and Quill sharing a look.

"What's a Jedi?"

The Droid regarded them silently. "You don't know what the Jedi are?"

"I haven't." Peter looked towards his friends. "Have you guys-"

"Nada."

"Never heard of them."

"Don't know anything."

"I am Groot."

"I have no idea what that sentient tree just said."

"You get used to it and understand in time." Rocket stated to the reassembled droid.

"Further Query: If you are not aware of the Jedi, you spoke of my ship being derelict. For how long?"

This was a bit strange to say as they hadn't really expected to find any survivors of the ship. Then again… they've seen stranger things.

"Yer ship's been floating around like a junk pile for about four thousand years, tin head." Rocket stated bluntly.

The droid looked about the Guardians to see if they were fibbing but had detected no traces of deceit.

"Sadness: Then my master is long gone."

"And who would be your master?"

"The Glorious Master Revan." The Droid sounded slightly morose. "Fleshy Meatbags could only last so long until they deteriorate into goop and dust."

"That's one way of putting it." Quill muttered.

"And even worse, my second master Surik has undoubtedly perished as well."

Some of the Guardians could feel a bit of sympathy towards the repaired droid.

"What do you want to do now?"

"I… do not know." The droid hesitantly spoke. "My master gave me purpose after purchasing me. He treated me well and I served him well in return."

Mantis could only feel a bit of connection with the droid before her, but only a small margin. Ego had taken care of her upon taking her in. She done her part in easing his mind while exploring the cosmos as he protected her in return.

Granted things were utterly messed up on what he did on his task of being _everywhere_ , but what was she supposed to do? She was practically powerless before she met the Guardians and now, she became something better than her past self.

"What's your function?" Kraglin asked.

"Joy: Ah, a question that matters. I am programmed to be an Assassin Droid." The Droid said with great pride. "You may call me HK-47. Are you going to be fulfilling the roles of my Masters now? Do you need someone dead? Someone killed? I have quite the catalog since I have reactivated. It seems all my back functions and schematics have been restored."

"You're welcome." Rocket spoke up, gaining HK's attention.

"You are the one who rebuilt me? You are much smaller than the last one who rebuilt me."

"You get a pass on that one."

"Though I am unfamiliar with several of your species." HK-47 stated.

"Pardon?"

"In my database, I don't recognize any of your kind."

"I… am possibly the last of my kind." Drax said dejectedly. He had not been home since losing his wife and child to Ronan the Accuser vile genocide of his people.

"I Am Groot."

"I don't know if there are others like me." Mantis mused aloud.

"The only ones I do recognize are you two."

Seeing HK-47's gaze upon him and Kraglin, Peter voiced his present thought. "You recognize humans?"

"Answer: Correct."

"Huh… so there are humans where you come from."

"Answer: Once again, correct."

"Come on, Quill, there's Humies scattered across the universe." Rocket remarked. "How is that any surprise?"

"I know, I know. I'm just stating a fact is all."

HK took a moment to look around the Hangar bay he stood and spotted current state the ship he came from.

"Woefully: Oh, the Ebon Hawk! How sorrowful to see it in such a horrible state. My masters would have been very furious to see it in such tatters."

The Guardians found the droids behavior unusual since it was rather emotional but they simply shrugged it off.

"4000 years…" HK-47 said to itself. "This is truly unprecedented. I had never been offline for such a duration."

"What was the last thing you remember before you were shut off?"

HK processed the question.

"There was a conflict. Another war between the Jedi and the Sith and I was being used as a template to make more droids like myself."

"You must have been one hell of an assassin droid." Rocket said with an interested glint in his eyes.

"Prideful: I was the absolute best at my job. My master made sure of it."

"Rocket." Gamora said with a deadpan look to the smaller Guardian who only grinned.

HK-47 was silent for a few moments looking at his old ship then back to the Guardians. Now, being a droid and all, "Feelings" were an icky Meatbag concept that frankly sounded more of a hindrance than anything else. Always so needlessly complicated, these flesh bags. But… HK-47 recalled something from one of his old crewmates talking about being sentimental.

"Request: Then I wish to join you."

"You do?"

"Explanation: Yes. I have no other purpose and direction." HK-47 answered. "I can do just about anything for you all with no question in the slightest and kill in your honor-"

"Then welcome aboard!" Rocket said with glee.

A few of the others groaned, realizing Rocket was going to milk the assassin droid dry with the free slave labor at his leisure.

"Declaration. Assassin Protocols active. Greetings Master." HK said to Rocket whose grin turned maniacal now.

"Whoa-Whoa, stop right there." Peter quickly cut in. "I don't normally throw this card around but _I_ am the captain of the ship and team leader."

"It's true, he is." Gamora added rapidly, catching on to what Quill was insinuating. "Quill is our leader."

"He is indeed." Drax confirmed, though unaware of what exactly the underlying method was.

"He is, he is." Mantis chipped on.

"We call him Star-lord for a reason." Kraglin stated, and like the Guardians he knew full well that if Rocket had his own Assassin droid the chaos would be unprecedented.

"Statement: Wonderful! If you shall excuse me, I must see what I am able to salvage from the Hawk."

HK turned and went to enter his old home.

"Well that's just swell. We got ourselves a Terminator joining our crew." Peter groaned out. "Don't know if I should be excited or scared."

"Could it be both?" Mantis questioned.

"...Maybe. Come back to me on that later."

"Why'd you have to go and ruin my fun, Quill?" Rocket called out aggravated.

"Rocket, come on." Quill said tiredly. "You know damn well why."

"I thought we were friends." Rocket said challengingly.

"Yes, and as friends it is sometimes our sworn duty to deny you things that would be clearly bad for your life." Gamora stated.

Rocket only grumbled and huffed, crossing his arms in a childish manner and looking away from the others.

"Hopefully you will be better than what happened to one of my previous Meatbag masters."

"And what happened to him?"

"Electrocution. I found it rather soothing."

Peter suddenly clapped Drax on his shoulder in an appreciative manner. "You know Drax, I'm really glad for all the things you told us you did in your old rampage. Makes hearing HK's story not as bad. Horrible and kinda scary still, but nothing we can't handle."

Drax puffed his chest out. "Why thank you very much, Quill."

"Fascination: Drax was it? Would you, perchance, have time to regale me with this "rampage" Peter Quill spoke of?"

"Oh most certainly." Drax assured. "I'll tell you how I got the name the Destroyer that one time on that Kree ship."

Though it was difficult to see considering his face plate, HK-47 felt his processors glowing and flowing with excitement and anticipation. Maybe these Meatbags wouldn't be so bad after all! They promised that they'd use his skills and two of them appear to be very blood thirsty.

Seems the Guardians now have someone to direct Drax onto for some particular conversations for now on. Well another one with Mantis who's the only one who really listens to Drax most of the time.

"Don't make me break you apart."

"Commentary: I would truly hate to be turned into spare scrap, master. That would be a waste of my genius engineering."

"Could you not make us uncomfortable with your odd violent quirk, HK?"

"I can only act as you instruct me... even if that means being... *gulp* ...non-violent."

"Good enough." Quill said with a sigh. "But… save that violent part when we need it. Things tend to get that way with us."

"Excitement: Oh I can't wait for these endeavors."

Gamora only sighed, looking at Peter. "Are you sure about this, Peter?"

Quill only shrugged. "Well, he asked and if he really is an Assassin droid… not gonna lie, scary as that kinda is, that is also kind of cool."

"Peter, I'm an assassin."

"Yeah and you're both cool and hot. But a robot assassin? That's a boyhood dream."

Gamora only shook her head though she couldn't shake the small smile that she held.

Pecking his cheek, she wrapped an arm around him which he reciprocated. "You and your Terran nostalgia."

HK then spoke up again. "Request: Could you be so kind as to bring the Ebon Hawk with us?"

Peter looked back at the assassin droid with the others being curious. "What for?"

"Answer: Sentimental reasons. That and there are parts of this ship that can be quite useful if brought back to working order. Not to mention the hidden caches left on this vessel."

"Oh~ hidden caches mean extra tech and molla." Rocket stated, rubbing his hands together. "Then where, pray tell are these hidden caches on this ship?"

"Say, you know how this ship works right?" Kraglin asked, interjecting Rocket's request. "Inside and out?"

"Confirmation: I do indeed."

"Great, cause Quill and I have been trying to figure out the star maps and they're just not working with ours."

"Yeah, there's a language in it we don't recognize."

HK tilted his head in confusion.

"Query: You do not know Galactic Basic?"

"Galactic Basic?" Peter repeated. "Is that the name of your galaxy's language?"

"Answer: One of millions." HK said. "But what do you mean by "your galaxy's"?"

The crew was silent momentarily.

"Where exactly did you find me?"

"Huh… How do we explain this?" Rocket mused.

To say that HK learned that he no longer resided in his galaxy was beyond extraordinary. There were too many questions to ask as this was rather outside his parameters and functions.

This was certainly not what he was expecting when he had been reactivated.

To learn of his long 4000 year "slumber" was one thing, but to think that his ship had gone far off the reaches of his home galaxy?

Not to mention his home galaxy was rather… remote. Never venturing past the outer rim of said galaxy at all by any of its native residents… wherever it was located.

He was picked up by interstellar/intergalactic travelers! This was certainly shaping up to be one hell of a start to a new adventure.

It took some time to properly connect the Ebon Hawk onto their ship for safe travels. They had wanted to strip it bare and sell whatever they didn't need to restock their supplies. But after some discussion they chose against it.

They realized the possible benefit of having the Ebon Hawk as a secondary vessel for them to have alongside the Quadrant. Said ship would be their main base/home while the former would help speed things along if needing to go to separate destinations quicker and not take as long on certain jobs.

Besides, they didn't have the Milano anymore and no one wanted to spend more money to get a replacement one anytime soon.

Right now, Quill, Rocket, Kraglin and Gamora assisted HK-47 in further stripping out the Ebon Hawk.

Most of the food and water they had found had long eroded away or spoiled. There were a few guns, or blasters as HK called them and while they had also deteriorated and rusted, they knew that Rocket could fix them or at the very least replicate them. And with clothing, it was odd to see some of the attire's fashion design, but they stored them away for later use.

The rest of the ship would need fixing and repairs over time.

Currently though, Rocket was in the middle of going over HK's deeper functions hoping to find more useful information on their new destination that being HK's home galaxy.

During his scans, Rocket found something interesting which led to a compartment being opened up from the droids chest.

"What in the hell is this?"

HK glanced down. "Ah, I was wondering where Master Surik had placed her last possession."

"What is this thing?" Rocket asked.

"What are you talking about Rocket?"

"Take a look at what's in HK's chest."

Upon taking a gander inside of the assassin droid's chest, Gamora saw a faint glowing blue cube inside of the droid.

For a split moment, the Zehoberian thought she was looking at the Tesseract; more importantly the container of the Space Stone. But then realized the size was not right along with there being metal parts all over instead of being entirely glass-like.

Taking a closer look, Gamora had a sense of… knowing what it was.

"I've seen this before."

"You have?"

"On my father's ship." She answered. "I don't know what it was exactly, but I've seen something like this in his possession." Grasping the object in her hand, she turned it all over to inspect it more. "But what he had was a pyramid in shape… and was red. But the concept design looks pretty much the same."

"Observation: You must be talking about a Sith Holocron."

"A Sith what?"

"Explanation: A storage container of vast amounts of knowledge. Only accessible to select individuals with a certain ability." HK looked at the object in her hand. "What you have in your grasp is a Jedi Holocron. One that belonged to my former master Meetra Surik. Your father has a Sith one."

"A Sith one…" Gamora tasted the words on her mouth, finding something else vaguely familiar about it.

"What are these Sith?" Rocket inquired.

"Rivals against the Jedi. Both groups have the same sets of abilities, yet have different opposing philosophies with the religion they follow."

"A religion?"

"Correction: I wouldn't actually say religion. Just something they both follow deeply as everything about them heavily relies on it."

"Sounds stupid." Rocket said.

"It is, isn't it." HK stated. "I never paid much attention to it, due to how boring, complicated and convoluted it all is. Apologetic: Sorry in advance if you can't get anything further from me on the matter."

"This thing that the Sith and Jedi relied on…" Gamora made HK turn to her. "It was, what did he call it again? The Force, right?"

"Surprise Statement: Mistress Gamora, I was unaware you held knowledge about my galaxy. Are you from there by any chance?"

"Yeah, how do you know that?"

Releasing a sigh, Gamora leaned against the wall before explaining.

"Not exactly." Gamora grimaced. "My father… he always held extensive knowledge on the _entire_ universe. Something that took centuries to accumulate. He mentioned it a few times to me and my other "Siblings" about a galaxy where people use some unique power that is found in that particular galaxy and nowhere else."

"Fascination: Your father must be a wise individual."

Gamora then sneered "More like a madman."

"Mad and wise are two sides of the same coin. Something Master Revan once said."

"I like ya, HK." Rocket stated. "But I'm gonna have to go with Gamora on this one. Her pops isn't called the Mad Titan for nuthin. Guy is fucking loon to the extreme. Kills and destroys planets like it's nothing."

"Huh… a worthy opponent on my kill count. Request: I wish to defeat him and show how superior I am to him."

Gamora actually snorted. "HK, if you manage to kill my father in particular then you'll surpass every known killer and assassin to have ever lived in the universe."

Raising his head, HK recalled something one of his old companions used to do when offered a trial of skill. "Challenge accepted."

Rocket all the while had taken the Holocron and examined it on all corners. "So is there anyway of opening this thing? You mentioned something about those ability users being the ones to open it."

"Correct." HK confirmed. "Only a Force-user is capable of such a task. Impossible to open by any other means unless destroying the Holocron and its stored knowledge in the process."

"...Well that's fantastic."

"I'd call my brothers or father for such a task if I didn't hate them both so much." Gamora wryly stated.

"Query: Your father can use the Force?"

"Not necessarily. Father has a greater understanding of it and I've seen him use tools that do require the Force in a way, but he knows some people who possibly could."

"And your brothers?" Rocket asked.

"One's a fanatic loyalist. Let's leave it at that. The other… haven't heard from him in several years now honestly. No one knows where he is. Father sent him off on a mission that he hasn't come back from."

"Alright, family drama aside then." Rocket held up the Holocron, gauging it. "There's gotta be a way to open this."

"Well, my fanatic brother figured out a way and my father did as well." Gamora said. "So if they could do it, so can you."

Rocket scratched his head as he eyed the faintly glowing cube. "If you say so. Just something that'll bug for weeks on end. Got nothing else better to do, anyhow."

Quill and Kraglin were looking over the map that HK had provided for them since they had stripped out the Ebon Hawk.

It did take some time to properly learn the basic language of the other galaxy. It was hard, no doubt along with the rest of the Guardians, but they eventually got the rough basics of it all.

For Quill, it was like living out another fantasy of his after watching Indiana Jones; deciphering an unknown language and showing off to the idiots not in the know.

Amongst the lessons, HK filled the crew of a vast amount of information on his home galaxy with a good number of alien species residing there to the major worlds to the reigning governments and organizations ruling the many sectors.

It was rather fascinating *cough* boring *cough*.

HK believed it was boring as well. Only focusing on the important bits as they were required on his past jobs his previous masters had tasked him with. Especially with the crime syndicates and bounty hunter jobs.

There was one thing however that greatly troubled them and that was this… what did HK describe it as? The Hyperspace Anomaly? Whatever it was, it prevented exit or entry into this galaxy through conventional means like this Hyperspace that was on the Hawk or the Universal Jump Points that inter connected the universe.

And this map that was provided for them was over 4000 years old. Short as that may be in terms of universal time, 4000 years was still a long time with many events that could have transpired in HK-47s home galaxy.

Certain worlds could possibly be dead and uninhabitable to no longer be present anymore via supernovas or worse. And who knows what other crazy shit could happen to change up that map now than from back then.

Regardless, the Guardians were now above all else, curious. When they thought about it, there really was no reason to go to this new galaxy. After all, they had so much more to do with them upholding their namesake on top of finding the rest of Ego's seedlings.

That all changed when Kraglin made a startling discovery.

There were several coordinates that Ego had supplied to him and Yondu during their time in retrieving Ego's offspring and delivering it to him. One of them being…

"The hell Kraglin, why'd you never bring that up?!"

"Sorry Quill, but Yondu and I never really thought about the others after we stopped with you." Kraglin admitted. "We were honestly relieved we didn't have to do it no more."

"Not to mention Yondu grew a conscious and stopped huntin' them down once you came onboard. Cut all ties with Ego from there, but the damage was done with the rest of the Ravagers by breaking their child trafficking rule."

Peter was rather blown away by this revelation, with him sitting back in his seat with an expression that held a great deal of emotions.

The more he thought about it, the more a lump began forming in his throat.

"Are- are you telling me I might have other Brothers and sisters out there?" Peter asked in a low voice.

"Could be, Quill. Don't know what is going on over there and its completely alien territory for us. For all we know, they could still be alive or dead without us coming in contact with them."

Try as he might, Star-Lord found it rather strange that he couldn't hold back several stray tears that fell from his eyes. The possibility of having family, genuine blood related family as much as he hates his connection to his father.

One thing was certain now, Peter wanted to reunite with what living half-siblings he has left in the universe. They might love him, hate him or tolerate him, but Peter wanted to at least know he was there for them… as the best big/younger brother they could ever have!

"Then we shall venture to the great unknown." Peter said in his best captain impersonation voice. "Go, where no other man has gone before. Explore unknown lands -to us- and have untold adventures along the way."

"Oh~ Is that from Star Journeys?" Mantis inquired.

"Star Trek, Mantis. But close enough and yes."

"But how can we even get to HK's galaxy anyhow? Even though we integrated the Ebon Hawk's tech onto the Quadrant, we still need a means of safely traveling there. Not to mention the cost of fuel and time in getting there."

"Well..." Kraglin spoke up scratching his chin in thought, eyeing the map projection with a calculating expression. "There was one thing I noticed when looking at this anomaly barrier."

Walking around to the northern area of the map where it was close to the section labeled the Unknown Regions and pointed to one point.

"Look here." Kraglin said, making the map zoom in on where he was pointing to. "Wasn't sure if it was a glitch or somethin' but from what it looks like it to me..."

"That could be our way in." Gamora finished for the Ravager making him nod.

"So then how do we do it?" Drax asked. "This Galaxy doesn't have a universal jump point to use for use to get in."

"And flying through an anomaly is way too dangerous and unpredictable." Peter added with a grimace.

"Suggestion: I believe if you use a combination of this Jump capabilities that you have on your ship and combine it with the Hyperdrive on my old ship, it can perhaps be the key to bypassing the anomaly and using that entryway safely."

Rocket hummed in approval, nodding his head. "Well, that's all we got for now with a plan to get in. Let's get started."

And so, with an objective in mind, The Guardians of the Galaxy along with their newest crewmate began the strenuous work of essentially creating a new Faster Than Light device that had to combine aspects of both Hyperspace and the Jump tech they already had.

The process was a lot longer than they had wanted it to be but eventually, they had succeeded and were now on route to HK's home galaxy.

"Alright boys and girls." Rocket said, typing away on the controls. "This is gonna be a bumpy ride. So put your head between your knees and kiss your butt's goodbye."

"But I can't kiss my butt goodbye." Drax said from his seat. "It's impossible to do that in such a way."

"It's an expression, Drax."

"Ah, metaphor…"

"Oh goodie. I'm coming home." HK said with glee. "Can't wait to see the lights of Coruscant once more."

"What's Coruscant?"

"Answer: The galactic capital."

"So, I take it there's a lot of politicians there?"

"Depressed: Unfortunately, yes. I had gone on many missions to eliminate targets from Coruscant but I became aware that no matter how high in number I succeeded in killing, it would never even make a dent."

"Sounds like hell." Quill quipped.

"It truly was, Master Quill. I still have much work to do it seems."

"Alright guys, better clench up." Rocket said, expression grim and focused.

Up ahead, the Guardians of the Galaxy saw their destination up ahead. It was like any ordinary cosmic body as they had traversed much from before they converged as a team and well after.

There were actually satellite galaxies around the main larger one though nothing incredibly new to them.

"Any last words before we jump?"

"I am Groot."

Several of the Guardians gave Groot a flat stare. "Let's get this over with."

"I wonder if we'll lose our lunch like last time."

"I hope not. I felt sick when we got to Ego from that jump." Kraglin grimaced, paling slightly.

"Should I go use the restroom before we go, then?" Mantis asked innocently.

"Please do." The others -minus Drax and Groot- chorused.

Mantis made a quick run and came back a few minutes later feeling relieved.

"Alright Guardians." Peter said, steeling himself. "Get ready. Rocket, HK make sure you keep our shields and trajectory up."

"Affirmative, Master Quill."

"Got it."

"Gamora, Drax, make sure that the Jump drive is on full blast. Let's not take any chances. Kraglin, keep even with me."

With the crew now ready to do their assigned roles, Rocket throttled his controls forward with the ship accelerating towards the galaxy.

"Anomaly thirty degrees to the northeast." Kraglin said.

"Got it."

The Quadrant adjusted itself, flying straight for the intended path.

"Quill." Drax suddenly spoke up in a slightly tense voice.

Peter didn't need to look to Drax as he, like the rest, saw what caught his attention.

"What… is that?" Rocket asked nervously.

"Let's not find out." Quill shouted. "PUNCH IT."

After several moments, they jumped… leaving an odd plaid-like stream behind them the moment they went through the blue hexagonal like portal.

"I REGRET EVERYTHING!"

"I FEEL MY BRAIN'S GOING TO MY FEET!"

"IT'S GOING TO MY ASS!"

"I CAN SEE ETERNITY AGAIN!"

"I AM GROOOOOOOOOT!"

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

A ship blipped through a hexagonal portal of some kind and floated there aimlessly for a few moments.

.

.

.

.

.

.

"Roll call, who's not dead?"

"Never… Never again."

"I need to lie down."

"I… am… Groooot."

Mantis quickly unbuckled her harness and ran towards the restroom before the sounds of hurling could be heard.

"Confusion: I don't understand what the problem is with you all. I feel fenren. Could be with all that slershing liquids inzeede of you which made you this way." HK paused. "My Vobabulator appears demmmaged."

"I'll fix it." Rocket murmured, dry heaving. "As soon as I get my shit together."

"Urgh… Captain." Kraglin moaned. "Since we're not dead, did we do it?"

Groaning, Peter shakily stood from his seat and had to hold onto it as he literally felt that he was going to collapse at any minute. Bending forward to keep himself from hurling, Peter looked up and saw…

"Hey, there's a planet up ahead!"

"Oh… good… What should we do now?"

"Now? Why don't we… take an hour break. Or two."

"How about the rest of the day?"

"Best… suggestion you've ever made…."

With nothing else needed to be said… the Guardians all promptly passed out in their seats either staying in their chairs or falling to the floor. HK-47 had made an internal scan and found that a few functions were screwy so he would need maintenance. His power cells weren't working at full capacity either so he too shut down with the rest of his new Meatbag comrades.

The Quadrant remained floating idly in space with an entire crew of strange and crazy individuals within a new galaxy far, far away.

They had no idea as to what they had just flown in to.

**Alright, WOO 'nother one done.**

**Lots to do and my God was this one a breeze thanks to Jebest. So many of you guys were so excited and I just had to do it, I couldn't leave you guys high and dry. It's HK-47 we're talking about here.**

**Jeb: Though now things will be a little hectic with the Guardians' arrival with more changes coming along.**

**FMW: And Hectic is putting it politely. We all know how things go when it comes to our lovable band of morons.**

**J: Then again, more events will drastically be altered than what originally went on with the episodes and even comics. Who knows what may befall the galaxy with the inclusion with the biggest band of misfits in recent years?**

**FMW: So… yeah, shit's gonna only get crazier from here and you guys are gonna love every second of it. I guarantee it. So other than that, until next time.**

**Rate Read and Review and as Always Have Nice Day.**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's a link to the cover poster of the current roster of the GOTG
> 
> https://www.deviantart.com/freemanwriter/art/Guardians-Of-The-Galaxy-Star-Wars-Team-Phase-1-831789975


	25. A Bit of Dissension

**Season 2 is full swing, with two arcs already down with the Guardians and Spidey's arrival just the starting point. There are many concepts that have been floating around inside my head terms of legends as well as original work I hope to introduce later on down the line that ties in with both the old Legends canon and the MCU/Comics of Marvel. I would want to hint at it but I think I'll save it for later.**

**So other than that ramble, I'll just leave it at that for now.**

**Rate Read and Review and as Always Have Nice Day.**

Avengers Infinite Wars Chapter 25: A bit of Dissension

Senator Riyo Chuchi let out a disgruntled sigh of relief as the Senate meeting had finally come to its conclusion.

In all honesty, this one felt meaningless like the last few.

Only more of the war effort, what to do, should there be peace talks and all that other blabber.

And her mentor and friend Padme had been doing this political shtick for how long again? Riyo didn't know how she puts up with it all.

Nursing her migraine, she felt a supportive pat on her back making her blink and look up in time to see the new Twi'lek representative Cham Syndulla giving her a look of encouragement and understanding.

He had been quite the maverick and open critic of the way the Republic had been conducting itself during the war effort. Really, Cham was a breath of fresh air as he had constantly challenged the norm as he was a man of action over this bureaucratic rhetoric. He had found himself in the company of senators who were more than willing to take action over just sitting around and doing nothing. So it came as no surprise that he became fast friends and allies with Senators Padme, Organa, Mothma and herself along with their own little circle.

Sending him a small smile of appreciation, Chuchi continued on her way down the hallway to her personal office within the Senate building.

As she drew closer, she saw a familiar mop of silver hair at the front of her door.

Blinking, Chuchi felt her lip twitch up in amusement as she approached the bored looking Avenger who was leaning against the closed doors of her office.

Clearing her throat, Chuchi gained the attention of the fastest Avenger.

"Mr. Maximoff." Riyo said pleasantly. "What a surprise to see you once more. What can I do for you today?"

Pietro Maximoff, otherwise known as Quicksilver, was becoming a strangely constant individual in Chuchi's everyday life the past several weeks. After meeting him at that little commemorative party for the Avengers actions organized by Padme, she had found herself running across the speedster.

Though running into Pietro would be putting it mildly.

Now, Chuchi was no stranger to having other men show obvious interest in her. During her time back home at the academies, she had several boys around her age vying for her attention and affection. Most, if not all, honestly weren't up to snuff. And not that she was cruel or unkind. She was awkward for the most part trying her best to let them down easy as she had wanted to focus more on her studies then being schmoozy with other boys.

She could thank her lucky stars that once becoming her people's senator, the suitors had died down… to a certain degree.

Riyo was easily preoccupied in her work, making her unable to find available time to even go out on a simple dinner date for example. She had tried one time, but she was forced to cut it short due to an emergency senate meeting. The Pantoran had tried to get back with her date afterwards, but it never worked out afterwards.

She felt as though there wouldn't ever really be time for an intimate relationship. Chuchi had a great many duties to conduct for her people and the Republic.

If she remembered it correctly on the joke, she was practically married to her job. Didn't know if it was actually funny or not these days.

But now?

After everything she had witnessed in her short tenure as a Senator during war time, Riyo was honestly craving new means of escape from her work.

Enter Pietro Maximoff.

The young man was certainly not like _any_ of the previous suitors she had met and she wasn't sure whether that was a good thing or a bad thing.

However, if there was one defining factor of Pietro in the short time that she's known him was that he was persistent.

Like Cham Syndulla, Pietro was a breath of fresh air in a surprising way. He always came over when she least expected it to cheer up her dreadful days. When he was out of the field, the speedster tried to at least call her to keep her informed on the latest developments.

He was brash, cocky, arrogant in a way though at times it felt more self-condescending. Pietro didn't take himself too seriously, preferring an easy-going grin rather than being moody and focused like that Barton individual he constantly spoke of. Then again, he also stated that a great many deals of his jokes came directly from that old man.

To her, it was clear to see how much Pietro looked up to this Clint Barton. Either as an older brother or an uncle-like figure.

Though he was a great deal confident, Chuchi saw a kindness to him that he kept hidden in his own way. Cham had spoken of his actions back on Ryloth and rather than focusing on his apparent battle victories, the Twi'lek leader told her of Pietro being one who kept morale high. He went out of his way to assist anyone and everyone in any way that he could, getting extra food for the hungry, medicine for those that needed it most and even toys for the children. Something she learned when meeting Cham's daughter who proudly held up her doll, she had remodeled to look like him.

When bringing that little meeting up, it was highly amusing to see someone like Pietro become so bashful and trying his best to hide his red cheeks.

"Oh nothing much, Riyo." Spoke the Sokovian. "Just checking up on how bad the meeting was today."

The Pantoran merely sighed, rubbing her head as she entered her office with him following soon after. Walking towards a stand nearby, she drew herself a drink before taking a big swig.

"That bad, huh?"

"Very much, sadly."

"Well that's what goes on with war. So many people profiting off the problem. Despite wanting the fighting to end, they also are thinking of their funds."

Chuchi regarded the Avenger for a moment. "Your home. Sokovia, correct? It too was ravaged by war?"

"Too many times to count." Pietro said somberly, walking past her to stare out the window. "All my sister and I ever knew was war and conflict. My hometown… it was bombed so many times that I had lost track of it all."

Holding up his hand, it vibrated intensely as he turned his head to her. "This… was the eventual outcome of it all."

Sighing sadly, Riyo pulled out another glass and poured a bit of the alcoholic beverage into it. Coming over to him, she offered the drink.

"Thanks." Jugging it down, he scrunched his face a little.

"Not your preferred taste?"

"Hang on." Pietro held up his hand. "...And it's gone."

Riyo blinked. "I beg your pardon?"

He gave her a small grin. "One odd thing with my powers, hard to get hangovers; much less getting a buzz."

"You can't get drunk?"

"I could try…" Pietro shrugged. "I think. Would have to chug gallons worth of the really strong stuff. Trust me, I tried. Ran several bars dry and was banned for life from them." He chuckled out. "Hell, I did that once after becoming an Avenger and Tony had to freeze my account with how much I spent."

"Oh?" Riyo sat upon her desk in interest. "And how did this come about?"

"Hey, a dare is a dare." Pietro remarked with a shrug. "Clint should have known better then to give me a challenge."

Riyo shook her head, smirking slightly. "What happened afterwards?"

Pietro scratched his cheek slightly, cringing at the memory of one particular reaction.

"Wanda was ticked off when learning what I did. Threw me across the room and kept me stuck on a wall for hours as I was forced to watch shows she enjoys while I suffered."

"Oh it can't be that bad."

"If only you knew what Wanda likes, then you'd understand."

"Try me?"

"Well… there are certain eras of shows back on our home planet ranging through the decades. She greatly prefers these shows that came on fifty to seventy years ago. Some of the sitcoms having the leading actresses being stay at home mothers and going through the oddest problems I found utterly ridiculous. And to bug me even further, she'd quote the lines beat by beat as the show rolled on and on."

"That actually sounds quite lovely." Chuchi remarked earning a flat look from him, making her giggle. "I am curious about your Earth culture, you know. You have spoken about it so often and yet; I have never seen anything from these films and shows you speak of."

Pietro rubbed his chin in thought. "Well, we don't have any satellites here or..."

His face instantly brightened up. "But~! I do have my own collection of movies and shows. Hold on."

*WOOSH*

Riyo stumbled back slightly at Quicksilver abruptly running off at full speed, the force of his sudden run causing her hair to come undone.

Though she tied it back a moment later.

"...I should've been used to this by now."

*WOOSH*

"So forgive me in advance for us having to watch on the small screen." Pietro admitted as he soon scrolled through his collection of films and shows.

"Wait." Pietro held up his hand. "Wait… we're missing something here."

"What?"

"Snacks."

*WOOSH*

Thankfully her hair remained as it was this time.

*WOOSH*

"Wait, do you have any favorites?"

"Huh?"

"Snacks, you know, treats and all."

"Er…"

"Ah forget it, I'll just get a bit of everything."

*WOOSH*

And there he went again.

*WOOSH*

He soon arrived back with a basket filled with snacks and other small foods that Pietro had gotten from nearby shops and vendors.

Pietro began setting up his phone, grumbling that the holo-projector feature wouldn't be big enough.

"If it won't be too much trouble, we could try to connect this device of yours onto my system and pull it up on the holo-projector."

Pietro smiled. "Oh that's a great idea…. Wait would that work?"

Chuchi opened her mouth and closed it, humming in thought.

"I'm not sure, but let's try. You told me that your devices could interface with other technology, correct?"

"It should." Pietro said, examining his Stark Phone. "Don't know about alien tech."

He held it up to the control pad of the holo-projector and to their pleasant surprise, it connected.

Seating themselves on the couch within her office, Chuchi felt her body decompressing with her letting out a sigh of relief. One doesn't realize how tired they are until they take a moment to sit still.

Luckily for her, there was nothing else to go on for her for the rest of the day. Call it what you will as if the universe wanted her to finally have some time to finally enjoy herself. More so with pleasant company to boot.

What was this movie called?

Something about inanimate toys coming to life. Well whatever it was, it was turning out to be quite entertaining.

When asking Pietro on why having such a childish film on his device, he said it was one of the handful of films he still enjoys to this day. Bringing back to a time when there were no problems in his family's life. No wars, no struggles, just peace and happiness.

Turns out he was a bigger softy then he appeared to be.

_-Scene Cut-_

"Any possible idea where the others might be? I'm all ears."

"I would tell you if I had any." Natasha admitted, scrolling through the galactic map. "All we know is that everyone's arrival was at random locations while primarily separated. Luckily for some of you, you lot stayed together on Naboo and worked from there."

"You possibly found any patterns?"

Nat merely gave him a knowing look, making him move on.

"Then got any ideas on how to contact Earth?"

"Pulling up every schematic I have at the top of my head from SHIELD. And nothing I have could be good enough to send a strong signal. And that's on top of not knowing how exactly far away we are from home as it could take years for a message to be received before delivered back."

"Maybe I could get in touch with some of the engineers. They could maybe help improve the schematics."

"What do you have in mind?"

"From what I was told by some of the Clone Troopers, The Galactic Republic's communication systems span across most of the known galaxy even into the Separatist territories with a few exceptions like the Outer Rim and Wild Space. Maybe… ah, I don't know. I'm just throwing a hail Mary honestly. Maybe we could broadcast from those areas, send it out all at once."

"And what? Hope that someone that we know picks up on it?"

"It's a hail Mary." Sam shrugged. "I'm just spit balling honestly. We're in another Galaxy and for all we know, it's far as hell from our own galaxy. Then again, all galaxies are light years apart by default."

"Or we could be in our… No, if we were, I think we would have been able to discover all this flying around." Nat muttered to herself.

"So we're basically in a stalemate on our situation." Sam grunted in frustration.

Nat only sighed in slight defeat. "More or less. So Steve's told me about everything you guys have been pretty busy."

"You could say that again." Sam mused. "Been one complicated ride. All its ups and downs, left and right."

"And these… Clones." Nat said, unsure of how to regard them. "What are they like?"

"Damn good soldiers, that much I can tell ya." Sam said. "Most are practically fearless and they rush right into battle."

"Where'd they even come from? This Republic always had an army like this one?"

Sam shook his head. "Nada. From what some of our Jedi friends told us, they were born and bred in this world called Kamino."

Nat quirked her brow at Sam's troubled expression.

"But~?"

Sam sighed. "But there's something… _off_ about the Clones and this whole army for that matter."

"What do you mean?"

"When Steve, Scott and I first got here and then Rhodey joined us a bit after we all went into learning as much as we could about this galaxy." Sam elaborated. "Anything and everything that might help us get home and get a better grasp of our situation. Rhodey then found something in the public archives that was contradictory."

"This Republic hasn't had a proper army in the past thousand years after something called the Ruusan reformation. The Republic army was basically disbanded and there was the Judicial Force to replace them. Everything else was merely small armies from respective worlds and systems."

"A thousand years without an army?" Nat said in bewilderment. "That… feels impossible."

"Yeah but get this." Sam narrowed his eyes. "Before the war started, the Chancellor called for the remaking of the Grand Army of the Republic. And less than a few days later on this other planet called Geonosis, this Clone army appears."

Nat frowned. "Did people really know ahead of time or…"

"They just showed up out of the blue with only a handful of people actually knowing ahead of time." Sam then explained. "Kenobi went to Kamino for an investigation and found the Clone Army being trained without anyone knowing about them. And later, Yoda went to retrieve them for the Invasion on Geonosis, thus the Clone War began."

Now Natasha found this intriguing and slightly disturbing. Being the Black Widow for most of her life, she has served the KGB, SHIELD and the greater world interest at large. Her job was essentially to know most everything that would assist in better safeguarding the world. And say what you will about this being a galaxy, but an _entire_ army was bred and they just popped out when they needed them most? That's to a point of beyond having suspicions.

"Seems _too_ convenient, if you ask me."

"Right?"

"And nobody ever bothered looking more into it?"

"Apparently not. Either too busy with this war or never bothered."

Nat found her mind going at a thousand miles a minute.

"Great, not even a few days and we're already getting thrown into another conspiracy. These Sith guys in hiding and these Clones and their origin." Nat grumbled. "Feels like HYDRA all over again."

Sam groaned. "Don't remind me."

Nat only laughed.

"Real question is, what is it for them after this war?"

Nat looked to Sam. "What do you mean?"

"They were bred for war and nothing else. What would happen to them once this is all over?"

"I… I honestly don't know."

"With what amount of there is left, it'll be hard to give them all new lives for them to accept. Some would want to still be in the military, for instance, but…"

"Yeah, I get ya."

The two fell into silence for a brief moment.

"We still need to find Wanda and Viz." Nat said.

"Yeah, and now there's also these two other guys." Sam said. "What'd that Spider kid call them? He said one of them was a blind lawyer named Murdock and the other, I can't believe it honestly is apparently the prince of Wakanda, T'challa."

"Guess things back home have been getting interesting that royalty got involved with the Avengers' newest recruits."

"Tony must have been desperate to have that kid join up."

"Maybe or maybe not." Nat shrugged. "Shell head doesn't do things like that without good reason.

"Yeah… still we have double the amount of enhanced now." Sam said, leaning on the table that still displayed the holographic map of the galaxy. "They could be anywhere for all we know."

_-Scene Cut-_

Scott hummed to himself, welding several wires back together from his utility belt for his suit making sure it was holding together properly.

"Have to still admit their periodic table is all kinds of weird." Hope said from her personal desk, looking over the litany of elements that would not "normally" be found on Earth.

"What do you expect with ours different from theirs."

"On top of having more."

"I have managed to find several that correlate similarities with elements back home, comrades."

"Thanks Tap." Rhodey said.

"There are several metals, comrades that I have found may be useful in integrating into your own equipment."

"Like what?"

"When reviewing some of the teams encounters with individuals like Grievous and Asajj Ventress, their lightsabers would prove to be extremely deadly if used directly against your own suits and limbs."

"Really?" Rhodey said in faux surprise. "Yeah, that would be bad considering we've seen Anakin and Obi-wan slice through those droids like they were butter."

"Luckily, Steve's shield was able to withstand them with no damage on it at all."

"But not all of us have Vibranium." Hope stated.

"So unless we wanna melt down his shield and use it on our armor, then we need to find something else of equivalent value."

"So what have ya found, Tap?" Inquired the Wasp.

Tap made several screens appear with the trio gathering around them.

"The first one you see here is called Cortosis metal." Tap explained, the first screen being highlighted. "From what I have been able to find, it is brittle but fibrous and conductive. It can short out Lightsabers apparently and if integrated properly into the suit, help resist blaster fire."

"Cool." Scott hummed.

"Right. What's the next one?"

"The next is an alloy called Beskar. Like Cortosis, it is very resistant to blaster fire from all sorts of ranges. Even a standard execution shot to the head can one survive if one wears a helmet of the alloy. Lightsaber strikes are also repelled as well."

"And where can we find some of these Metals?" Hope inquired.

Tap brought up a display of the mapped-out galaxy, highlighting specific areas for the Cortosis metal.

"Cortosis is found on several dozen worlds scattered throughout the galaxy and it is harvested constantly in order to retrofit ships, tanks and other vehicles especially in this wartime."

The galaxy then zoomed in on one system in particular with only two planets being highlighted.

"If you try to get the Beskar alloy from Mandalore, you'll have trouble acquiring it."

"Any reason why?"

"From what I have been able to download through the Holo-net, due to the civil war that happened on the Mandalorian home system, the alloy has become restricted under the decree of their current ruler, The Duchess Satine. Stating the alloy is part of their violent past and must be expunged. There are only two planets where one can obtain Beskar. Their moon, Concordia and the planet Mandalore itself."

"Then how do we get these Metals?" Rhodey asked, crossing her arms in thought. "That Beskar seems a bit difficult."

"So either we go through the black market to find it or have to go to the source directly and pull off a Mission Impossible or an Ocean's heist." Scott muttered out, earning eye rolls from the others.

"I believe purchase of Cortosis is viable." Tap said.

"What? How?" Scott asked in surprise.

"We have amassed a substantial sum in recent days with the spread and copyrights of Billiards and now Queen."

"I can't believe that's how we're getting paid with Billiards and Queen." Rhodey said dryly.

"Queen is a godsend and you know it, Rhodey." Scott said, wagging his finger at the colonel. "Besides, this is only Queen. Let's see how the galaxy reacts when they hear the rest of our music playlists."

Rhodey hummed in thought, considering having his own taste in music spread across the galaxy. That would be a smug little tidbit he could have against his best friend, him being the man who brought Jazz, Rock and Roll and R & B to an entire galaxy. The idea felt a bit too good to pass up.

"And what of the simulations, Tap?" Hope inquired.

"Results show the following elements will work well with your arsenal."

Looking down the list, some of them nodded and digested the bit of information.

"It'll take a bit to figure out the right ratios to make our weapons and gadgets function properly. Don't want to suddenly cause interference while out on the field."

"That's what hands-on testing is for. Simulations can only go so far."

"Tony did that with his first few armors and he's stuck with that method ever since." Rhodey stated. "No doubt had that Parker kid do all his testing with his suit… while on the field."

"That must've been fun for him." Scott added in. "Alright, Tap, set things up so we can make the purchases of the following, please."

"Most certainly, comrade Lang."

_-Scene Cut-_

Peter hung casually in a hammock in between two pillars within the great library of the Jedi temple, casually reading up on the intricacies of a how to pilot and repair a Starfighter.

With him was a small notebook, jotting down equations and schematics in order to keep himself busy. With all these new forms of technology around him, ideas started rolling through his head like no tomorrow. He had been keeping himself busy in learning everything that he could about this galaxy, one of which was finding chemicals that would be able to make him more web formula.

He was so deep in thought he didn't hear two sets of footsteps stop near him.

"Ahem"

Blinking, Peter glanced down below him to see Ahsoka Tano and Barriss Offee looking up at him, the former of which had an amused smirk on her face.

"That looks… comfortable."

"Sure is." Peter said, idly swinging around.

"Uh huh."

"I could make you one, if you want." He suggested. "You two look like you need it."

"Maybe another time."

"Wouldn't the webbing stick to our clothes?" Barriss asked.

"Not always. I could moderate them in a way so you can just get on no problem."

"How long would it last?" Ahsoka asked, reaching up to give an experimental tug on the webbing. "You did say those dissolve after an hour and I don't want to just drop suddenly."

"I could figure a way to adjust it." Peter said, jumping down to them. In doing so, he forgot about his notebook that rested on his chest. It fell, though Barriss reacted quickly and snatched it out of the air.

"Thanks." Peter said appreciatively.

Barriss stared at the Web-head intently for a moment. "Is everything alright, Peter?"

"Huh?"

"You seem awfully busy." Barriss noted as she looked through the notebook's pages. "Very busy, indeed."

"What does that have to do with anything?"

Barriss closed her eyes, concentrating momentarily. "You seem… troubled. No, worried. There is something that weighs on your mind, Peter. A feeling of…"

Barriss looked directly at the Wall-crawler who was rather perturbed by Barriss's forwardness in what he felt like a psychoanalysis of his mind.

"Guilt." She finished.

Ahsoka looked between Barriss and Peter, the latter of whom gaped a bit.

"What she means to say is…" Ahsoka intervened. "Is that, well, she can sense that you are troubled by something. You've been here for a few days now and since we've been seeing you often, she's picked up on it."

"Yes, that's correct." Barriss confirmed. "Is something wrong Peter? Does it have to do with us? The Temple?"

Peter frantically waved her off.

"No, no, none of that." Peter stated. "I really appreciate you guys."

"Then what is it?" Ahsoka asked curiously.

Peter hesitated for a moment.

"I'm just… homesick. More importantly, I'm worried for my aunt, May."

"Your Aunt?"

"Yeah." Peter said wistfully. "I'm all she has left. And last I checked, she had no idea I'm well, Spider-man. And now… I don't even know how I got here and have no means of contacting her."

Peter could barely contain his somber face. "She must be worried out of her mind right now. And I'm the reason why. Not like she had enough to worry about as is."

Both Jedi Padawans looked at one another, not exactly sure of how to respond to this.

Though luckily, an alternative came in the form of a native Earther placing a friendly hand upon Peter's shoulder.

"Peter." Captain Rogers stated, looking down at his fellow New Yorker.

Peter was momentarily starstruck by being in such close proximity to one of his idols again but he was getting used to it.

"Hey Cap." Parker said cheerfully. "What are you doing here? Need me for something?"

"Not really." Steve shook his head. "I was just looking for ya, just wanted to see how you were doing. Ahsoka, Barriss, glad to see the two of you."

"Captain Rogers." Barriss said respectfully, inclining her head slightly.

"Heya Cap." Ahsoka said much more casually.

"How are you two?" Steve asked. "Been keeping up with your Jedi training?"

"Yup." Ahsoka said proudly. "Just you wait, Cap. We'll be Jedi Knights before you know it."

"We will make both our master's and the order proud." Barriss said determinedly.

"Well, Luminara and Anakin can sleep well then if that's the case." Steve said good naturedly, turning to Peter.

"So you're from Queens, right?"

"Yes?"

"Brooklyn."

"...Oh… Yeah, that's right. You know there's a mural of you in your old hometown?"

"There is? Huh, I didn't know that."

Ahsoka and Barriss looked at the two Earthers before sharing a curious glance with each other.

"Is there something going on?" Barriss inquired.

"Not much, just that he's from Brooklyn and I'm from Queens."

"...Meaning?"

"It's… a New York type of thing where we're from back home." Steve explained.

"Yeah, most New Yorkers stick together through thick and thin." Peter declared.

Ahsoka and Barriss shared a look, shrugging as they really couldn't quite understand but whatever it was it seemed important enough for the two of them.

"So, what's this about a mural back home?"

For the next several minutes, the four held a small conversation regarding Steve's past as well as Peter's upbringing with him talking about how much he had learned about history with Cap's actions being clear and present throughout most of them. The air seemed pleasant enough, getting to know one another better, when...

"Been meaning to ask, but how long have you two been at the temple?" Peter inquired.

"As far as I can remember." Came Barriss' response.

"Like three years old, if I'm correct." Was Ahsoka's answer.

Peter and Steve stared, unsure of how to respond.

"Like, your parents and families have always been here or…?" Peter left his question unanswered.

"I was an orphan." Ahsoka admitted. "Never knew who my parents were. Master Plo Koon found me and brought me here and learned to become a Jedi when I was old enough to start training. If he hadn't, I would have been a slave."

That… certainly darkened Steve's mood at the thought of Ahsoka being a slave.

"And you Barriss?"

"Like I said, as far as I can remember." Barriss adopted a thinking pose, pondering.

"You've been a Jedi your entire life?" Peter asked, earning nods from the two padawans.

"What do you mean by "when you were brought here"?" Steve cut in. "Did your parents bring you in?"

Barriss shook her head. "No, the Jedi found me and discovered my strong connection to the Force. I was brought shortly after to begin my life here in the temple."

"But did your parents have anything to say about it?"

"Can't remember, sorry. I never knew my parents. My life has been here, in the temple and to the order."

To say that the two Earthers were rather disturbed by this piece of news was a bit of an understatement.

Steve Rogers has been here for nearly a few weeks, going onto months now, and out of respect he never truly inquired much about the order and how they conduct themselves save for their responsibilities and such. However…

Learning of Ahsoka and Barriss essentially being Jedi since they were toddlers was a bit unsettling for the WWII veteran.

"Are…" Peter wasn't sure if he should ask this. "Are all Jedi brought to the temple at such a young age?"

Ahsoka could sense how uncomfortable Peter had become on top of Captain Rogers having a more… solemn aura.

"Most of them, yes." Ahsoka said carefully. "There are some exceptions but… most are all either babes or very young children."

The face both New Yorkers shared said it all for the Padawans.

"Right." Steve said, brows furrowed with a slight tinge of anger to his tone. "Ahsoka, Barriss."

"Right." Steve said, brows furrowed with a slight tinge of anger to his tone. "Ahsoka, Barriss."

With that, Cap walked off with a purpose in his steps leaving the three teens in a bit of an awkward air.

Peter watched as Steve went off to who knows where, leaving him in a slightly uncomfortable situation.

He had learned a rather unpleasant truth to the Jedi Order though he didn't want to jump to conclusions. Peter had only been here for several days at most so really; he wasn't one to judge on a situation he knew next to nothing about.

As Steve left their line of sight, Ahsoka decided to bring up another topic. One that she hoped could lift up Peter's spirits.

"Say… you ever plan on flying a ship?"

This perked up Parker's interests, all too eager on moving on from the tense discussion from before.

"Most of you Avengers have been needing to get more in touch with our vehicles in order to properly live here. And since you just got here, you haven't flown any ships, have you?"

"Nope." Peter shook his head.

Seeing where her friend was going with this, Barriss picked up from there.

"Follow us." Barriss gestured. "We know just where to start."

"And where, pray tell, is that exactly?"

"Where most of us start learning how to fly, the simulators."

_-Scene Cut-_

Steve had walked off from the teens, a storm brewing in his mind as he continually thought upon the revelation that the Jedi have been taking babies and young toddlers from their homes and bringing them here. What was that about? Where did this even begin?

Better yet, why in God's name would they do something like this? It almost sounds like indoctrination. Almost.

He had to get to the bottom of this.

Rounding a corner, Steve went from one trio to another.

Down the hall he saw Obi-wan Kenobi, Aayla Secura and T'ra Saa all conversing with one.

Though he didn't want to do this, if he were being honest with himself, Steve steeled himself and walked forward.

"Here we go." Steve murmured under his breath.

As he drew closer, the Twi'lek Knight saw his approach.

"Captain Rogers." Aayla said with a friendly smile.

Steve gave her a shaky smile, nodding to T'ra and Kenobi as they both greeted him.

"Everything alright, Steve?" Obi-wan asked. "You seem… troubled."

Steve looked between the three of them, hesitating slightly.

"Mind answering me something?"

Seeing the emotions being worn on him, they could tell something unpleasant was going on inside his head right now.

"Of course." T'ra said. "What's on your mind?"

"Look, I don't want to come across as rude." Steve started out. "But there's something that I recently found out and… I'd rather hear about this matter from more old and experienced members of this order."

Now they were more confused but remained silent, allowing Steve to go on.

"Did… did any of you ever know about your parents or were you all brought here to the Jedi Order when you were all just babies; kids even?"

The Jedi were silently stunned by this sudden question.

"...What brought this on?" T'ra inquired softly.

"Just answer me, please."

Exchanging looks with one another, Kenobi relented and answered for them.

"Yes." Obi-wan said a bit warily. "All three of us were brought to the Jedi order when we were very young."

Steve tensed up; eyes sharp as he looked straight at the bearded Jedi Master.

"Why?" Steve questioned quietly. "Was it an unfortunate circumstance? Orphaned? Slaves? What was it that brought you to the Order?"

"Why are you asking this, Captain Rogers?" Aayla asked, her voice low.

"I just want to understand." Steve stated. "Though, I'm finding a hard time doing so."

"Please know, we understand if this is a matter you find… sensitive." Kenobi said.

"Sensitive would be putting it mildly." Steve said sharply. "Where I'm from, taking kids away from their parents, keeping them away from them and never knowing about them is highly offensive and controversial. I would think _Keepers of the Peace_ wouldn't stoop to something like this."

"It is not that simple, Steve." Aayla said firmly. "It is a complicated matter and the Jedi Order does it within reason."

"The Order does not simply take children from their families so suddenly and without knowledge of the matter." T'ra said calmly. "I know you may not enjoy this answer, Captain Rogers, but the reason why we recruit so young has to do with the emotional state of those who are older."

This threw Steve off. "What do you mean?"

"To be a Jedi, is to serve your duty to the Force and to the Republic." Obi-wan stated, sounding as if he were recalling an old text. "In this duty, one must not hold attachments to closely to oneself lest you be threatened to be consumed by it."

"If you need some clarity, allow me to tell you the mantra of the Order." Aayla proceeded to recite the Jedi Code. "There is no emotion, there is Peace. There is no Ignorance, there is knowledge. There is no Passion, There is serenity. There is no Chaos, there is Harmony. There is no Death, There is the Force."

Steve stared at Aayla, processing what she had said but really all he heard was the first line.

"There is no Emotion?" Steve repeated. "How can anyone believe that? Are you telling me that you're all emotionless husks? Just… droids?"

Now, this certainly was _not_ what these three Jedi were expecting today.

Above all else, this was a side of Steve they were unaware of. He always came across as an amicable, pleasant and extremely friendly individual. He wasn't naive so to speak, just showed that he is humble enough that there is still much to learn. However, when thinking about it, Steve Rogers displayed a sense of moral and ethical righteousness and conduct when going about his business both during a mission and when simply spending time with others.

"Steve." Obi-wan said carefully. "The Order is restrictive in this regard due to the danger of attachments and emotions. They can be an unpredictable and uncontrollable force unto themselves that can and has led many Jedi to the Dark Side."

"It is something that has been in place for many centuries." Aayla added. "The Jedi remained detached in order to go about protecting others while having no attachment."

"Do you guys honestly believe that?" Steve asked.

T'ra sighed, being silent for the most part. "Master Kenobi, Aayla. Would you please allow me to speak with Captain Rogers? I believe I can best speak with him on this matter."

"Are you sure, Master Saa?" Aayla asked in concern looking between Steve and T'ra. She sensed the conflicting emotions radiating off of Captain Rogers and wished to do something about it but her thoughts were cut off when the Neti Jedi Master placed an assuring hand upon her shoulder.

"Trust in me, Aayla." T'ra said with a small smile. "I believe I can best assist Steve in understanding the Order. After all, I am a few good centuries older than all of you. Who better than someone who's been alive for that long?"

While Aayla wanted to protest, the lighthearted tone Master Saa gave off alleviated some of her worries. Kind of like how she had done in the past when she was just a youngling in the order.

"We shall leave it to you, Master Saa." Aayla said with a bow, Obi-wan doing the same. The Twi'lek shot the Super-soldier one final look, opening her mouth to say something though closed it figuring now may not be the best time. She simply nodded her head in goodbye with Obi-wan walking alongside her as she left the two.

As soon as they were out earshot, T'ra exhaled tiredly giving Rogers a sympathetic look.

"I'm sorry you had to find out this way." T'ra stated. "If I were to be honest with you, Captain Rogers, I share a great many deal of criticisms towards the Jedi code and rules myself."

Steve blinked, completely caught off guard by such an open admittance from one who always appeared so calm and exuded a serene aura.

"Walk with me, Steve." T'ra said, placing a friendly hand upon his shoulder. "I believe I should tell you a bit more about myself if you are to understand the Jedi Order a bit better."

_-Scene Cut-_

Anakin Skywalker in all honesty was ready for another break.

Their latest mission was… unique… to say the least.

Coming back from Malastare with the treaty was really hard, given the many setbacks.

It was simple enough at first, using this new EMP bomb on the Separatist army. And with them out of the way, the Republic will get their fuel reserves from the Dugs in order to help their ships.

Everything was good… until the aftermath.

In the battlefield in front of the palace, a very large sinkhole was formed due to the bomb. When checking the site in order to retrieve any survivors, they ended up uncovering… and awakening something long thought to be extinct: the Zillo Beast.

A gargantuan serpent-like creature with a lengthy whip-like tail at 97 meters tall. It's hide-like scales were so hard and thick, neither blaster fire and even lightsabers could cut through it.

To the Dugs, they slaughtered just about every one of them generations ago in order to survive. Yet one survived and started attacking once it was unearthed. Because of this, the treaty would not get signed until the beast was killed.

Yet the Jedi -mainly Mace- wanted to preserve the creature in some remote world in the Outer Rim. Sionver Boll, the one who created the EMP bomb, wanted to study the creature due to their weapons not penetrating through the scales. It would be beneficial on the research as it would vastly improve their body armor and ship armor for the war effort.

After some planning, the Republic decided to merely stun the Zillo beast in order to make it appear to have died in the fight. In reality, it would be heavily sedated. They would get their treaty and fuel while also having the beast studied at some remote research facility.

When the Zillo beast was finally knocked out, both Mace and Anakin learned the research facility was going to be located… on Coruscant… of all places.

To say that Windu was not pleased would be a bit of an understatement. Anakin himself agreed with him. Just getting that thing to slow down and get knocked out was a trial in itself. Now they were bringing the large creature here? He hoped the Chancellor knew what he was doing.

Right now though, he had just gotten back and had been called upon by his former master to meet him at the Senate building.

Walking through the building with R2 by his side, he saw his master up ahead along with some unexpected but pleasant company.

R2 rolled ahead and greeted his old friend.

"Oh hello." C3P0 said jovially. "You're not in trouble again, are you R2?"

R2 let out a few chirps and whistles in response.

"I am not being rude, just expecting the usual with you."

Anakin smirked slightly at the interaction before looking at his secret wife.

"Not that it isn't a pleasure, Senator, but I thought I was just meeting Obi-wan here." Anakin said.

"Master Kenobi explained the problem." Padme stated. "I'm here to help."

"Problem?" Anakin grunted. "What problem?"

"The situation from our friend from Malastare." Obi-wan said knowingly.

"Uh-huh." Anakin remarked, the gears quickly coming to an obvious conclusion. "I see what's going on here. You guys are hoping I could speak with the Chancellor on this, don't you?"

"Master Skywalker, the Zillo beast was brought here chained and against its will." Padme stated. "It has no voice to defend itself. We must be that voice."

Anakin only chuckled dryly. "You haven't seen it in action. You have no idea what it's capable of."

"What's what capable of?"

The group turned to see Pietro approaching them with one Senator Riyo Chuchi by his side.

"Pietro?" Anakin said in surprise. "What are you doing here?"

"Just spending some time with Riyo." Pietro said simply, gesturing his head to the Pontaron Senator who flushed at the scrutinizing and amused stare she had received by her mentor Padme.

"What's up?" Pietro asked. "You guys look serious 'bout something. Is it political?"

"We're in the Senate building, Pietro." Anakin said in dry humor. "Everything under this roof is political."

"True." Pietro agreed with a shrug.

"But what is the matter?" Riyo asked. "I overheard you were speaking on meeting with the Chancellor."

"It concerns what Anakin and Master Windu returned with from their mission on Malastare." Obi-wan answered. "An ancient creature that may be the last of its kind."

"A creature that may be the last of its kind?" Riyo murmured in intrigue.

"Not only that, but it was brought here against its will."

"Man… the animal rights activists are gonna have a field day on this one." Pietro couldn't help but joke.

"The Zillo beast may be facing death if we do not make Chancellor Palpatine reconsider his actions in killing it and harvesting its plated skin." Padme said with conviction.

"Zillo beast?" Pietro muttered. "What, like Godzilla?"

"Godzilla?"

"Nothing, nothing, Earth thing." Pietro waved off. "You were saying?"

"We have to convince the Chancellor to release the Zillo beast." Padme said, now looking to Anakin. "Please, Master Skywalker."

Anakin gave her a look, relenting several moments later. "I did not think you would feel so strongly about such a matter. Alright, we'll go talk with the Chancellor."

"And I am gonna get a bite to eat." Pietro declared. "Chuchi, wanna come? My treat."

"After all the snacks from those films we watched?"

"I have a fast eating metabolism, remember?"

The Pantoran shook her head a little. "Alright. Just because you're treating me, Pietro."

The Sokovian smiled as the two departed side by side together.

"Well those two seem quite chummy." Anakin noted.

"I think it's rather sweet." Padme added in. "I don't see Riyo going out all that much anymore. I'm glad she's at least enjoying herself more often now."

Before leaving to see the Chancellor, with Padme going on ahead, Anakin stopped Obi-wan for a brief moment.

"Obi-wan, is everything alright?"

"What?"

"You seem a bit distracted by something else." Anakin noted. "Anything wrong?"

Obi-wan didn't answer at first before grimacing slightly. "I… had a rather uncomfortable confrontation and conversation with Captain Rogers not too long ago."

Anakin was slightly put off by the revelation of Steve being the source of Obi-wan's rather somber mood.

"What happened?" He asked.

"It's difficult to explain." Kenobi plainly stated. "One that would take up unnecessary time right now. You must go with Senator Amidala, get this Zillo beast business sorted out. We shall talk later."

Anakin now wanted to know just what had transpired but he saw Padme waiting for him out of the corner of his eye. So he had to put a pin on this and return his attention to his current task.

Padme and Anakin arrived in Palpatine's office a short while later, with the Chancellor being pleasant and cordial as he had always been when seeing two of his favorite individuals on Coruscant as he liked to say.

Padme cut right to the chase, speaking on having the Zillo beast be released rather than be put to death. The extinction of one species was not something the Republic should stand for, regardless of the circumstance.

While the Chancellor agreed with the Naboo Senators sentiment, he remained adamant, telling her that the war that rages on will only to claim more lives. His responsibility was to those who put him in power and for him to find a way to end the war as swiftly and quickly as possible. This opportunity to create impenetrable armor that would shift the tide of war was too good of a chance to pass up.

Anakin played for both sides, trying to remain neutral in this. While he would side with his Wife in a heartbeat, Palpatine made some very convincing pointers. He had constantly hated seeing so many of his men die in battle and having armor that basically ensured their survival was just not something to be dismissed out of hand.

Meanwhile, as the discussion for the fate of a species went on, one Peter Parker was getting his first set of flying lessons from Ahsoka and Barriss.

"So when you wanna adjust your speed, it's really a flick of the ignition here and adjust the thruster right… about… now." Ahsoka said.

The flying car leveled itself out and cruised at a comfortable speed in between the many other ships in the air in what was basically a highway in the sky.

Peter looked at all of this in complete awe and wonder. Now that he had the time to, it was rather unbelievable to think he was in an alien world that was basically one gigantic interconnected city. And this was only Coruscant.

As much as he kinda hated himself for him not wanting to go home straight away, Peter couldn't deny his tantalizing want in going out and seeing other planets now that it was a literal viable option.

With the short discussions he's had with the Avengers, they spoke of the many worlds they had all gone to in their short time here.

The inner nerd in him was just hyperventilating at the chance to go see worlds unseen by humankind on Earth. Go full Trekky and boldly go where no man has gone before. Though he was pretty sure pulling off a Captain Kirk wasn't within his skillset. He certainly wasn't a ladies man like he was.

Then again being in a space car with two very pretty alien girls around his age would say otherwise. He wasn't blind of course; Parker was still a young growing teenager with hormones. The advent of his Spider-powers at times enhanced it. But all those hormones and attractions have been firmly put on the back burner because, reasons.

Reasons being that he's in space in a Galaxy Far, Far Away. Focusing on getting home was rather top of the list right now.

Didn't mean he couldn't enjoy himself with the smaller things.

"You know, when I get home, I am gonna rub this in Ned's face for weeks." Peter said excitedly, pulling his mask on and recording everything he saw. Turns out there was a video recording function on his suit he didn't know about that recorded just about everything he had done. He had found out about this feature by accident when he was tinkering with his suit a day or two before arriving here.

He didn't want to miss a thing.

As they continued to fly around through the Coruscant skyline, Barriss recalled a certain display that Peter had shown when rescuing her friend from being dropped by Cad Bane.

"Peter." She spoke up. "Forgive me if I sound rude, but I am curious as I never got to ask. How is it that you are able to move as gracefully and swiftly as you do? …How did you even get these powers of yours?"

Peter was a bit surprised by the question but was curious. "Why do you wanna know?"

"Curiosity." Barriss admitted. "And if I recall correctly, we spoke of a small agreement of an "exchange program". We teach you and you teach us."

Taking a moment to process what she had just said, Peter found himself chuckling along with Ahsoka while taking off his mask.

"Well, unlike you guys with the whole chosen by the Force thingy my powers were more of an accident."

"An accident?" Ahsoka repeated in bewilderment. "How does that happen?"

"A school field trip, me wandering off and getting a genetically altered spider to bite my hand." Peter listed off wistfully. "It's a bit of a long story that's also kinda short."

"That made no sense." Ahsoka dryly said. "Like at all."

"Trust me, I tend not to think about it otherwise I'd get a headache."

"And what of the webbing?" Barriss asked. "You said you made it, correct?"

"Yeah. Took me some practice but I…" Peter's abruptly stopped, his head tilting down.

This didn't go unnoticed by the two.

"Peter?" Ahsoka looked to him as he held a look of concentration.

Barriss followed up with her own question. "Is everything alright?"

Squinting momentarily, Peter looked off to the cityscape.

"Do you guys…"

Peter was interrupted in a rather shocking manner.

" _ **RWAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!"**_

An unidentifiable roar reverberated from the city followed by the sounds of terrified screams, blaring alarms and crumbling infrastructure.

The trio sat up sharply as they caught sight of some gigantic creature plowing through bridges and swatting aside any and all ships in its way.

"Oh god!" Peter cried out, instantly slipping on his mask and discarded the clothes he had on to reveal him still wearing his suit beneath them.

Ahsoka immediately sensed Peter's intentions. "PETER WAIT!"

It was all for naught as the web-head jumped out and angled himself head first, vertically plummeting down towards the chaos.

His enhanced eyes widened upon seeing two people falling to their deaths.

Firing two web-lines, with a quick pull he launched himself with an increase of speed as he drew near the two who were yelling in absolute terror.

Reaching out with his arms, he shot off two more lines and reeled them in and quick succession fired another line and swung them to safety.

Landing, he made sure both were alright, checking them over.

"You two ok? Are you hu-"

_***GROOOAAAAAARRR*** _

Peter whipped around in time to see the source of the pandemonium, his eye lenses widening in shock.

It was some kind of giant, gargantuan serpentine-like monster that had plated armor all over its body, four legs and an additional fifth limb on its back.

Spider-man was frozen in both fear and shock though it didn't last as he saw the chaos and destruction it was causing making him shake his head rapidly, slapping his cheeks.

Turning back to the two civilians he had just saved, he told them to run and find safety before facing the rampaging monster.

"Oh man, how do I stop that Godzilla knock off?" Peter asked himself panickingly.

As he asked himself that question, an LAAT gunship that had attempted in engaging the giant monster was swatted aside and crashed down to the ground.

"Ah screw it." Peter felt his heart rate and adrenaline skyrocket. "Don't think, Peter just do."

With a sprint, Spider-man jumped into the skies and fired a web line to pursue after the giant beast.

But he wasn't stupid in facing it alone.

Tapping on his comms to send out an open broadcast, he frantically called out to anyone that would respond.

"Hello? Hello? Anyone? Is anyone there? Cap? Black Widow? Falcon? Uh, Jedi guys? Clone Troopers? Anyone? We've got a big, _**big**_ problem down here!"

The giant monster roared aloud, slamming through a bridge walkway with more people falling.

"Dammit, Dammit, Dammit!" Peter brainstorming how he could possibly catch all those falling people. He desperately looked through his suit functions and found what he hoped could work.

"Web grenade?" Peter repeated, already running and swinging towards the falling people. "I'll work with it."

"Web grenade?" Peter repeated, already running and swinging towards the falling people. "I'll work with it."

He made several web spheres and tossed them while firing multiple web-lines that connected together. The Web Grenades then burst, giant web nets forming that manage to catch practically everyone save for one unfortunate child that Peter was making a beeline for.

The kid was a young Duros that he caught up to and snatched out of the air.

"I got ya kid." Peter assured, swinging back up to the giant web net.

Many on the webbing were bewildered and shaken by where they were now after suddenly falling from the bridge.

Spider-man arrived and stood upon the webbing with ease.

A female and male Duros couple cried out in adulation upon seeing that their child was safe with Peter carefully maneuvering on the web and handing the kid back to his parents.

"Peter!"

The teen Superhero looked up to see Ahsoka and Barriss descending down within the speeder followed by several LAAT Gunships.

The doors of the gunships opened up with Clone Troopers kneeling down as they hovered over the civilians and began pulling them up to the ships.

"That was beyond reckless." Ahsoka immediately admonished, making Peter jolt. "What were you thinking? Even my master isn't that… well, ok maybe he is."

Before Peter could think of a response, the distant roar of the giant beast echoed up ahead.

"Uh, could we put a pin on that and stop that thing?"

"Agreed." Barriss said, holding up her wrist communicator. "This is Padawan Offee, does anyone copy. Over. Master Luminara? Master Skywalker? Anyone?"

A familiar voice responded. "This is Obi-wan Kenobi. Barriss? What's going on? There are alarms blaring all throughout the city."

"Master Kenobi, I am here with Ahsoka and Peter Parker. We're in pursuit of a giant creature of some kind that's terrorizing the city. What should we do?"

Obi-wan let out a disgruntled sigh. "The Zillo Beast… Keep your distance but make sure to keep its attention on you. See if you could lure it away from populated areas."

"Hey, guys!"

"What Peter?"

"That thing is heading straight towards the Senate Building."

Looking over, they saw the gargantuan beast was indeed heading over there. For whatever reason, they will never know.

"C'mon! We need to go after that thing!" Yelled the arachnid themed hero.

"You heard the kid!" Called out one of the clones. "Move! Move! Move!"

With everyone onboard, some of the gunships took off into the air.

"So any idea where that thing came from exactly?" Peter asked as they flew after the Zillo Beast that made a beeline straight for the Senate Building.

"I don't know." Ahsoka said in slight dread, watching the Zillo nearly take down another Gunship. "I need to contact Master Skywalker."

Luckily, she didn't have to do it herself.

"Ahsoka!" Anakin's voice rang through her wrist comm. "Ahsoka are you there?"

"Master!" She answered. "I'm here!"

"Glad to hear you're alright, Snips." Said the relieved voice of her mentor. "What's going on? Obi-wan just told me you're flying around the city chasing the Zillo Beast."

"You know what that thing is?"

"Yeah, friend from Malastare. But you still haven't explained just what you're doing out there."

"You can blame Peter for getting us involved, for starters." Barriss said. "And apparently Ahsoka is blaming you for some influence on him, for some reason. Being reckless and whatnot."

"Ah guys, come on." Peter whined. "People were getting hurt or they could have been killed."

Both Padawans wanted to retort though quickly shut their mouths at the mention of lives nearly being lost.

"Good point." Ahsoka said sheepishly.

"Where are you all right now?" Anakin asked.

"En route to the Senate Building, which the Zillo Beast is heading towards right now."

Anakin grumbled. "Of course it is."

"Master?"

"I'm at the Senate building right now with senator Amidala and Chancellor Palpatine." Anakin stated. There were the sounds of roars and rumbles on his end with a momentary inhale of breath.

"And it's looking right at us now."

"We see it." Ahsoka said, having seen the Zillo beast scale the building and stop at one spot in particular.

"You need to get them out of there now!" Peter said as he went towards the gunship door. "We'll hold it off as long as possible!"

"And just how do you intend on doing that?"

"Hey, I'm great at annoying people." Peter declared. "So pissing off a Godzilla rip-off should be a cinch."

Like that, Spidey leaped out of the aircraft before shooting out a web line. Swinging with all his might in order to get towards the gargantuan beast.

"...And now I worry which one is more bothersome: Peter or my Master."

"Snips, you're no ray of sunshine yourself." Anakin chimed in.

Ahsoka only puffed her cheeks out, ignoring the light laugh Barriss let out despite the situation.

Spider-man was swinging ahead at full speed when he noticed a blur out of the corner of his eye.

"Was that?" Peter muttered, narrowing his eyes at what was moving towards the Senate Building. "Hey! Hey Mr. Maximoff! Up here."

The blur screeched to a halt and looked up to see the newest Avenger swing down to him.

"Parker? What are you doing out here?"

"Trying to get that big guys attention. Wait, why are you here?"

"I _was_ on a date but then Godzilla here went and made a huge commotion."

"I knew I wouldn't be the only one to notice."

"Are you two done?"

The voice of Captain America came through their comms making them jump slightly.

"Hey Cap." Pietro said cheerfully. "Where are you?"

"On our way to the Senate building right now. You?"

"Same. I'm with Peter."

"I'm aware."

"Cap, we gotta distract that thing." Peter said, looking ahead at the Zillo beast that was now pounding on the domed building.

"Keep your distance." Steve said. "The rest of us will be there soon. Make sure you get any civilians out of the area."

"We'll try our best, but no promises."

"That's all I ask. Don't want to risk your lives on this."

"Please, this is what we do on a daily basis."

Swinging back up into the air once more, Spider-man swung at full speed, Quicksilver already running ahead.

Inside the Senate building, Anakin was leading Padme, Palpatine, R2 and 3P0 to an escape ship within the building made in case of an emergency. Like this one here.

They had entered the ship and shot out but the Zillo Beast spotted them.

As they tried to fly away, the Zillo Beast proved to be faster than anticipated managing to snag them right in the air.

"Aw come on." Anakin shouted out.

The Zillo held up the ship to its eye when something shot right into it making it cry out, letting the ship go. The pilot repositioned the ship giving the tenants inside time to look out the window and see Spider-man swinging all around the beast with Quicksilver running up its spine.

Around it flew a ship with Barriss and Ahsoka.

Down below, Clones scrambled to get the area secure whilst sending people indoors or away from the Zillo Beast.

Coming from another gunship, Scott, Rhodey, Hope and Sam were on being dropped off nearby.

"Jesus, look at the size of that thing!" Scott said aloud.

"Come on." Sam's wings folded out with him taking to the skies. "They need our help!"

Rhodey's own helmet snapped shut around him, flying alongside Falcon whilst Wasp shrank down and carried Scott with her.

The Zillo beast was chomping at thin air as Spider-man had narrowly avoided its jaw when a greyish-black blur flew by its face, releasing blinding lights right in its eyes.

Letting out cries of anger, its neck twitched and jolted for a moment before it began thrashing about.

"Whoa!" Sam recalled his wings into his pack to avoid the tail before bringing them back out. "Watch out for that tail."

Rhodey, who was firing away at the Zillo did indeed keep an eye on the tail though he did momentarily failed to account for the fifth limb that managed to snag him from the air.

"Hey! Let go of Rhodey, you Godzilla knock off!" Spidey called out.

In an odd moment of a response, the Zillo Beast did just that. By flinging the air pilot away from itself.

"Huh, whaddya know. It did listen to me."

Seeing Rhodey flailing about in the air, Peter went after him. Shooting out a web line, it hit one of War Machine's legs. Yanked along for the ride, Spidey shot out another in a different direction which landed on a passing gunship. Pulling with all his might, Peter was able to get Rhodey away from colliding against the Senate Building which would have damaged his suit.

"Thanks for the save, kid." Responded the War Machine, using his thrusters to re-stabilize himself.

"Anytime."

Disconnecting the web line to the gunship, Peter was dragged along by Rhodey as they went back into the action.

"Getting in a report that gas bombs are en route and it'll neutralize this thing." Rhodey stated. "Problem is, it'll take too long."

"We gotta find another way to distract it." Sam said, flying around the beast from above. "Some kind of diversion. Something big."

"I got something kind of big." Scott stated, Wasp carrying him up high in the air. "We've been working on it for a while but it could give us the time we need."

"Well whatever it is, do it." Steve said, standing with Windu, Kenobi, Aayla, Yoda and Rex from afar as they watched the whole thing transpire.

Closing his eyes, Scott did the adjustments on his wrist device before taking in a rapid succession of breaths.

"You ready, Scott?" Hope asked, nervous herself once they reached an optimal height.

He only silently nodded with her letting go and he fell right above the Zillo beast.

"I'm the boss, I'm the boss, I'm the boss." He repeated to himself. Once stopping, he pressed the button to change his size accordingly.

Everything seemed to slow to a crawl for Scott as everything became… different.

For the onlookers, they saw something quite extraordinary.

And their reactions… well...

"HOLY SHIT!" Peter bellowed out.

"OH MY GOD!"

"OK, TINY DUDE IS BIG NOW! HE'S BIG NOW!"

Scott's gigantic frame crashed down upon the Zillo Beast who roared aloud and they both went falling down to the ground.

The Zillo Beast was then punched in the head with a gigantic fist courtesy of his new opponent.

"OH~HOHOHOHOHOHOHO~!" Scott bellowed out, releasing fits of laughter. "I… AM… GI-ANT-MAN!"

"Way to go Tic-Tac." Sam praised with a beaming grin.

On the ground, Steve blinked several times in surprise. "Well… I think that'll work."

The Jedi and Clones could only gape in complete and utter shock at what they were witnessing.

From his spot, Palpatine's mind practically shut down in utter disbelief. Trying to work around what he just witnessed.

He was so distracted; he didn't see the Zillo Beast almost crushing him on the spot. Luckily for him, Anakin used the Force to pull him away just in time.

"You're safe now, Chancellor."

Palpatine didn't say anything as everything in his very being was utterly focused at the present fight before him.

"You wanna get to them, you gotta get through me."

Seemingly accepting the challenge, the Zillo Beast roared before charging at Gi-ant-man.

As they collided, Scott spoke up on the comms. "Okay so I can only hold this size for about four, maybe five more minutes. If I go beyond this, I'm gonna pass out and I don't wanna do that in the current situation here."

"Just hold it back, Scott." Kenobi called out to him. "The tanks are almost here."

"And the gas bombs are only minutes away."

"Right."

Scott reeled back a fist and swung hard, colliding with the beast's face. It roared aloud in pain and anger, quickly snapping back and butting its head against his chest.

Gi-Ant-Man stumbled back into some oversized piping. He dented the piping with a piece jutting out. Blinking, Scott saw the Zillo Beast charging at him.

Thinking fast, he grabbed the piece that stuck out and pulled out a large chunk of metal that smashed against the Zillo's neck, making it fall and crash down.

"Guys, we gotta think of something." Scott wheezed out, feeling his heartbeat against his chest growing faster. "I've only got three, maybe two minutes left."

The Zillo returned to its feet in a moment, roaring at the Gi-Ant-Man that challenged it so.

Looking at the Zillo Beast's many legs, a lightbulb went on in Spidey's head.

"Guys! I got an idea!"

"We're all ears, kid." Falcon called out, firing a volley of blaster shots at the beast's head.

"We need to tie up those legs." Peter began, hurling his body away from one of its limbs. "And gonna need to trip it so it'll go down."

"Little tricky, but it's something." Captain America said. "Okay, Peter, web up the legs. Sam, help him out on that with your cables. Rhodey, Scott, hit the Zillo Beast in the head."

"You got it!" Chorused the assigned Avengers.

Spider-man and Falcon went low, with the Web-head swinging around both legs and coating them with webbing before creating a long web line.

"Hey Quicksilver." Peter called out to the speedster, tossing him the web line.

Getting the idea, Pietro grinned and zipped around at the Zillo beast rapidly with Peter continuously providing webbing which was reinforced by Sam's cable.

The Zillo Beast began wobbling about, trying to keep a steady footing. It was about to use its arms and extra appendage to stay standing though some powerful object smacked itself hard against the top of its head, rattling it.

It barely got enough time to see the two giant fists swinging up to its face before they collided hard against its chin.

With the Zillo Beast going down, Peter cheered.

"Yes! Man that was awesome!"

His celebration distracted him from the beast's fifth limb, striking Peter when he came too close for comfort.

"PETER!" Ahsoka cried out, her and Barriss rushing towards his flailing body.

"Oh crap." Sam flew down as he too saw the kid get hit hard by the fifth limb.

As they got close, the two Padawans used the Force to help cushion their young friend's fall. Yet he was coming in too fast as he ended up colliding with them. The three tumbled across the building's surface, which Anakin used the Force to help stop them from hitting a broken piece of a gunship.

With them coming to a stop, the three teens let out fits of groans.

"Thanks for the assist, guys." Peter weakly said.

"No… problem." Ahsoka muttered out, feeling her head rattled.

Barriss started to raise herself back up when she felt something against her.

"Peter." Barriss began.

"Yeah?"

"Mind taking your hands off me?"

Pulling up his head, Peter widened his eyes and saw his hands were placed on a _peculiar_ area on Mirialan teen. Quickly retracted his hands, he quickly produced his apologies in rapid succession.

"Sorry, sorry." Peter was so glad his mask was on.

"It's alright." Barriss dusted herself off, offering him a hand though he waved her off stating he needs a moment.

"Are you guys alright?" Sam asked, landing in front of them with Anakin jogging over as well.

"Y-yeah." Peter said tiredly, taking his mask off. "I think… I think I'm done for today."

Collapsing onto the building's surface, Scott eventually pressed the button which regulated his size. Once changing back to his normal size, Hope rushed towards his size just as he popped out his faceplate.

"Scott!" She cried out in utter concern. "C'mon, focus on me. Focus on me."

He didn't say anything at first, only gasping for air as the means to control his rapid heart rate. After several moments, he spoke.

"Does anyone have any fruit slices on hand? I could kill for some right now."

All Hope could do was chuckle a little, hugging her boyfriend in the process.

"Guess we could call this a successful test." Scott said weakly.

"Yeah, if only dad were here to see it." Hope remarked. "He'd have ten criticisms ready."

"Well… that's something you certainly don't see every day."

The two looked up to see Captain America with Kenobi and Secura in tow.

"You always had something like that up your sleeve, Scott?" Steve asked in a humored tone. "Could have used that against Ultimo."

"What? No, no." Scott played off, heaving a tired breath. "That would just be… showing… off."

With those final words, Scott passed out, snoozing against his girlfriend who gave him a fond smile and kiss on the forehead.

Their attention was caught by the sounds of something scraping against metal and a loud growl.

Looking over, they all saw the Zillo Beast trying to get back up. As it did, they saw a good number of gunships zooming straight towards them.

And they had something extra on them.

"Are those-"

"Yeah, I believe so."

Soon a good dozen or so missiles were fired and headed straight towards the Beast. Once colliding, large clouds of green vapors surrounded the creature; even some exploding into its mouth. It screeched and flailed about as the assault continued before it started slowing down considerably.

Everyone on the rooftop had to make a break for it or else they would get caught up in the vapors as well.

As the green cloud got too close, the present Jedi used the Force to push the smoke back so everyone else will be safe from harm.

Eventually, the Zillo Beast collapsed onto the Senate Building with the light leaving its eyes.

"Well... that wasn't depressing at all." Peter muttered as the sounds of the Zillo beast dying rang throughout the area. "Almost reminds me of Peter Jackson's King Kong ending."

"What?" Asked the present Padawans.

"Movie from home."

"We didn't have to do that." Windu said with a grunt of frustration and disappointment. "We were close to incapacitating it."

"The last of a species just died before us." Kenobi said somberly. "As Jedi… this was a great failure of our duty."

The Jedi Master looked over to Steve, catching the man's eyes before turning back to the Zillo that was motionless and remained that way.

All in all…

Not the best ending to the day.

**Alrighty then, the clash so many had wanted has at long last occurred hope we didn't disappoint.**

**Then again, if that wasn't enough for ya. So here's a take two.**

**-Omake-**

With Gi-Ant-Man confronting the Zillo Beast, many looked on in conflicting moods. The fight eventually got out of control and ended up away from the Senate Building. The two large forces attacked each other with many nearby buildings

"The arrogance of man is thinking nature is in their control." Steve muttered out.

"And not the other way around." Obi-Wan added in.

In an odd eerie silence, Peter calmly spoke one thing.

"Let them fight."

The others looked at Peter in an odd way, which ranged from "seriously" to "WTF".

"Shouldn't we try to get them away and…"

"Let them fight." Peter repeated once more.

"Guys, you do realize, people are in dang-"

Gi-Ant-Man began trading fists with the Zillo who fought back.

It was a gargantuan battle of literal epic proportions as they both in their giant frames collided with one another with one hit after another.

"The gas bombs are gonna come in at any moment now, Peter." Sam said. "We need to get these two away from the major areas and back to the Senate Building."

"LET THEM FIGHT!"

It soon dawned on Pietro on what's going on in the youngest Avenger's head right now.

"You… You just wanna see two giants fight, don't you? A Godzilla styled fight?"

Peter slowly looked down onto his feet as one of them brushed against the ground. And in a weak, pouty voice, he spoke. "Let them fight, dammit."

"I'm entertained." Anakin said. "LET THEM FIGHT!"

"Ani!" Padme yelled in disbelief. "You can't be serious!"

"What? Can you blame me, this is pretty cool."

"I cannot believe you right now."

Scott ducked under the swipe of the Zillo's fifth arm and wrapped his arms around it before reeling back and performing a back German suplex to the ground.

"WOOO." Peter and Anakin cheered with a few Clones who were close by, joining in.

**Shit, had it not been for forces beyond my control I would have extended this longer but duty calls and such.**

**Jebest4781: Yeah and think this little bit is good enough and hard to continue from there. Making it longer than it would take away what we did on the earlier joke we did.**

**FMW: So yeah, Ant-man vs Zillo beast happened something you've all been wanting for quite a while now. Along with many other small sub-plots to come.**

**Tensions beginning to rise between Jedi and Avengers now that two of them are aware of the Jedi's restrictive ways and Steve isn't one to just ignore such matters.**

**I'd like to say more but I have other responsibilities to fulfil.**

**Jebest basically helped in churning this one out in less than a day or two, and I'll see you guys on the next chapter or story the two of us cook up**

**Rate Read and Review and As Always Have Nice Day.**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Cover poster to two titanic combatants down here
> 
> https://www.deviantart.com/freemanwriter/art/Zillo-Beast-Vs-Giant-Man-831517946


	26. Holocron Heist

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alright so last chapter was a bit of a doozy in setting up many conflicts to come on top of the Zillo Beast debacle but that's out of the way now. Onto the next arc.
> 
> But before that, a few questions I want to answer in rapid succession.
> 
> Yes Peter's Spider-sense can detect Palpatine's danger though not at this precise moment. It will take a while as Peter is still just grasping his powers. But once he gets better grasp of it all, he will start staying clear of the Chancellor or just staying far away.
> 
> Yes, Scott doesn't get that big in canon though I think he did that in Endgame but I made sure to display the stress and if he got that big again, he'd still pass out after using it, especially after seeing him do it in Ant-man and the Wasp. Also, Zillo Beast is too damn big to be shrunken with the tech that Scott and Hope have. Say it was a building like we saw in Ant-man and the Wasp, the building was retrofitted with Hanks tech to shrink down. This was a living creature.
> 
> Jebest4781: Besides, in canon, Scott only grew to 60 feet.. Compared to the Zillo beast being about 5 times larger. So yeah, just the only one time extent of him growing that tall and knowing the repercussions of going beyond his 60 feet size limit.
> 
> There's also the question of what T'ra Saa said to Steve in private, but here's something you should ask yourselves. Why is it T'ra Saa in particular? Look to the Force, and by the Force I mean the internet and by the internet I mean T'ra's history. There's a reason why it HAS to be her. But it will be revealed soon enough.
> 
> Also, Hulk and Thor are still out there and they'll arrive in the galaxy at a later time and date. For now on their parts, it's canon from what we see and learn from Thor Ragnarok up to a certain point.
> 
> So other than that, let's not dilly dally.

**Rate Read and Review and as Always Have Nice Day.**

Avengers Infinite Wars Chapter 26: Holocron Heist

_***BLAM* *BOOOM*** _

Steve narrowly dodged several explosive blasters bolts sent in his direction, flinging his shield forward at a cluster of Super Battle Droids. After going through and denting the cluster, the shield returned to its owner in time for him to block several blaster bolts.

Overhead, War Machine and Falcon flew around the AT-TE perimeter that the 501st legion and 212th battalion had established in holding back the damn near endless wave of Battle Droids that just kept on coming.

Off to the center front, Obi-wan Kenobi and Anakin Skywalker wielded their lightsabers deflecting every blaster bolt fired at them.

"So, this is what you've been up to?"

"More or less."

Black Widow stayed behind Cap for cover, using her newly acquired DC-17's with great precision and accuracy.

Rex had kindly gifted the Avenger these new pistols as a means of gratitude towards the Avengers for everything they've done for the Clones and Jedi since their arrival here. Something Widow appreciated very much.

If only the circumstances were better to fully appreciate the weapons as they were about to be swarmed by the Droids.

War Machine and Falcon had even had to come down now as too many droids were starting to come upon their position, resulting in a ground game of defense.

The 501st legion and 212th Battalion were slowly being whittled down with the four Avengers and two Jedi having to cover many troopers as to not lose their foothold.

"If we don't get reinforcements or an evac soon, we're gonna get swarmed." Rhodey said aloud, holding out both hands that fired a near endless supply of bullets with his shoulder mounted Machine Gun blasting away at his blind spots.

"Master Plo Koon and his fleet is overhead." Anakin announced. "They're trying to get past the Separatist blockade and come get us out of here."

"Let's hope we'll still be here when that happens." Sam said, utilizing wings as cover for himself and the troopers beside him one of them being Cutup as they fired back at the advancing droids.

Up above the atmosphere of the planet Felucia, the Separatist fleet was engaged with the aforementioned Jedi General Plo Koon and his fleet and legion, the newly rebuilt and revitalized 104th battalion.

Or the Wolffe-pack as it was called.

Plo Koon lead a team of V-19s and LAAT Gunships straight at the Separatist fleet.

"Warthog, protect the gunships." Koon ordered. "I will take out the gunships. The rest of you stay spaced out and focused. Make sure the Gunships make it through."

With a chorus of "yes sir!" from his troops, Plo Koon throttled forward in his ship with his squad right behind him.

They were immediately met with CIS starfighters yet they blew past most of them with the 104th fleet covering their backsides.

The squad lost two V-19s though they pressed on with only several pursuers on their tail.

Meanwhile, Commander Wolffe instructed them to target the left flank taking down a damaged cruiser.

Back down on the ground, the Republic Forces were being backed into a corner as the droids pressed their assault on their position.

The Avengers worked in tandem with the Clones and Jedi in order to stay standing but the amount of spider droids on top of these more durable Super's were proving to be a challenge.

Several times now, Rhodey, Sam and Steve stepped forward as decoys to help in keeping a flank from falling. Anakin and Obi-wan themselves had to run out several times to clear some droids though thankfully, they had some reprieve with the arrival/return of one Quicksilver.

Smashing back several waves, they managed to keep their footing yet with how many droids just kept coming on top of the blaster bolts flying through the air the speedster got struck several times without realizing it.

"Hold on sir, I'll get you patched up." A Clone Trooper by the name of Kix said, quickly bandaging Pietro's left arm that had gotten a particularly nasty hit.

The Sokovian grunted in amusement and frustration. "That's the second time I've gotten shot in this arm. Must have shitty luck."

"Don't tempt a repeat of Sokovia, Pietro." Steve said beside him, tossing his shield before using a DC-15 Blaster Carbine to shoot down several B1s.

"We've got company." Widow yelled out, some looking up at a set of Vulture Droids flying overhead when they were shot down by several V-19s that whizzed by.

"If those were V-19s then that means Master Plo isn't far behind with our transports." Anakin stated.

"Anakin, have you gotten word from Ahsoka?" Obi-wan inquired.

"She hasn't responded since her scout into the jungle." Anakin stated just as LAAT Gunships began descending on their position. Anakin continued deflecting the blaster bolts while holding up his wrist comm. "Ahsoka, come in, where are you?"

Off on her end, Ahsoka Tano backflipped atop the A6 Juggernaut AKA The Clone Turbo Tank to help cover the Clone manning the turret atop the tank.

She wielded her green lightsaber, deflecting back every shot sent her way.

With her was torrent squad with Fives leading the company along with his other Domino squad brother Hevy and Echo.

While she fought on, the voice of her master came through from her comm link. "Ahsoka, come in, where are you?"

"About Six clicks east, Master Skywalker." Ahsoka responded. "We've engaged the enemy and we've got them on the run."

Down below, the Clone Troopers steadily moved forward with them shooting down practically every droid within their sights.

"Hold your position, Ahsoka." Anakin instructed. "Master Plo and his fleet is here to extract us. We're getting out of here."

Ahsoka balked at the information. "What?! Wha- But Master, we've broken through their defenses! I've got them on the run!"

Back over with Anakin, the LAAT Gunships had landed and with the Avengers and Obi-wan covered the evacuation of their troopers.

"Get in the ships, quick." Steve shouted, moving about to make sure no Clone was gunned down from behind a method Sam, Rhodey, Nat and Kenobi followed.

Pietro helped in zipping towards the Clones furthest from the Gunships and getting them out of the fire.

"Ahsoka." Obi-wan now contacted her. "The Droid army outnumbers our forces; we are pulling back now. That is an order."

"Master Kenobi, please." Ahsoka said, fighting ferociously on her end. "I've got the tinnies on the run. Master Skywalker taught me never to back down when having the advantage."

"They are regrouping with their main forces now, which you will fall victim to."

"Ahsoka." Steve chimed in. "You are endangering your trooper's lives."

"When we get there, you are getting into the Gunships." Anakin finished. "That's final, Snips."

"Master, please." Ahsoka pleaded. "I got the Seppies on the run."

"Right, so we'll use your advantage to extract you."

As Anakin finished that statement, the remainder of the Clones got into the Gunships and they lifted off with all accounted for.

They flew over to where Ahsoka was, noticing that she continued her advance disregarding her orders.

"Land in front of them." Anakin ordered the pilot.

Doing as he said, the gunships landed before Torrent squad with the clones aboard providing covering fire.

Anakin stepped out to face an irate Padawan.

"Get in the ship, Ahsoka."

"Master, what are you doing?! Can't you see they're retreating?!" Ahsoka yelled out frustratedly.

"That's what you think Snips but they're about to overrun you, you just can't see it." Anakin said sharply.

Ahsoka opened her mouth to retort when the AT-TE to her right blew up from a droid rocket that came from behind. Glancing back, she saw another wave of battle droids marching on her position with more at the front coming to reinforce those that she was already fighting.

"Ahsoka, now!" Anakin said aloud with his Padawan finally acquiescing.

Upon flying up into the air, Ahsoka saw the full scope of just how badly she was about to be swarmed with the remaining two vehicles that they had left behind promptly being destroyed.

She looked back in shame and fear at her master who only gave her a look of disappointment as they had departed Felucia.

Off to the other side, Steve and Nat only looked on with the latter showing slight curiosity and disapprovement as to what had transpired.

Eventually, the Republic Forces had pulled out of Felucia entirely and had returned back to Republic capital.

After a long trip back to Coruscant, it didn't take long for Ahsoka to be facing the Jedi Council with her Master by her side as they had gone over what had happened on Felucia.

"Padawan Ahsoka." Master Windu addressed her. "Do you feel Masters Kenobi and Skywalkers description of the incident to be accurate?"

Looking back up with shame marrying her face, Ahsoka answered. "Yes, my Masters."

Brow raised, Yoda spoke up. "More to add, do you?"

"I know I was wrong. I just got so caught up in my own success, I didn't look at the battle as a whole." She explained. "I wasn't being disobedient. I just… forgot."

Anakin took this moment to speak up. "Masters, this incident is my responsibility. Because of Ahsoka's advanced abilities, I forgot how young she is. I gave her more freedom that I should have."

"That may be," Mace began, "but it doesn't excuse what happened on Felucia. I think she needs some time _away_ from the battlefield."

"What do you have in mind?"

Yoda was the one giving the punishment. "On archive security, reflect on your actions you can, Padawan."

This surprised Ahsoka quite enough. "Guard duty? For how long?"

"Longer now."

Hearing Mace saying this made Ahsoka realize she no doubt extended her punishment than what would have originally been.

_-Scene Cut-_

Whilst Ahsoka began to reflect on her actions by going to her new post for the time being, Steve was having a small meeting with the Avengers.

"How was Felucia, Cap?" Hope asked.

"A mess." Sam responded in a dry tone. "And a loss."

"We got overrun." Steve plainly stated. "Looks like the battle droids have gotten some upgrades."

"And we're gonna need refills on ammo." Rhodey stated. "Tap, how are those schematics on integrating blaster tech into our equipment coming along?"

"They are halfway through integration, comrades." The Avengers' personal AI replied.

"Well, some good news." Sam murmured.

Their conversation halted momentarily at hearing a soft grunt off to the side.

Hope instantly walked over to Scott who was still bedridden after the incident with the Zillo Beast.

"How's Scott?" Steve asked in concern.

"He's better now, but still needs more time to recover." Hope said.

"It's been nearly ten days now." Sam said with clear worry. "How is it taking so long to rest up?"

"The size in which he grew was nearly ten to fifteen times greater than when he first tried the Goliath formula with my dad." Hope stated, gently checking over her boyfriend. "He was out for two days afterwards. This was much worse, involving him having to maintain his giant form far longer than he should have at a size he never should've attempted. He could have killed himself."

"Jesus." Rhodey murmured. "How is he now then?"

"He's better." Hope said. "Had a fever for a bit but he should be waking up any day now."

"Well, that's good to hear." Sam said in relief, a sentiment shared by the other Avengers.

"I know I'm gonna need a break." Pietro remarked, changing his bandages from all the injuries he sustained on Felucia.

"How is it that you're so fast but you get hurt more than all of us?" Rhodey asked with a deadpan.

"Wanda would call you reckless and stupid." Nat said knowingly. "Then again, we all can say the same.

"Yes, but Wanda's not here right now so save it." Pietro said when he slumped his shoulders at the mention of his sister who is still missing.

"Hey, chin up speedy." Rhodey nudged Pietro. "We'll find her. Her and Vision."

"And those other two enhanced that were with Parker." Steve said.

"One thing after another." Sam said, sitting down and grabbing a nearby cup of water. "I need a breather. Felucia was way to close."

"I'm still surprised the Jedi let a teenager lead their soldiers." Nat said. "Why would they let them on the battlefield that young?"

At the mention of the Jedi Order, Steve's mood shifted one of a more critical and serious manner. Something Pietro picked up on as he had spotted the change of face in the team's leader.

"You alright there, Captain?" Pietro spoke up, making the others look to Rogers.

"Not really." He replied.

"What's wrong?" Nat asked.

He looked at the Avengers before crossing his arms and gazing down at the ground, thinking back to a recent conversation he had with one Jedi Master T'ra Saa.

"There's… something you all have to know." Steve said slowly. "Something about the Jedi Order that I recently learned about."

Steve recounted everything he was told by T'ra Saa, leaving none of it out. From the way the order is structured, to the "recruitment" of literal babies, to the insanely asinine and restrictive rules of the order and the code. He made sure to let them know everything.

And their reactions were as they expected.

"So we've been working for crazy cultists who essentially brainwash kids into mindless drones?" Nat asked with a clear sense of fury in her eyes.

Of all people, it was easy to see as to why Nat would be one who holds the idea of indoctrination in particular contempt.

Noticing the look on Nat's face, Sam spoke. "Should we be concerned with her or…"

"No, Sam. Feeling is quite mutual right now. More so for her in case you forgot."

"I know." Sam said. "But Nat, we can't do anything reckless here."

"I know." Nat said bitterly, more to herself than anyone else.

"Still, that's beyond fucked up." Pietro blatantly said. "No attachments? No Emotions? The hell kind of place is this? I thought these were the good guys here."

"No one ever is the good guy these days." Sam murmured.

"What should we do, Cap?" Hope asked. "I'm not really too keen on this Order now to be honest."

Steve sighed, shaking his head. "We can't exactly confront them on this matter the way we are now. Say what you will but they have been gracious hosts in allowing us to stay here. I'm just at a loss of what to do on this."

"But kids, babies!" Hope argued, knowing that if Scott were to hear this… "This is literal indoctrination, Steve. Are we actually going to allow for that?"

"I wish it were that simple." Steve admitted. "Master Saa explained it better than I can."

"Master Saa?" Rhodey repeated. "That vine-haired Jedi?"

"Yeah, her." Steve confirmed. "It was she that explained how the Jedi Order works. More specifically how it has been for the past thousand years. It apparently wasn't always _this_ strict even if the code has been around for thousands of years. She said that everything changed in the Battle of Ruusan which led to a reformation of sorts in the Order. One that she apparently doesn't follow."

"What?" Several of the Avengers said aloud.

"Apparently, she told me that she's in a relationship with another Jedi Master here." Steve said with a mirthful look. "A Jedi I met named Tholme. He was one of Aayla's masters that helped her in her Jedi training. She herself admits to the stagnation of the Order and her want in changing it."

"So they're not all mindless slaves to this Order then?" Sam said with a drawl.

"Not all of them." Steve said.

_***Knock Knock*** _

The Avengers halted in their conversation, looking to one another.

"Were we expecting company today?" Pietro jokingly asked.

"Steve"

It was Obi-wan.

"May I speak with you?"

The Avengers were unsure of what to do but Steve nonetheless went to the door and opened it for the Jedi Master.

"Kenobi." Steve said pleasantly enough. "Is something wrong?"

"Not necessarily." Kenobi said. "I require your assistance in a certain matter."

_-Scene Cut-_

Sitting in the Jedi library, Peter was going over more information in the galaxy as a whole. From what he was told, the library he was in currently has more accumulated knowledge than anywhere else in the galaxy. Built over thousands of years from the many worlds, even pulled from many defunct Jedi Temples in order to preserve the knowledge from said places.

Peter even learned from Obi-wan and that weird mask-respirator Jedi, Plo Koon, that there are texts located somewhere in the library that are forbidden to be read. Then again, the archives hold a great many secrets that can be dangerous in the wrong hands.

"I should consider this something out of leisure," Peter muttered out. "Feels more like a personal punishment if you ask me."

"How so?" Barriss inquired, sitting beside her friend.

"Look, I would love to enjoy researching a bunch of sci-fi stuff back home in my free time. Now, it feels like too much homework. A chore that I'm starting to dread at times."

"It can't be that bad."

"You've never been to High School." He muttered out. "And don't get me started on college."

Barriss only hummed, having heard these sort of places but never really giving them much thought though she was curious about them after getting to know Peter.

"So you're heading out again soon?" Peter asked.

"Yes, Master Luminara and I are being deployed to the Outer Rim once more. Master Plo Koon will be accompanying us to our next destination."

"Where are you going?"

"I'm not sure yet. Master Luminara shall inform me on that when the time comes."

"Regardless, good luck out there."

"I appreciate it, Peter."

Smiling slightly, Peter heard soft footsteps on the carpeted floors of the library nearby. Looking over, Peter spotted Ahsoka walking with the Jedi Librarian Jocasta Nu.

"Hey Ahsoka." Peter called out to her. "What are you doing back so soon?"

"Hey Peter." Ahsoka greeted. "Hey Barriss. I've got… business to attend here."

Peter tilted his head. "In a library? For studies?"

"Ah yes, I heard about what happened on Felucia." Barriss began. "Not to mention what her punishment is."

"Punishment?" Peter said in bewilderment. "What punishment? What'd you do?"

Ahsoka cringed at the question. "I… didn't follow orders. And endangered the lives of my men."

"Ahsoka, you should know better." Barriss said in a disapproving tone. "You know they follow and trust you."

"I know." Ahsoka said with shame. "I got caught up in the moment like an idiot. So I have to face the consequences."

"At least it's nothing too drastic." Barriss stated

"You were punished, right? What is it?" Peter inquired.

"Archive security."

"You mean guard duty?"

"If you say it like that, then yes." Ahsoka said.

"So what are you doing now, Ahsoka?"

"Right now, just having to help assist Madam Jocasta in whatever needs to be done. Since there happens to be nothing really going on, that's basically what I'm doing."

"So you're being her secretary then?" Peter joked.

"Don't push it, Parker." Ahsoka grumped though Jocasta, who had remained silent all this time, chuckled in amusement.

"Now is that such a bad punishment, Padawan?" Jocasta said in a kind tone.

Ahsoka sighed, berating herself. At least Jocasta wasn't like the stuffy Council.

"No, it's not." Ahsoka said with a small smile.

The sound of a whirring signal from Barriss' comms drew their attention.

"Ah, my Master Luminara is calling me." Offee said, standing up from her seat. "I must be going now."

Barriss stood from her seat and bowed to Jocasta. "Thank you for your time, Master Nu."

"Think nothing of it, child." Jocasta said calmly. "Padawan Ahsoka, be a dear and escort your friend out of the library. Come back to the center when you are finished."

"Thanks Madame Jocasta." Ahsoka said with an appreciative smile.

"I'll come along." Peter said.

The trio walked towards the exit of the library with Ahsoka telling them of what exactly went down on Felucia.

"Jeez Ahsoka, you can't be that reckless on a battlefield." Peter said. "Even I know that."

"I know, I know." Ahsoka said. "It's just what Master Skywalker taught me. If you see them tinnies running, scrap like a Krayt Dragon would Bantha Fodder."

"Seems you've taken more of Master Skywalker's traits than I originally thought."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

Barriss said nothing, only wearing a teasing grin as she walked away.

"Oh don't listen to her, Ahsoka." Peter said reassuringly. "Doesn't seem all that bad, if you think about it."

"Oh? Like what?"

Peter opened his mouth... before closing it as trying to think of something positive. Saying anything negative might result with him getting hurt... physically speaking.

"Well…. You could be doing sanitation duty." Peter said after a moment of silence.

The deadpanned look on her face morphed into a slight chuckle, glad that Peter was at least trying to lighten the mood for her.

"Guess… you're right." Ahsoka murmured, thinking of the Clone Troopers who have that unfortunate duty.

Peter only gave her a sympathetic look as they walked back inside.

"Hey don't worry, you're not gonna be alone here. Promise."

_-Scene Cut-_

Cad Bane sat in his humble abode, tinkering with his techno-service droid Todo 360.

"You know, if you would just tell me what it is you're doing back there, I could probably be of some assistance."

The Duros merely sighed. "Look, I am just doing some maintenance. You've been having memory crashes."

This was a lie, but he didn't need to tell Todo 360 of this.

The time for his client's operation has finally come its way with the final piece of the puzzle coming his way. It took a bit of time for it to arrive, but Bane was patient as he was being paid a hefty sum of credits.

The first part of the task? Retrieve a Jedi Holocron from the Holocron Vault.

Not only was it considered impossible, but it was deadly to boot. Luckily for the bounty hunter, his client has been helpful in making this easier.

On top of his usual rates, which has been tripled for the current job, Bane had gotten a Rogue-class fighter with elite weapons, a cloaking device and so much more.

And of course, his client -the Dark Sith Lord- spared no expense as he wants this job done well.

"That is preposterous." Todo exclaimed. "I have no memory of any crashes." It didn't take long enough for the techno-service droid to gasp. "Oh, my goodness. I have no memory of any crashes! Bane, you have to help me!"

"Calm down." Closing up the hatch in the droids back, Bane got up from his seat. "I'm done."

"Oh, thank you."

The door to his safe house buzzed, prompting Bane to order his droid to answer it; much to Todo's annoyance.

Upon answering the door, Todo was greeted with the sight of a female Clawdite bounty hunter.

"Who are you?"

"I am Todo 360, techno-service droid. Who are you?"

"None of your business."

Walking past Todo, the Clawdite ventured further into Bane's safe house.

"What's going on, Bane?" Spoke the shape-shifting bounty hunter. "You told me you got a job for me."

"I do, Cato."

The identified Cato came up to the Duros male and saw a male Rodian on the computer screen.

"Who's that?"

"Bolla Ropal, Jedi stationed out in the Mid Rim."

"We're going after him?"

"Soon. Right now, we're stealing a holocron."

"Impossible. The only place you can get a holocron these days are the black market or-"

"The Jedi Temple, yes I know. And the Sith Lord client is asking for a particular one in their main vault. Fortunately, he has set us up with some help." Soon enough, Bane projected a layout of the Jedi Temple. "For one, the map of the temple you're looking at right now. For another, a security chip that I placed in my droid."

Todo 360 came up to them, speaking in a happy tone. "I have been given all the technical data regarding security systems in the Jedi Temple."

"Both the vent shafts and the vault itself are equipped with all kinds of traps and security measures." Bane explained. "Todo can take them out, but we'll need help from someone _inside_ the Jedi Library."

"Meaning?"

"Two things." Bane swirled around in his seat as he pointed towards a corpse of a Skrilling male lying on the other side of the room. "With your talents as a changeling, you'll take on his appearance to make things easier."

Cato looked at the corpse and saw something interesting about it. "Looks like a Jedi."

"He was. His name was Ord Enisence, a Knight. Someone our client helped provide for our job." Bane went back to his console and typed through to pull up more information. "You should be able to walk into the archives and monitor us without a problem."

Cato walked over to Ord's corpse and brushed her hand on the dead ones. Taking in a bit of hard concentration, Cato's form shifted to that of the Skrilling male before her.

"Now that I am a Jedi," Cato began before adjusting her voice, "I can do that."

"Good. And you will need these." Bane tossed her something, which she caught. Inspecting them, she saw they were ear commlinks.

Placing the device into her newly shifted ear, Cato thought things over. "The vault is in the library, if I'm not mistaken, which backs onto the communications center. There will be swarms of Jedi nearby."

"We'll use that to our advantage.

"Even if you get into the vault, how are you going to crack that safe?" Cato then realized something. "But wait, you said two things. The corpse was the first, but what was the second?"

Bane chuckled as he stared at the shapeshifter. "The one on the inside and helped provide the corpse. He'll meet you at the temple to make things easier on what we need to do."

_-Scene Cut-_

Jocasta Nu walked with Ahsoka Tano and Peter Parker, telling them both of the importance of the Jedi Archives on how far back it dates to how much knowledge is held here.

"It is the duty of the Jedi to keep this knowledge safe." Jocasta stated. "More so with what lies over there."

Peter looked over and saw a particular looking vault on the other side of the room.

"Beyond that door there is the Holocron Vault." Jocasta informed the two. "Each hold vast amounts of valuable knowledge passed down from Jedi who have passed on in life. And a good number of them hold much guarded secrets of our Order."

As she spoke, a Green, aquatic themed Jedi that Peter had seen around the temple approached with a Holocron in hand. He gave the trio an easy going smile in greeting while going up to a control panel at the Vaults entrance.

"Good Morning Master Fisto."

"Morning, Madame Jocasta." Kit said with a cheerful tone. "Padawan Ahsoka, hope you're taking your duty seriously."

"Yes, Master Fisto." Ahsoka assured.

"And you must be Mr. Parker."

"Uh, yeah. Hi Master Fisto."

"I hope you're enjoying your research."

Peter's expression changed into one of mixed excitement. "Oh I'm having a _blast_."

"Good to hear." Kit said with his grin, turning back to open the vault and enter.

As Fisto went in, Jocasta turned to leave the area.

"Can we go in there?" Ahsoka asked as the vault door closed.

"Oh, I'm afraid not my dear." Jocasta stated. "Only the Council or high-ranking members of the Order could do such a thing."

"If you're the head librarian, can't you do it?" Ahsoka asked.

"Even with my clearance, I don't feel permitted to go in there unless needed." Jocasta said. "Some knowledge is better kept out of hands lest they incur greater dangers."

"Makes sense."

"Come along now, there's not much left to be seen." Jocasta said before looking at the Earther. "You don't have to come with, Mr. Parker."

"Meh, I've got nothing better to do." Peter shrugged. "Least I'll have company with you two."

Jocasta merely nodded with the two teens trailing after her.

Elsewhere within the temple, Anakin, Aayla, Yoda, Windu and Plo Koon stood with the general war room of the temple.

Obi-wan had departed earlier on his assignment as for several other Jedi Council members.

"With our setback on Felucia, we shall need a great deal of reorganization of our forces within the Sector." Plo said, looking over the map of the area they had just pulled out of. "It will take some time in order to re-establish a foothold-"

Yoda groaned aloud, clutching his walking stick tightly.

"Master Yoda?" Aayla spoke up. "What is the matter?"

"A… a disturbance in the Force." Yoda said ominously. "Those who bring ill intention, intruders, there will be in this temple."

"Intruders?" Anakin murmured.

"We must have the Temple on alert then." Koon stated.

The Jedi within the room nodded and quickly dispersed across the Temple.

Separated from the others, Anakin and Plo Koon walked through the corridors with their hands hovering over their lightsabers.

"Where do we start looking for these intruders?"

"I am unsure." Plo admitted. "We must trust in the Force to guide us."

"Highly doubt they're after starfighters." Anakin remarked. "What could they be after? What can they get here they can't get anywhere else?"

"Information, most likely." Plo Koon simply said.

"The Jedi transmitter codes." Anakin surmised.

"Every piece of troop information, in one place." Plo added on. "The information that can be found in the East tower."

"I'll head over there right now." Anakin said.

"I shall keep in contact from the central communications center." Plo said. "Make sure to notify the council if anything seems off."

Nodding, both Jedi ran off to their respective locations.

Meanwhile..

Strolling through the library, Ahsoka looked quite bored out of her mind as she made her rounds. Yet with every passing Jedi member, she had to put up a happy facade as she greeted them and asked the usual phrase she quickly grew tired of saying.

"Good afternoon, Master Enisence. Master Bulq. May I be of assistance?"

Enisence looked away while Sora nodded at the young padawan.

"That won't be necessary, Padawan Tano." Replied the Weequay Jedi. "Neither of us don't want to bother you."

"I wouldn't mind at all. Things are rather slow now. I could use something to do."

"Of course, but the both of us have business elsewhere." Sora responded. "Forgive us on that."

Ahsoka grumbled to herself, walking away from the two Jedi.

"Can't do anything right today."

"Hey 'Soka."

Ahsoka yelped, quickly igniting her lightsaber in the face of Peter Parker who went bug eyed and promptly dropped to the ground.

"Peter." Ahsoka patted her chest, attempting to calm her heartbeat.

Parker grunted as he sat up, rubbing his head.

"What are you doing? Where'd you even go?" Ahsoka asked, noticing a web line hanging before her.

"Just figured you could use something to eat." Peter held up two boxes containing some cooked Porg. "Hungry? Believe you could use a meal break."

Ahsoka blinked before smiling widely.

"Thanks Peter, I was starting to feel a bit hungry." Ahsoka said appreciatively, taking a box for herself. "Where'd you get this?"

"Ah, a guy by the name of Guran has a great booth just outside the Temple here." Peter said. "He owes me a favor, as he calls it, and gave me some for the road."

Ahsoka quickly spotted Jocasta and requested a moment to eat which she gave.

"Well, I can't thank you enough." Ahsoka said, taking a bite of her meal as the two walked off. "How'd you know Togrutans were carnivorous?"

"I did not know that until just now." Peter said. "Now I know what to get ya from now on."

While the two walked off, Jocasta looked over to two others who were walking off when they both split up. She didn't pay too much attention to the Weequay, but the Skrilling was a different matter.

All the while, Cad Bane and Todo-360 flew up to the western part of the Jedi Temple.

"Cato, come in. We're in position." Cad said through their Comm Link.

On the other end, after following Bulq's instructions, the disguised changeling sat herself down at one of the terminals and typed in the necessary coding to bypass the security of the archives.

"I'm in." Cato said. "There should be a point within the shielding that Todo can bypass. Beaming the coordinates now."

"Right on time." Cad said, Todo receiving the intel.

"Jamming the temple scanners as we speak." Cato said, typing away on the console. "Why can't our contact stay with me on this job of ours anyways?"

"He's got a different matter to attend to, unfortunately." Bane responded as Todo got busy with his task.

"Let's see." Todo looked over the ray shields. "The entrance… should be... Here."

Pressing at a particular area, a large hole opened in the shield, giving Cad easy space to enter the temple.

"Alright, we're in."

"You're welcome." Todo said casually.

On Plo's end within the communications center of the Temple, he was observing security footage when everything in the room flickered around him.

"What was that?" Koon asked the droid helper beside him.

"That is the system recycling, sir." The droid informed.

As he said that, Anakin appeared along with Aayla and Windu.

"Master Plo, I'm in the tower." Anakin said. "No intruders were here but something just happened."

"Same on my end in the North part of the temple." Aayla said.

"And the council chamber." Windu said.

"All the scanners behaved strangely just now." Anakin brought up.

"The same that has happened here." Plo said gravely. "This is no coincidence."

The sound of the door opening from behind the Kel-Dor Jedi made him turn to see Yoda walking in.

"Arrived, the intruders have." Yoda announced.

"They are not in the tower." Aayla mused. "If not there, what are they after?"

"The Communications Center, perhaps, their target is? Hmm?"

"They could be using the central ventilation system." Anakin suggested.

"I shall check right now." Plo typed in the system and lo and behold.

"There is indeed a breach within the top of the South Tower." Plo said.

"We'll head over." Windu stated. "Master Plo, keep an eye on any other breaches or doors opening. Take no chances."

"Good luck, my friends." Plo said as they disconnected.

"On High Alert, place the temple." Yoda instructed.

With the ventilations, Bane and his droid went down the shaft and soon came across a large ventilation fan as they slowly hovered above it.

"The control board for the fan should be on your left."

Todo spotted said controls, who soon deactivated them for their advancement.

"You should be careful as there should be another past the one fan for security measures."

Just as this was spoken, the fans started back up again.

"Todo! Do something!" Bane bellowed out, trying to stabilize himself. "We're getting sucked into the fans! Turn it off!"

"I can't! I don't see the security board!" Todo cried out, using his thrusters to the max to get away from the spinning fans.

Fortunately for them, Cato came to their aid and soon deactivated them on her end.

"You can thank me later." Said the shapeshifter. "Now this next part should be simple. Make your way down the shaft until you reach-"

"Excuse me." The voice startled Cato from her concentration. Standing up, she saw the librarian was addressing her. "I-I don't mean to disturb you, but, uh, the whole temple is on high alert."

"...Thank you."

It was so sudden that Jocasta didn't register the punch across her face until it was too late.

With her knocked out cold, the shapeshifter took hold of her and dragged her away to hide the elderly woman from prying eyes. With the task done, Cato shifted her Skrilling form and onto the librarians before going back to work.

Below the temple, where the prison cells were kept, a miraluka male meditated. His eyes were closed with his grey hair slowly drifting about around his head.

Feeling a presence coming near his cell, he spoke. "Seems I've finally gotten a proper visitor after so long. Come to greet me or just lecture me, Sora."

The Weequay master stood before the cell of the imprisoned Jedi Master, Prosset Dibs.

"Now why would I do that, Prosset?" Bulq asked conversationally. "I have come here with something much greater than a lecture."

"And what would that be?"

Sora grinned sinisterly. "You have been wrongfully imprisoned here my old friend. Imprisoned for being open about your distaste in the way the Jedi's have conducted themselves."

Prosset shifted about, clearly disgruntled by the obvious assessment of his mood.

"I offer you a chance, my friend." Bulq deactivated the ray shield that held Prosset in his cell. "A chance for something more than this old, stringent and stagnant Order."

Bulq held out his hand which Prosset regarded silently.

All the while...

Traversing through the shaft systems, Masters Skywalker investigated where the intruders were heading off to, being joined by Aayla. He had found where they started their infiltration and went on from there. It was a little tricky figuring out where the breadcrumbs went off to, but the two Jedi trusted the Force to lead them in the right direction.

"Plo come in." Anakin contacted the Master that remained in the central security station. "Have you got anything for us?"

"The intruders are not near the communications center." Aayla informed. "There is no sign of them being here."

"If they're not here, what are they after?' Anakin asked aloud.

All the while, Cad Bane with Todo were working on getting through to the Holocron vault with most of the security systems having already been deactivated by Cato.

They just needed to bypass the last security laser grid.

Ahsoka could quite say she was enjoying her lunch time with Peter. The two enjoyed the well prepared Porg meat with the spices used just right to help bring out the flavor.

Who knew such cute little critters could taste all so delicious?

With them tossing away what remained of their meal, Ahsoka's wrist comms went off.

"Yes? Is something the matter?" Ahsoka asked.

"Padawan, alert you must be." Yoda warned from the other end. "Sense deception, I do. Posing as a Jedi, the intruder is. Find Master Jocasta, you must."

With the transmission ending, Ahsoka and Peter quickly made their way back to the library in search for the librarian.

It didn't take long for them to get back, given Peter used his web-slinging to speed things up. When they drew near Jocasta's location, they heard something odd coming from the librarian.

"Bane, the two Jedi have turned around and are making their way towards you."

The two teens looked at each other as they silently agreed something was not as it appeared to be.

Quickly running up to _Jocasta_ , Ahsoka spoke. "Who are you and what have you done with Madame Jocasta?"

The woman before them stood up soon after. "The same thing I'm going to do to you."

Igniting her stolen lightsaber, Cato swung the weapon towards the Tortuga, who ignited her own to block the attack. With the weapon pushed back, the shapeshifter soon swung at the male teen beside the female one.

"Whoa!" Peter leapt back, ducking his head back at the lightsaber that was swung at him.

The form was erratic and frankly desperate, leaving Peter an easy opening for him to fire off webbing to snatch the Lightsaber out from the imposter's hands.

With a force push into a nearby chair from Ahsoka, Peter quickly bound the imposter with his webs. With the shapeshifter down for the count, the Tortuga shook her head.

"You may have Jocasta's shape, but not her skills."

"Now… what can you tell us on what's going on today missy." Peter said to the bounty hunter.

After some means of _persuasion_ , they got what they needed.

"We better report this in."

Ahsoka nodded before opening up a channel back to Master Yoda, who soon relayed the message over to Anakin and Aayla. "Master. Peter and I captured the intruder disguised as Madame Jocasta. She says the intruders are going after the Holocron vault."

"The Holocron vault?" Aayla repeated, who drew near the intruder's current location. "Those can't be opened without a Jedi. What are they after?"

Anakin thought on this for a moment. "Must be trying to gain access to the communications center from the vault."

"Could be."

With Cad Bane, he was working on getting past the security panel to the vault but it was taking too long.

Unfortunately for the Duros bounty hunter, he was no longer receiving a transmission from his shapeshifting partner. Either the comms were being jammed or she was captured.

"Todo, is the hole finished?"

"Yes but-"

"Go to the communications center."

"I beg your pardon?"

"You heard me."

"But that place will be crawling with Jedi, Bane. Why would I need to go in there?"

"Now!" Bane said aloud in annoyance.

"Ok, ok." Todo pushed open the metal hole he made and went towards his new destination.

Cad grinned, placing a device upon the Holocron security panel and the recently made whole before walking away at a safe distance.

Drawing nearer and nearer, Anakin and Aayla soon felt a rumble in the ventilation shafts. It was like an explosion went off. Fearing the worst, they quickened their pace. Coming to the source, they saw the large hole not far away where they landed.

"Hurry Skywalker, the Communications Center." Aayla said with Anakin silently following after her.

Neither of the two noticed the presence of an intruder.

Walking around a corner in the shaft, Bane saw the two Jedi go down the hole where his droid was located. He was pleased to see neither took notice of the one on the vault lock which kept the door in place.

Coming up to the vault door, Bane grabbed hold of the metal panel and pulled hard with all his might to get it wide enough for him to slip right through. Once pried far enough, Bane saw the many glittering blue lights in the enclosed space.

Smirking to himself, he grabbed a random Holocron and made himself scarce.

Todo, who had arrived at the Communications Center of the Temple found what he said he'd find. A room filled with Jedi.

All of which looked directly at him.

"Hey everyone~" He said awkwardly. "I-I was just testing the access hatch." He grabbed one and began pulling it back. "Works great."

Then came a sharp beeping noise from his back.

"Bomb!" Master Windu said aloud.

"Bomb? What-"

Todo didn't have time to ask any more questions as he was force pushed into the ventilation shaft. The same one that Aayla and Anakin stood in.

"Bomb!" Anakin yelled out, him and Aayla running back for cover.

Todo cried out in a vain attempt before meeting his end in an explosive fashion.

After all that was said and done, the Jedi council had met at the library where Peter and Ahsoka awaited their arrival with a captured changeling.

Along the way, both saw Madame Jocasta groggily walking towards one of the desks.

"Hey, you alright?" Peter asked.

"Probably." Spoke the elderly woman. "Just need something for my aching head."

"Padawan Ahsoka." the aged voice of the Grandmaster gained their attention.

He had arrived with the other Jedi.

"Are you alright, Madame Jocasta?" Kit Fisto asked.

"Nothing a moment's rest won't do."

"We have our intruder." Anakin said. "One of them, at least."

Going past them all, Yoda waved his hand with the Holocron vault door opening.

Entering, Yoda looked up in slight dread.

"Our War efforts, it appears, not the target to be." Yoda said, facing the empty Holocron slot within the vault.

"They stole a Holocron?" Aayla said with disbelief. "What purpose would they have in stealing a Holocron?"

Knowing her fate to be sealed, Cato spoke up. "Bolla Ropal."

"What did you just say?" Windu asked sharply.

"Bolla Ropal. That's who Bane's next target is, some Jedi."

"Bolla Ropal." Plo muttered.

"Who's Ropal?" Anakin asked.

"He is the keeper of a Kyber Crystal, which contains very sensitive data."

"What's on the crystal?" Ahsoka asked.

"The list of _every_ known force-sensitive child across the galaxy." Windu informed in a grave tone. "The future Younglings. The Future of the Jedi Order."

Peter shifted about uncomfortably though he remained silent. Best not to speak one's mind right now considering what had just happened.

"We must warn him." Aayla said.

"MASTERS!"

The Jedi turned to see a Jedi Padawan rushing towards them with a panicked expression.

"Padawan Jace, what is the matter?" Plo asked.

"Masters, I was doing a sweep of the holding Cells with my master when we found one that was empty!" The Padawan said in alarm. "The one containing Master Prosset Dibs!"

Maces eyes narrowed.

"There would be no purpose to freeing Master Prosset. He does not hold any knowledge on the Holocron."

"Much to do, we have." Yoda cut in, completely serious. "Skywalker, go, you must. Find Jedi Ropal in the Devaron system, you will."

"My Padawan and I will leave immediately." Anakin said.

"And I'm coming to." Peter said determinedly, surprising the Jedi present.

"Peter…" Ahsoka said.

"You don't have to do that, Parker." Anakin said. "This is a Jedi matter."

"I know but… I was here and I could have done something more." Parker stated. "You guys have been keeping me and the other Avengers here without asking for much so let this be my way of helping you guys."

"Go with them, you shall." Yoda said, eyeing the young fledgling hero. "Will need a great deal of assistance, Skywalker. Young Parker, aid you in this task, he can."

Anakin looked to Peter for a brief moment, looking him in the eyes. It didn't take long for the Jedi Knight to recognize that spark of determination and conviction. Something he himself has and sees in his Padawan.

Knowing now wasn't the time for debates, Anakin only nodded with the trio quickly walking out of the library.

With the feeling of dread filled the air in the library, no one noticed Master Bulq escorting a cloaked being outside of the Jedi Temple. Descending the steps, the Weequay Jedi Master saw a figure flying away from the building.

'Seems both of our tasks have been successful.' Sora thought as his eyes went from Bane's form to that of Prosset beside him. 'He's gotten the blank Holocron while I've got my friend. Now the next steps will be underway.'

**Well that was an easy one.**

**Jebest4781: This can be considered an easy chapter to write out. Not as complicated or long as many of the others previously written. Getting it all done in one sitting was quite good in our opinion.**

**And now we are underway on this small, yet crucial arc on what's to become for the story.**

**FMW: And this is only the beginning of course. Lots to happen with some crazy twists and turns here and there. Seriously, it was insane how quickly and easily we got this chapter done. Only took one whole sitting and BAM, another one done.**

**Jeb: Wish this could be the same with many other chapters, yet it can never be that easy for all of them.**

**FMW: Indeed but when it does happen, feels damn good.**

**So other than that, we'll be continuing this arc in the next chapter with much more insanity to come trust me on that.**

**Rate Read and Review and as Always Have Nice Day.**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> cover poster for this arc down here
> 
> https://www.deviantart.com/freemanwriter/art/Holocron-Heist-Arc-831438861


	27. Cargo Of Doom

**Bane has got the Holocron and now it's a mad dash to retrieve it so let's get right to it.**

**Rate Read and Review and As Always Have Nice Day.**

Avengers Infinite Wars Chapter 27: Cargo of Doom

Cad Bane was a man of simple principles.

Whenever commissioned a job, complete it to the letter as he had a reputation to uphold on top of his twisted sense of moral ambiguity.

But this twisted morality did nothing to hinder his intelligence. On top of Bane being one of the most lethal and effective Bounty Hunters in the Galaxy, he was also one of the most intelligent.

So when stating that he was headed off to capture Jedi Master Bolla Ropal, he made it very obvious to his Sith Lord client that he'd need more than just himself if he were to catch his next target. Thankfully, it appeared that the Dark Lord was very understanding and provided him with a sizeable fleet in attacking the planet Devaron; which had a system named after it since it was the core world of this area.

There were nearly half a dozen cruisers that had accompanied him, giving him a sizable force to say the least.

But while the droid fleet provided quite the added firepower, Bane always made sure to keep a personal ace in the hole.

Right now however, he needed to storm the base and get the Jedi.

The attack was swift and precise, taking out targeted areas that would hinder their push into the base.

His "Ace" made short work of many of the clones with extreme prejudice, taking an unhealthy pleasure in their slaughter.

Not that he minded. Everyone needed their means of venting. It was unhealthy to keep things pent up inside.

It didn't take long for Bane in capturing the Jedi Master Ropal, quickly dragging his ragged form onto a shuttle and returning to the main Separatist ship.

Upon returning to his new ship, it didn't take long for a Republic Venator to appear out of Hyperspace and immediately engage in the droid fleet.

"Well they came scampering towards here faster than I thought." Bane mused. "Prep all the forces, make sure none of them get through."

On the Venator that arrived to face Bane's makeshift fleet, Anakin Skywalker stood upon the bridge as his flagship the _Resolute_ engaged the enemies.

He was vastly outnumbered though not for long.

Anakin had gotten word from the troopers stationed on Devaron before they were swarmed that there were at least eight Separatist ships orbiting over the planet. Now Anakin was confident enough that he'd be more than capable of taking on all of these ships as _none_ were being led by a Separatist leader. Cad Bane was a Bounty Hunter first and foremost meaning these ships were all just means to an end.

That didn't mean he was going to be taking this lightly.

Off to the right flank, two more Venators appeared from Hyperspace with the ships firing up their weapons.

"Nice timing Master Luminara." Anakin said through the holo-link which displayed Jedi Master Luminara Unduli, her Padawan Barriss Offee and Commander Gree.

"Well I figured one with your sense for the dramatic that this would fit well within your expectations." Luminara said with a sly tone.

"Much appreciated Master." Anakin remarked. "You know me so well."

"General Skywalker."

Anakin turned to Admiral Yularen who was standing beside a terminal with Captain Rex.

"Admiral?"

"Urgent message coming from the planet."

Anakin walked over to see a holo-transmission of a Clone Trooper that appeared to be desperately fighting to stay alive.

" _General Skywalker!"_ The Trooper said in a frantic tone _. "We're holding the base but not for much longer. The clankers are swarming the place and they've captured General Ropal."_

"Do you know where he was taken?" Anakin asked.

" _I don't know sir."_ The Clone Trooper said, swatting a B1 droid away with his carbine. _"All I know is he wasn't taken by any ordinary Seppies. It looked like some kind of Bounty Hunter really."_

"Bounty Hunter? Describe him quick, just the essentials."

" _Duros, brown coat and weird round hat."_

"Cad Bane." Anakin deduced straight away. What in the name of the Force was he doing all this for? So he was the one who stole the Holocron. Question is, why?

"Sit tight trooper and hold on, reinforcements are on the way."

He looked back to the still connected Mirialan Jedi pair. "Master Luminara-"

"We've begun sending support down, Skywalker." Luminara assured.

"Good to hear." Anakin said. "Admiral let's get to work on those cruisers. Disable only, Bolla Ropal is on one of those ships and we need to get him out of there."

Yularen only nodded, moving to give out orders with the Clones going about their assigned duties.

"Rex?"

"Yes General?"

"Where's Ahsoka?"

Ahsoka currently watched Peter Parker swinging around the Hangar Bay of the Resolute with glee and awe.

"Oh my God! Look at all these spaceships! I've gotta fly one of these!"

The New York native was putting on quite the spectacle for the men of the 501st, the troopers all looking up at the web-head that swung around with grace and ease chatting excitedly.

Down below were two faces that Ahsoka was unsure of how they came along on the mission but appreciated the help regardless.

"How long has he been doing that?" Hevy asked in slight astonishment at how Spider-man landed atop an LAAT Gunship before leaping over to a Y-wing.

"Bout the entire time we've traveled." Colonel James Rhodes replied, suited up and ready for a fight.

"Does he ever get tired?" Echo inquired.

"I don't." Pietro remarked. "And since most enhanced we've met are pretty durable, he won't drop for a while. I know I didn't."

"He's a lot like Stark." Rhodey mused, a small fond smile on his lips. "Though with way more humility."

"That looks like fun!" A Clone trooper remarked with a wild grin at a particular swing in between the infrastructure of the Hangar.

"You would find it fun, Hardcase." Another Clone trooper said with a roll of his eyes. This Clone stood out with both his face and helmet being tattooed with the symbol of the Republic Grand Army.

"Aw come on, Jesse." Hardcase argued with a gleam in his eyes. "Flying around like that while blasting clankers would be too good an opportunity to pass."

"Battlefields are hectic enough as is, thank you." Echo remarked.

Rhodey hummed in agreement, looking up at Peter who was examining a V-19 by dangling upside down. Glancing over to Domino Squad, the colonel had not noticed the strange patterns on their shoulder plates. Something he now saw other Clones had.

"Hey Fives." Rhodey spoke up, getting the Clones' attention. "What's with all those symbols on your shoulder pauldron? They kinda look like Caps Star from his shield and Sam's wings."

"Oh… uh, er… ya see…" Fives rubbed the back of his head in a slightly bashful manner.

"It's something that's spreading between the clone legions and battalions." Hevy chimed in for his Clone brother. "Since you Avengers have been all over the galaxy helping out the Republic, some of the Clones have their own way showing appreciation."

Off to the side, Ahsoka had overheard this and looked over to Domino squad.

"That's what they are?" Ahsoka spoke up. "I've been seeing them from the rest of the boys."

"Yeah, each one represents one of the Avengers we have fought alongside." Fives said shifting his shoulder forward. "This one here is obvious, Captain Rogers." Fives points to the star that was obviously the star from Cap's shield. "These wings are Lieutenant Wilsons. The turret is colonel Rhodes, these lightning bolts are Mr. Maximoff. This hourglass… that's Ms. Romanoff's symbol right? I saw it on her belt."

"Yeah that's hers." Pietro confirmed for him.

"And these Ant antenna and insect wings must be Scott and Hope." Rhodey added with Fives and Echo nodding.

"How many of the Clones have these marks?" Pietro inquired with intrigue.

"Those who have survived the past few months and ones who were directly with the marked Avengers depending on the battle." Cutup elaborated. "Boomer there has Ant-man's and Captain Rogers with Lieutenant Wilson though not the other members of your team."

"So the more of you Clones fight with the rest of the team, the more symbols you'll get." Rhodey surmised.

"Pretty much, yeah." Hevy said with a shrug. "They're pretty cool though, right?"

"I'll withhold my opinion on that for the time being." Rhodey remarked with a slight smirk.

Their conversation came to an end with Peter landing in front of them, grinning madly from ear to ear.

"This. Is. AWESOME!" Peter declared aloud making Ahsoka and several other clones chuckle at the teens over exuberant nature. "This is like a nerd's dream come true! You gotta show me how they all work."

"You'll have to save that enthusiasm for later, kid."

Everyone turned to see Anakin, Rex and Yularen approaching the assembled group.

"What's the word, Skyguy?" Pietro asked making several Clones hold back snickers with the aforementioned glaring lightly at the grinning speedster.

"Well, we're gonna board a Separatist Frigate, rescue Master Ropal and recover an Archive Holocron." Anakin listed off.

"Seems simple enough." Rhodey said with a shrug.

"One small snag however." Yularen spoke up with a withering stare to Skywalker. "We have no means of boarding the Separatist ship. We were brought here expecting a ground battle not a raiding party."

"I'm fully aware of that, Admiral." Anakin said conversationally.

"So what's the plan then?" Ahsoka inquired, getting a look out of her master. "Just curious is all."

Anakin glanced around the hangar bay before his eyes landed upon their means of transportation.

Roguish grin in place, he turned to Yularen, plan in mind now.

"Admiral, if you would kindly activate those walkers." Anakin said, pointing to three ATTE's stationed on the far end of the hangar.

Yularen however balked in disbelief. "You are not seriously thinking of using those to transport the Troopers to that frigate."

Ahsoka hummed aloud. "Well, they are pressurized."

"And they're equipped with magnetic feet." Rex said approvingly. "Hmm, good call General."

"Master, you're a genius." Ahsoka praised.

"Those walkers are designed for Terrain, not space." Yularen argued, still not on board with the idea.

"Wait, what's happening?" Peter asked the Clones and two Avengers.

"Well, since you wanted to help out, here's your first chance." Rhodey said, placing a hand on the teens shoulder. "That suit of yours, is it pressurized?"

"Oh… Uh…" Peter looked down at his spider suit, patting himself down. "I… I think it is. Maybe, I don't know."

Rhodey stared up at the ceiling, looking to the Clone Troopers a moment later. "Got any air masks the kid could use?"

Anakin all the while ran ahead with Ahsoka to one of the walkers with Rex ordering Execute, Carnivore and Torrent company to load up on the ATTEs.

"Hope you're ready for this kid." Pietro said with a pat on the kid's shoulder, helmet under his arm.

"Stay sharp and watch those blasters." Rhodey said. "This is a snatch and grab mission, no need for theatrics like Tony."

"Ok." Peter said in a low voice when a thought occurred in his mind. "Wait, you guys aren't gonna stop me? Like at all?"

Rhodey and Pietro looked at one another with the latter shrugging and the former speaking for the two.

"Listen Peter, I'll be quick and upfront with you. You're a kid who's only 15 and rushing into a battle that he's had no training for." Rhodey bluntly stated. "Then again, how many people do have training in these situations? You're an Avenger now. If Tony recruited you then it was for a good reason. Besides, you don't look like the kind of person who'd sit on the sidelines while everyone else does all the work. That's not what the Avengers are about and you've already volunteered. So… are you ready?"

Peter stared at the air force colonel before scrunching his face up in a determined manner and quickly slipping on his mask. "Let's do this."

While the Republic forces and their allies rallied for the raid on the Separatist Cruiser Bane occupied, the Duros Bounty Hunter conducted his own business in interrogating the Jedi Master Bolla Ropal.

"So just asking this, but how're we gonna get on that ship?" Peter pointed out.

"Simply put, we're gonna get dropped in the vacuum of space inside the walkers and then enter through other means." Rhodey surmised. "Probably a hatch or something."

Peter's lenses owlishly blinked.

"It's not the craziest thing we've done." The Clone known as Fives said with a shrug.

"Then, uh… what is?"

Several of the Clones and the two Avengers glanced at one another.

"You know, I never really figured that one." Echo stated. "It all just kind of blurs together."

"Just trust your instincts Peter." Rhodey said, patting the teen on the back. "You chose to be a hero before Tony ever met you, right? Go with your gut."

Peter only nodded, silently breathing to himself as the Venator flew above the Separatist cruiser.

With everyone situated inside of the walkers, the doors opened up and dropped everyone down to the Separatist ship below them.

The AT-TE's floated idly down, Anakin and Ahsoka hanging off their walker whilst Rhodey flew down and shot down two fleeing droids.

With the magnetic feet situated onto the ship's hull, they soon progressed onward.

Vulture droids were immediately deployed and opened fired upon their opposition.

The Jedi soon got out of the walkers and ignited their lightsabers. They swung their weapons in the effort of knocking the blaster fire away from them. It wasn't long before they leaped towards the present droids, using the magnetic latches on their boots to help move along the hull.

Cad Bane in the meantime had returned to the bridge of the ship after getting a distress message from the droid's operation the cruiser.

"What is it?" Bane griped aloud.

"Sir, it's Nute Gunray." A yellow tinted droid said holding up a transponder. "He wishes to speak with you."

"Put him through."

The small visage of the irate Neimoidian Separatist greeted the Duros bounty hunter.

"Bane." Gunray barked aloud. "What is the meaning of this?! When Darth Sidious contacted me in loaning you out the Separatist fleet, I did not know it was to go to war! You've already lost most of my ships with only three left."

"One." Bane said casually. "The other two have been taken out by that other Republic fleet."

Gunray gritted his… his teeth? Yeah his teeth. "I hope you will be able to pay for all this?"

Bane held out a blue cube with gold tinted patterns on it. "One authentic Jedi Holocron as promised with translation crystal as well. When my benefactor gets this, he will compensate you for your puny fleet."

That's when the ship shuddered violently, making Cad grin. "Sounds like the Jedi want it back."

Outside the ship, Anakin, Ahsoka, the troopers and War Machine fought through the oncoming Vulture Droids with the Jedi and Avenger going forward as the main offensive.

Both Anakin and Ahsoka sliced through a Vulture droid whilst Rhodey simply flew straight at one at full speed and clotheslined its head straight off.

Back inside, Bane watched the attack with an analytical expression.

"The Republic forces are overwhelming our vulture droids. Should we send out reinforcements?"

All Bane had to say was 'No'.

"Bane, what are you doing?" Gunray said in outrage.

"Did you say no?"

Bane hummed in confirmation.

"Roger, roger."

"The Jedi will board this ship and get the Holocron back." Gunray fretted. "Just transmit the data and close the deal, immediately."

"I can't." Bane said, slightly exasperated. "This Holocron could only be opened by a Jedi and the one I have inside is dead. Luckily…"

Bane eyed Ahsoka and Anakin that were fighting through the Vulture droids outside.

"I have two more on the way. More than one needed."

"You better live through this. I want my money, Bane."

"You can count on that." The bounty hunter then turned towards the droids and gave out his demands. "Wipe out the frigate's memory banks and destroy every record of our mission. Initiate the self-destruct sequence." He then pushed the yellow highlighted droid to the side. "You. Transfer all ship functions to my wrist-com. I want door controls, gravity generators. Everything."

"Roger, roger."

"Rest of you, stay here and defend the bridge."

Bane glanced over to his partner that he had recruited for the mission that was staring at the live feed of the Jedi and their additional allies that were fighting the droids.

"You'll get your chance." Bane stated. "Stick to the plan and they're all yours."

The large brute chuckled darkly.

Back outside, the Republic forces had finished mopping up the Separatist resistance reaching an entry hatch.

"R2" Anakin called out to his trusted Astromech droid that flew towards him in an instant. The droid connected itself to the cruisers control and opened the hatch for the others to get in.

All the while, Cad had left the bridge with his partner in tow.

"Why are we defending the bridge against the Jedi?" A droid asked.

"Because he told us to."

"Alone? I hate this job."

No sooner had the droid said that, the doors to the bridge burst open. War Machine, Anakin, Ahsoka and Spider-man ran right through with the clones right behind them.

It was a quick sweep, the B1 battle droids being taken out in an instant with only two remaining.

"Don't shoot." The yellow tinted droid pleaded. "I'm not the commander, he's the commander."

The droid beside it was shot down.

"Well… I guess I'm the commander now."

Then it was shot.

Area secured, R2 rolled forward.

"R2, see if you can find Master Ropal." Anakin requested, which the Astromech immediately went to work.

Plugging himself into the servers, the droid soon pulled up something for all Republic forces on the bridge to see.

"-One authentic Jedi holocron," Spoke Cad Bane's holo-recording, "and the memory crystal I was after."

Upon seeing both items in the bounty hunter's hands, Ahsoka groaned. "Oh, no. He has both pieces now."

Anakin didn't like this at all. Turning to the clone commander, he gave the order. "Rex, send a squad. Lock down the hangar bay and destroy all escape pods. No one leaves this ship."

"Yes sir." Rex said before running off with an assemble of clones following right behind him.

"We have to find Ropal, fast."

"No need." Pietro's voice said through the comms, tone grim. "I found him."

With Pietro, the speedster had split from the main force and ran through the ship and to the detention center. The Sokovian had found the Jedi dead and abandoned on the ground.

"And?"

"He's gone, guys." Pietro said apologetically. "That blue skinned freak killed him."

Ahsoka's shoulders sagged in sorrow and disappointment with Anakin clenching his fists tightly.

"Rex." Anakin contacted his Captain. "Have some men get down to the detention center and retrieve master Ropals body. He'll get a proper burial back at the temple."

Soon the ship started to violently shake, causing many to steady themselves out.

"What was that?"

Their answer was soon given with their comms receiving a message from their ship.

"General Skywalker, this is Admiral Yularen. One of the engines on that frigate has exploded. I caution you to avoid the aft section."

Anakin pressed onto his wrist-com and responded back. "How much damage are we talking?"

"I suggest immediate evacuation."

"Not until we get what we came here for."

Ending the transmission, Skywalker looked towards his allies.

"So what do we do now?" Peter asked aloud.

"We need to find Cad Bane and get back the Holocron." Anakin declared.

"We might not be able to get back the Holocron in time, Master." Ahsoka argued. "But if it's destroyed with the ship, Nute Gunray won't be able to get it either."

"It's not as simple as that, Ahsoka." Anakin said. "Remember what Windu said, that Holocron contains the name of every known Force-Sensitive in the galaxy. That's not something that can be replaced so easily. And I'd rather return that to the Jedi Archives personally."

With his mind made up, Ahsoka knew there was no point in trying to argue with her master.

With some of the troopers breaking back off to retrieve Master Ropals body, the remainder of the squad began walking through the now darkened corridors of the Separatist cruiser.

"What's with all the lights?" Fives asked. "Or lack thereof."

"Stay sharp." Anakin ordered; lightsaber ignited. "This could be a trap."

"It probably is." Rhodey said. "And we're walking right into it, right?"

"Ah come on Rhodey." Anakin remarked. "Where's your sense of excitement?"

"Shut up, Skyguy. Just… shut up."

The crew continued to walk through the halls when they saw someone run by them, R2 whistling and beeping about.

Running after the figure, the group ran into one of the cannon rooms of the Droid ship and were greeted with the sight of Cad Bane standing before an entire legion of droids.

"Ah, Skywalker, so good to see you again." Bane said condescendingly. "We've been expecting you."

Both Jedi, the clones and two Avengers raised up arms against the bounty hunter with the droids at the Duros' back doing the same.

"It's over, Bane." Rhodey said, aiming his repulsors at the bounty hunter. "Hand over the Holocron and we won't hurt you… much."

"Oh, I would, believe me." Bane mocked. "But first, I have a job to do and I need the Jedi to do it for me. And besides, why the rush? There's someone I know who has been dying to see you again."

"Who?"

A chuckle echoed throughout the hangar, sending shivers down many clone troopers.

" _That would be me…"_

A gigantic form dropped down from its hiding place in the hangar bays rafters and landed with an echoing thud, leaving a dented crater in his wake.

"Hello, War Machine." Durge, the Gen'Dai bounty hunter growled with malicious glee.

"Oh shit!" Rhodey said, eyes widening alongside many others.

"HIM?!" Ahsoka yelled out in alarm.

"Stay back!" War Machine shouted to the Clones specifically, throwing his arm up. "I know it's a waste, but right now, fuck it."

A compartment opened up from above his wrist.

"Tank missile."

Rhodey fired his killing missile yet the Gen'Dai was more than ready for it.

Throwing out and extending his own arm, Durge ensnared the missile with his muscles and tissue before detaching his arm and flinging it away.

The arm landed between several Vulture droids before blowing up in a violent manner.

"Well that's just perfect." Rhodes griped aloud..

Bane smirked, activating this thrusters and flying back. "Have fun, Durge!"

"You can count on it!"

Durge's entire form began bulging about and expanded greatly while the other droids began to open fire on them.

"Spread out." Rex ordered with the troops running towards anything they could find for cover.

"Oh crap." Peter said, firing a web line to pull himself up to the ceiling.

"Huh, that guy again." Bane muttered under his breath, recognizing Spider-man.

The Clones fired on the droids while War Machine, Anakin and Ahsoka moved to engage Durge.

Durge laughed aloud with manic glee, swinging his elongated limbs without a care in the world as he fought against the Jedi and Avenger.

Rhodey had his shoulder mounted gun constantly firing upon the massive opponent with Anakin and Ahsoka slicing through the nerves and tissues.

Yet for every damage they inflicted on the bounty hunter he either healed, regrew or reattached what was damaged.

It was rather frustrating.

The rest of the clones were on the offensive though they made sure to keep their distance from the literal crazy fight a few feet in front of them. The droids weren't as lucky but they still outnumbered them.

"This… this is too much for me." Cutup muttered, occasionally looking over to Durge fighting the colonel, general and commander.

"Are you kidding me?! This is _too_ awesome." Hardcase yelled aloud, mowing down droids with his Z-6 rotary blaster cannon.

"Save some for me, Hardcase." Hevy said, walking up beside him sporting his own rotary cannon.

Anakin slid on his knees to duck under a swing of Durges arm and righted himself in time to see Bane leveling his pistol at him.

He deflected several shots when he felt something grab him from behind.

"Gotcha, Jedi." Durge snarled, tightening his hold on Skywalker.

"Master!"

"I got him!"

Anakin suddenly found himself back with the Clones.

"Sir?" Echo said in bewilderment.

"You alright there, Skyguy?" Said a familiar accented voice.

"Yeah." Anakin suddenly got vertigo. "No."

He fell to his knees, heaving up air.

"Er… sorry about that." Quicksilver said sheepishly.

"It's ok." Anakin waved off, getting back to his feet with Echo helping stay standing. "It was either that or death. But debating on that right now."

"Right. So~ who is that?" Pietro said thumbing over to Durge who was now trying swat at Spider-man that was swinging around him while trying to immobilize him.

"That's Durge."

"That bounty hunter freak Rhodey told me about?"

"The very same." Anakin said, reigniting his lightsaber.

Narrowing his eyes, Pietro cracked his neck and dashed forward.

Durge slammed his fist into the spot that Peter had nimbly jumped away from when he felt himself jolt violently. Then again. And again. And again.

"What is this?!" Durge roared out.

"Ah what's the matter freakazoid, can't hurt what ya can't hit? Too fast for ya?" Pietro taunted.

"Too annoying!"

"Then let's even the playing field." Bane said, pushing a control on his wrist pad.

Immediately, things started floating around with the clones and droids wobbling about in the air.

"Whoa, Artificial gravity? That's awesome." Ahsoka gave him a stare. "I mean, not awesome. Real bad! Get the bad guys bad." Peter fired a web line at Pietro who was floating around in the air, pulling him to solid ground.

War Machine had little trouble in adjusting, flying straight at Durge brandishing his electrified hammer.

Anakin and Ahsoka were working in tandem together to pick off the floating droids while Rex got the men to activate gravity boots.

"Ok, for my first ever fight aside from that giant terrifying walking nervous system, this is too cool!" Spider-man said aloud, webbing up two droids together that were picked off by the clones.

"Kid!"

"Right, sorry Mister Rhodes." Spider-man jumped from his spot, easily gliding through the blaster fire and floating droid remains to fire off a quick series of large webs to temporarily ensnare Durge.

Durge struggled for a moment, already tearing through the webs but that distraction was all that Rhodey needed to unleash a built a torrent of flame.

What Rhodey did not expect was to have Durge screech in pain and then promptly get shoved hard into a wall. The jolt was so sudden, that Rhodey hit the back of his head with an emphatic thud.

"RHODES!" Spider-man cried out.

"COLONEL."

"Pietro." Skywalker flung the speedster his lightsaber who caught it and ran to the appendage that currently held his comrade and slice right through it.

Rhodey fell though only hovered as the gravity still remained off. Quicksilver quickly ran by up the wall and grabbed him, running back to the Clones.

"Try holding on to him." Pietro said to Echo and Fives that remained rooted to the ground via gravity boots.

"We've got him sir." Echo and Fives pulled the air force pilot down.

"Are you alright, Colonel?" Fives asked in concern.

"I've got a killer headache growing."

Skywalker, Pietro, Peter and Ashoka kept their focus on Durge.

The Gen'Dai had become more frantic and chaotic, attacking at random as he nearly got to Anakin and Ahsoka twice had it not been for Spider-man webbing them out of the way.

"Ok, seriously, did this guy just get pissed off? Like again? Or was he already angry before that?" Peter asked, propelling himself through the air as Durge nearly struck him.

"Well after what he did with Rhodey, I'm not too surprised." Anakin grunted, rapidly slashing at multiple tendrils Durge sent at him.

Bane had hung back the whole time, watching the pandemonium with a massive grin.

It was time to put his own plan into action.

Cad flew by the fighting Durge, Avengers and Jedi right towards his marked destination.

Seeing the Duros bounty hunter getting away, Peter did his best to give chase. Yet it proved a little difficult with the floating droids moving and blasting about.

"Hey, dome head, er… R2!" Spidey called out. "Mind doing us a solid and turn back on the gravity generators?"

The Astromech beeped, activating his thrusters and made his way towards the nearest port he could find.

As he waited for his request to be fulfilled, Peter fired off several web lines. Each latched onto a droid where he pulled and tugged them hard from their places. They crashed into others before being swung all about before they were nothing but scrap metal. And this continued on as he made his way towards the Duros bounty hunter.

Blaster fire went all over the turret room. One stray shot knocked one of the tank shells off the locked rack, causing it to float about.

Seeing this, Rex called out to his fellow troopers. "Check your fire! Hit one of those shells, and this fight is over for all of us!"

Hearing this, Spidey looked over to the stray, floating shell. He wanted to web the shell away from the fighting so his allies can be safe. When he spun around to avoid some more enemy fire, his eyes latched onto the form of Durge.

He remembered hearing about the insane bounty hunter's capabilities and impressive armor durability. It was currently being rained on by War Machine's arsenal, without making much of a dent and it needed something more powerful in order to pierce through it now.

Suddenly a lightbulb lit up in the Earth teen's head.

"Captain Rex! I got an idea!"

Rex looked to see Spider-man snag one of those floating tank shells and swung it right towards the Gen'Dai who had just tossed away General Skywalker.

Much as he loathed to go back on an order he had just issued, Rex could scarcely contain the grin beneath his helmet. This kid didn't seem that bad even if he was a bit inexperienced.

The tank shell sailed right at Durge who had grabbed it giving Rex the perfect shot.

The blaster bolt struck the tank shell, exploding in a fiery display that consumed the Gen'Dai with other pieces of it splattering all around the area.

Bane looked back and just in time to as Anakin was sailing right at him.

Just as the Jedi was about to reach him, the R2 turned the gravity back on.

Everyone fell to the ground, Bane included with the Holocron falling out from his form.

Anakin raised himself up to the ground in time to see Bane snatch the Holocron back, giving him a snide look.

Gritting his teeth, Anakin moved to pursue when something kept his legs rooted to the ground.

Looking back, Anakin's eyes widened at the familiar cluster of nerves that had wrapped around his legs.

"Oh, you have got to be kidding me." Anakin muttered in disbelief and annoyance.

"Thank you for the save, Durge." Bane said with a tip of his hat.

"How is this guy not dead?!" Pietro yelled aloud in aggravation. "Just die already you freak!"

"Hey! Cowboy's getting away!" Peter pointed at the retreating Duros.

"I'll get him!" Ahsoka declared aloud, dashing right after Bane.

"No! Ahsoka WAAIYYAA!"

Anakin was flung up into the air.

"I got him!" Spider-man leapt upwards and caught the Jedi Knight, landing on t he ground away from the regenerating, rampaging Gen'Dai.

"Thanks Parker." Anakin said appreciatively, looking back towards Ahsoka in time to see the door close.

"No, she's walking into a trap." Anakin said. "Rex, pull back and regroup. Get as far away from Durge right now. Get a ship from the hangar and get out of here."

"What about you sir?" Rex asked. "The ships gonna blow."

"I'm not leaving without my Padawan and I'm not leaving until you all get out of here."

" _NO_ **Ne** _ **O**_ f _Y_ **OU a** _ **Re**_ **Le** _AvI_ _ **NG!"**_

Durge was reforming into a cluster rapidly with his face plate missing. What the team saw was an angry face with a lot of sharp teeth.

"Ok, that's not terrifying at all." Fives stated.

"Agreed." Hevy said.

"Urgh." Rhodey had his hand up to his plated head. "Anakin. Go after Ahsoka. We'll handle this son of a bitch."

"Sir, are you sure you can fight?" Echo asked.

"Never keep a soldier down Echo. You guys should know this better then anyone else."

Before the clones could respond, Durge howled aloud with his body reformed.

"Let's blow him up again!" Spider-man said.

"I second that idea." Hardcase said excitedly. "I like you kid, you're crazy."

"General, get the commander and that bounty hunter." Rex encouraged. "We'll take this guy down."

Anakin wanted to argue but seeing his men and the Avengers were encouraging him to go so he did.

Durge however, had other plans.

The insane Gen'Dai reached for one of the tank shells that were close by and flung it straight at Anakin before grabbing a discarded droid rifle and firing.

"Oh shit!" Pietro yelled out.

"General Skywalker!"

Anakin looked back in time to see the tank shell explode. Luckily, it was at a safe distance away where he wouldn't get caught up in the explosion. Unluckily, the force of the explosion still sent a powerful shockwave that sent Anakin flying back while the integral structure of the hangar began collapsing.

"Crap!" Pietro immediately dashed forward with Spider-man firing several web lines frantically to pull Clone Troopers away from the falling debris.

Meanwhile…

Rushing through the corridors, Ahsoka gave chase towards the retreating Duros bounty hunter. She pushed herself to the limit in order to catch up to him and it seemed it was paying off as he reached a dead end.

"You thought you could get away?"

Bane merely scoffed. "You're not much of a challenge, youngling." Turning around, he smirked. "I got you right where I want you."

He quickly pulled his blaster and fired off a round. Ahsoka swung her lightsaber and reflected the round back at him. It hit his arm before he rolled out of the way to avoid her incoming attack. Getting up from his recovery roll, he kicked her lightsaber out of her grasp before firing back in retaliation.

Ahsoka avoided the blast, ensnaring his arm and performing a judo throw which resulted in him landing on his back.

Standing over him, she spoke in a mocking tone. "I'm not impressed."

As she used the Force to get her lightsaber back in her grasp, she was too distracted to not notice him latching onto her leg. Feeling the sudden contact, she looked down to see Bane press a button on his wrist-com where an electric shock went through her system.

And it wasn't long before she was rendered unconscious.

Bane stood over her with a triumphant grin.

Back with Anakin, the Jedi came to after several moments realizing he was underneath quite a bit of rubble. Miraculously he wasn't as injured, feeling mostly bruising pain so clenching his fist he called upon the Force to get the rubble off of him.

Seeing a wall that separated Anakin from his men, he rushed over to it.

"Captain Rex? Fives? Echo? Rhodey? Anyone?"

"We're here General." Rex grunted, the sound of blaster fire on the other side. "Glad to hear you're alright."

"Anakin!" Pietro cried out, running up the wall to dodge the metal pipe thrown at him. "Hurry up and get that Smurf bastard and save your student. We need to get out of here already."

Pounding his fist against the debris wall, Anakin knew now wasn't the time for debate moving to try and get into contact with his Padawan.

Unfortunately, the ship violently shaking about prevented him from doing so.

"General Skywalker." Yularen spoke over the wrist-com. "There's a power surge heading towards the bridge. If you're there, get out immediately. You must abandon your mission."

Anakin responded back to the Republic admiral. "I don't have the Holocron memory and I seem to have misplaced my Padawan."

"The ship is tearing itself apart."

"Move off to a safe distance, Admiral, and await my signal for evacuation."

Anakin ran off in the direction where Ahsoka went.

On board the Resolute, Yularen did little in hiding his aggravation at the situation.

"Of all the Jedi, why did I have to end up with Skywalker."

Back on the Separatist Cruiser, Bane watched the young Togrutan Jedi come to and begin to pull on her bindings upon realizing where she was.

Ahsoka tugged on her electric cuffs, only to receive a massive shock through her body.

"Uh, uh, uh. I wouldn't do that if I were you." Bane stated to the bound Padawan. "Those binders have been specially designed for Jedi."

Ahsoka struggled in her cuffs, ignoring him as she tried to get out of them.

Getting tired of this, he grasped onto the piece of jewelry hanging off the back of her head and snapped it off.

This quickly got a response from her, angrily glaring at him on the act.

'He did not just yank that?'

The piece of jewelry in his grasp was a sign of her Padawan status. She was to never take it off, like other species who don't have hair in order to tie it into a certain braid. It was only taken off once she ascended into becoming a Jedi Knight.

What the bounty hunter did was considered a major insult to her.

"The more you struggle, the tighter they get." He smiled as she kept glaring at him. "Impressed?"

"Not really."

Echoes of explosion reached their position, which meant the ship was becoming less and less safe as time passes.

"Enjoy this while you can, sleemo. This burning boat is gonna get us both."

Cad Bane only hummed condescendingly. "Trust me child, we have time. The bond between a Jedi Master and his Apprentice is strong."

"Which means my master is coming for me as we speak."

Bane placed her Padawan braid on his belt while grinning with sinister intentions.

"Let's see if we can get him here any faster." Bane pushed a control on his wrist pad, electrocuting Ahsoka even more the Padawan screaming in pain.

Anakin ran down the corridor, stopping at one being guarded by three B1 battle droids.

"You said we'd be safe back here!" The left B1 said, running to the door behind them.

"Come on, there's three of us and only one of him." Center B1 stated.

"It doesn't matter." Right B1 said dejectedly.

Anakin ignited his lightsaber.

Within the room, Bane watched a panting Padawan fighting to stay conscious.

"Uh s-sir? There's a Jedi here." A B1 frantically said from the other side. "He looks very _unhappy."_

The droid was promptly silenced by a lightsaber swing.

Bane only nodded, activating a ray shield, separating him from Ahsoka.

"Your Master has gotten the message."

Ahsoka attempted in vain to run at Bane, but the ray shield knocked her back. As she fell to her knees, the door opened up to reveal a glaring Anakin.

"You've got nowhere left to run, Bane." Anakin said, eyeing Ahsoka to see if she was alright. Seeing her bound and behind a ray shield with clear signs of her being injured didn't exactly put a smile on the Jedi Knights face.

Bane, flanked by two B2 Supers, turned to face him.

"Let me worry about that, Jedi." The Duros said, raising his wrist pad to push a square button. "If I activate this control, the outside airlock will open and she will be sucked into oblivion. Do you honestly think you could kill me and then save her before she's pulled out into space? It's a horrible way to die."

Anakins form slackened with dread at the thought of losing his student. She looked to him before looking down in shame at realizing the position she put her master in due to her rushing off before.

"Besides, isn't negotiation the Jedi way?" Bane asked tauntingly, the two supers walking forward to accentuate his point.

Knowing he had no choice; Anakin deactivated his lightsaber. "What do you want?"

"This Holocron contains information that I've been hired to collect." Bane said, holding up said holocron. "I can't open it, but you can. The last Jedi who had it, wouldn't open it. I hope you don't make the same mistake."

Anakin looked to his Padawan who only gave him a pained expression.

"We don't have much time." Bane said more aggressively this time. "Hurry it up, Jedi! Or she dies."

His finger hovered over the button that would unlock the door to space.

Anakin only closed his eyes, accepting defeat.

"No Master, don't do it!" Ahsoka cried out.

"I cannot let you die, Ahsoka." Anakin said softly, tossing his lightsaber towards Bane. "We'll have to deal with the Holocron later."

"How touching." Bane mocked.

Back with the others, Rex and Rhodes instructed a retreating defensive as the ship began to shake about more signaling it being ever closer to finally blowing apart.

It proved difficult as the mad Gen'Dai bounty hunter was hellbent on chasing and killing them all.

"You know, I'm not one for those big types of curses." Pietro grunted, running up from the wall to the ceiling and back down again. "But Oh my _fucking God!_ Can you _PLEASE_ leave us alone already!"

"N _o_ _ **T**_ **U** _ **Nti**_ L y _O_ **U** _ **AR**_ e _A_ **l** _ **l de**_ AD!"

"This guys had some serious issues." Spider-man said, jumping from wall to wall as he did his best to avoid the rampaging bounty hunter. Flipping in midair, Spidey fired off the remainder of the webbing in his cartridges to create a large web that completely blocked Durge's path.

"That'll work for now." Rhodey said.

"Keep moving!" Rex ordered. "The Hangar bay should be just up ahead."

They ran to see droids surrounding a Separatist shuttle.

"That's our way off this place." Fives declared.

"Clones!" A B1 yelled. "BlasHYACK!"

The droids were all disposed of in several seconds with Pietro throwing the last one into the wall which shattered upon impact.

"We _really_ don't have time for this." Pietro said with an annoyed tone, dusting the metal dust off his hands.

"Nice work Pietro." Rhodey praised when the sound of a roaring Gen'Dai got their attention again.

"OH SHUT THE HELL UP ALREADY!" Rhodey didn't care by this point.

Turning back to the direction from where they ran, Rhodey fired another of his tank missiles with several additional miniature missiles for insurance.

The following explosions followed by the silence and lack of Durge was music to the ears.

The Clones and Avengers sagged in relief, Rex contacting Anakin.

"Genera Skywalker. We have a transport ready and waiting. What is your position?"

Anakin currently sat on his knees, Holocron laid out before him. He heard Rex's transmission but made no effort in responding to him.

With the Force, the Holocron slowly rose up from the ground with the cubes interior glowing a vibrant blue. The corners of the Holocron were small pyramids that turned and detached themselves from the main Holocron body.

The main body now open, Bane placed the Memory Crystal he had obtained from Master Ropal within the center of the Holocron. The triangular corners returned to the Holocron though angled differently to give it a new octagonal shape.

The open Holocron floated down into the Banes awaiting hands with the Duros holding up the Force-object with satisfaction.

"My employers will be most pleased." Bane said, glad to see his mission was coming along swimmingly.

Anakin on the other hand has had enough of kneeling before this scumbag bounty hunter. With the Force, he called upon his and Ahsoka's lightsabers to come to his hands. In quick succession, Anakin ignited both Lightsabers and cut through the B2 supers.

Bane however opened the airlock with Ahsoka barely grasping at the structural sides of the wall and hanging on for dear life as the vacuum of space began to such the air out of the room.

Anakin quickly flung the upper body of a Super and unlocked the ray shield, getting sucked in as well yet holding on to the other side of the wall. Bane utilized his boot thrusters and made a swift escape whilst Ahsoka nearly got sucked out until her master reached out with his hand for her to grab on to.

Managing to press the lock button, the door behind them sealed shut with the two dropping to the ground. Getting the bindings off his apprentice and returning her lightsaber to her, the duo ran off as the ship continued to shudder more and more.

"Rex, I'm here." Anakin finally responded to his Captains hailing. "I hope you found us a ship off this floating dump."

"We're just waiting on you sir." Rex informed. "We've got a shuttle secured in the Hangar bay with some clankers trying to get to us."

"We're on our way, Rex. Hold tight." Ahsoka responded before Anakin could.

"Ahsoka, we need to get that Holocron back." Anakin argued.

"Master, we can't." Ahsoka objected. "We don't have the time for it right now otherwise everyone on board will die. Patience Master. Remember?"

Anakin stopped in his run, thinking on Ahsoka's word as well as her actions that had occurred in these few days. It wasn't hard in figuring out her want to correct these past few days of personal mistakes and hiccups. Something he was too familiar with.

Anakin sighed. "You're right. I'm sorry my Padawan. Let's get out of here."

They had run through the corridors, arriving to the hangar bay in time to see the Clones and Avengers clearing off the remainder of the droids.

Up on an elevated platform, Anakin and Ahsoka caught a surprising sight of the Clone Trooper Denal shooting down one Cad Bane, the bounty hunters form falling to the ground into a pile of crates.

"Come on, let's get the hell out of here already." Rhodey said, waving at the two Jedi to get into the shuttle.

Domino Squad with Captain Rex and Hardcase were on board with Quicksilver waiting inside with Spider-man. With the two jedi on board, the shuttle rose up to retrieve the last Clone Trooper that held his arm and barely managed to get onto the shuttle ramp.

"Are you alright, Denal?" Anakin asked. "Did you manage to get the Holocron?"

"I'm sorry sir." Denal replied with a heavy voice.

"I can go get it." Ahsoka said ready to leap out but Anakin put a stop to it.

"We don't have time, Ahsoka." Anakin said.

The Padawan only glanced down in defeat, entering the shuttle with the ship flying off in time as the Separatist cruiser finally began to blow apart.

Within the ship, Ahsoka noticed her master frowning in deep thought.

"Master?"

"You alright kid?"

Ahsoka and Anakin then looked over to Peter who had his mask off and was flinching slightly.

"I dunno." Peter tapped the side of his head repeatedly.

"You look like you've got a headache there." Echo noted.

"I… don't think it's a headache." Peter stated. "It's-it's something else."

What no one else noticed was the Trooper Denal edging a bit away from the rest of them.

The shuttle flew into the awaiting Resolute. Off to the side were the other two Venators of Luminara's fleet that had finished off the remainder of the Separatist fleet that Bane had left to their fate.

Flying into the Hangar bay, Anakin and Ahsoka walked out to greet an awaiting Admiral Yularen.

"So, did you manage to recover the Holocron?" Yularen asked. "Or Capture the bounty hunter?"

"Um, no and no." Anakin admitted sheepishly.

"I see." Yularen deadpanned. "So I take it your mission was your usual version of success, no?"

"If you mean I won, then, yes." Anakin declared proudly with Yularen walking away in a huff.

He turned to Rhodey and Ahsoka who were waiting on him.

"So now what?" Rhodey asked. "We didn't get what we were after."

"At least the bounty hunter didn't get the Holocron into the hands of the Separatists." Ahsoka said with a shrug. And at the mention of the aforementioned Bane, Ahsoka slumped in self disappointment.

"Master, I'm sorry I rushed off like that earlier and got myself caught." Ahsoka said dejectedly. "If it hadn't been for me-"

"Ahsoka, it wasn't your fault." Anakin said firmly, placing a comforting hand on her shoulder. "This was my mission. And I lead it, so the fault was mine from start to finish. Learn from my mistakes to make sure they don't happen to you."

"If only." Rhodey said with a dry tone.

"Can't you let me have a moment with my Padawan?" Anakin said with an affronted tone though it was clear in his eyes he wasn't offended.

"Uh, Mister Skywalker sir." Peter walked out from the shuttle with a confused expression.

"Parker?" Anakin said.

"Do you know what that green stuff is?" Peter said, pointing back to the ships interior.

"What green stuff?" Anakin said, walking over to the ship.

"It…" Peter seemed a bit squeamish. "It kinda looks like blood."

"Green blood?" Rhodey said in confusion.

Walking into the shuttle they saw Fives, Pietro and Rex looking at a spot that had a few droplets of what Peter called Green blood.

"What have you got for us, Rex?" Anakin inquired.

"This is blood." Rex said firmly. "But it sure as hell ain't from one of ours."

Anakin's head snapped up, rushing out of the shuttle and looking around wildly before spotting Denal. Or what was someone else wearing Denal's armor.

"Stop that Clone!" Anakin shouted aloud to the hangar, pointing to "Denal" that began to run while tossing spheres up.

The hangar become embroiled in momentary pandemonium as the entire area became covered with smoke.

"Master?" Ahsoka rushed out.

"It's Bane!" Anakin stated, running right towards the smoke.

Pietro zoomed past him and went in a circle several times, blowing away the smoke to reveal the disguised Bane knocking away several Clones before one swiped at him, knocking the helmet off.

Without warning, Bane tossed more sphere out but these proved to be deadlier with explosions going off and several gunships getting caught up in the fiery storm.

Quicksilver rushed forward to get Clones out of harms way while War Machine and Anakin ran at Bane who was one of their ships.

Anakin couldn't make it in time as Bane had exited the hangar yet that did little in stopping Rhodey.

"Rhodes, he still has the Holocron." Anakin called out to him just as he exited the hangar.

Rhodey had his machine gun trailed on the bounty hunter but the Duros proved to be crafty as he reverted the thrusters, blowing past Rhodey to get behind him.

"Oh crap."

Two missiles were shot at the Avenger who flew off to gain distance to avoid them.

Back inside, Anakin contacted Yularen.

"Admiral, lockdown the Hyperspace rings now!" Anakin ordered. "It's Bane, he's got one of our ships and is escaping!"

Rhodey shot down his pursuing missiles in time to see Bane link up with a hyperspace ring and escape right before their eyes.

"Dammit." Rhodey said aloud in frustration.

With the others, the mood was shared amongst them all upon realizing they had failed.

"What do we do now?" Ahsoka asked her master.

Anakin could only let out a defeated sigh. "We inform the Council."

**Alright, WOO another one done.**

**I'd like to thank my good friend Jebest for helping out so much on this chapter.**

**Not much needed to be said here as the arc goes on with the finale next chapter.**

**So yeah, really not much needed to be said here.**

**Go check out a Song of Fire, Ice and Hearts as I'm gonna promote that story non-stop. Real proud of what me and J are doing on it and I hope more readers come in time.**

**Alright then people. Until next time.**

**Rate Read and Review and as Always Have Nice Day.**


	28. Children of the Force

**Rate Read and Review and As Always Have Nice Day.**

Avengers Infinite Wars Chapter 28: Children of the Force.

Returning back to the temple in defeat was not a pleasant feeling for one Anakin Skywalker.

Cad Bane had escaped their forces with near practiced ease and worst of all, he had what he was paid to retrieve. The information within the Holocron of all the Force-Sensitive children within the Republic.

Reporting this to the council would not be easy for him but he had to do what he must.

The trio of Avengers that had joined them on this mission went off in their own area of the temple. Rhodey was nursing a slight concussion after that one powerful smack into the wall by Durge which caught him off guard; so he was likely out for the next several days.

Anakin, along with Ahsoka, now stood before the assembled Jedi council though there were several seats empty.

It appears that his former Master Obi-wan was still off on his own mission. Master Kit Fisto's seat was also empty as was Eeth Koths.

"This presents a serious problem with Bane escaping once more." Master Windu spoke in a stoic manner.

"He now has access to the names of all the force-sensitive children in the Republic." Master Plo Koon spoke with his respirated voice.

"But what does he want with all this information?" Master Depa Billaba inquired with slight dread.

"We know that Bane is employed by the Separatists for this mission." Anakin said, crossing his arms in thought. "And let's not forget who runs the Separatists."

"Dooku." Windu said in a grim undertone.

"Inflict devastating damage on the Jedi Order, he could." Yoda stated.

"If it's the children he seeks, then we are at a difficult crossroads." Stated the holographic form of Shaak Ti from her end at Kamino. "There are a number of those he could go after first."

"Small chance there is, through the Force." Yoda said. "The Council may detect them."

"Then we must act with haste." Plo stated firmly. "The sooner we are able to discern this Cad Bane's targets, the sooner we can capture him and reclaim what we have lost."

As the council dispersed, Anakin took a momentary glance at his padawan, noticing something was missing.

"Ahsoka, what happened to your braid?" Anakin inquired.

Instinctively her hand shot up to where her braid was when the memory of how she lost it came back to her. With both a frown of shame and frustration marring her face, she grunted in self-scolding.

"Bane took it when he held me prisoner on his ship." Ahsoka said dejectedly.

Frowning with a hint of anger at the gall of the bounty hunter taking something as important as his Padawans braid, he placed a comforting hand upon her shoulder.

"Don't you worry, Snips. We _will_ get it back." Anakin promised.

Ahsoka stared at her master before a grateful smile grew on her face. She truly was happy to have a Master like Anakin looking out for her.

Whilst the Jedi were preparing for a meditative session in hopes of finding out who Bane would target first in the Force-sensitive children, Peter and Pietro were helping a worn out and concussed Rhodey get comfortable.

They knew that the Avengers had all split off by this point to help with other endeavors, leaving a still unconscious Scott to recover. Even with Tap, they wanted to make sure he was at least checked up on every now and then.

Thankfully, Pietro's Jedi Ryloth buddy Ima-Gun Di was more than willing to be up to the task for his old friend. After thanking the Nikto Jedi for helping as well as a brief catch up with him, Pietro turned to the matter at hand.

"What do you think Tap?" Pietro asked their AI. "Is it a concussion?"

"Minor at best." Tap said. "From what I have picked up, Comrade Rhodey needs a day of recovery."

"How's the suit?" Rhodey asked with a grunt, nursing his aching head.

"It can be repaired but will take a bit of time." Tap responded. "I have schematics drawn out with materials needed. As well as a means of beginning methods of replenishing ammunition."

"That's some good news at least." Pietro murmured, crossing his arms while frowning.

"So what now?" Peter asked, sitting himself down feeling slightly exhausted from the other day. "That blue man groupie got his hands on that Jedi baby list. Who knows what he's gonna do?"

"Jedi baby list? What the hell did I wake up to?"

"Scott!" The trio of returning Avengers cried out with adulation at hearing their fellow hero at long last awakened.

Scott Lang winced but gave his friends a shaky smile as he slowly sat up with Pietro and Peter moving over to his side.

"Hey guys." Scott said tiredly, rubbing the side of his head. "How long was I out this time?"

"This time?" Peter thought back on Hope speaking on the growth ability of Pym technology. "Oh that's right, you passed for two days the first time you tried this."

"Yeah, so how long was it this time?"

"Bout two weeks." Pietro bluntly replied, making Scott choke on his breath, coughing and hacking while pounding his chest.

" _TWO WEEKS?!"_ Scott yelled out before seizing up and falling back down while clutching his head and writhing in pain. "Why did I yell?!"

"Yeah…" Peter patted the ex-cons chest while the man bemoaned himself.

Blearily opening his eyes, Scott saw he was still in the room the Jedi had bestowed to them while noticing a significant number of the team to be missing. There was only Rhodey, Peter and Pietro present.

"Where the heck is everyone?" Scott inquired.

"Off doing their own missions with the Jedi." Rhodey answered with a grunt, adjusting himself.

"What happened to you?" Scott asked in concern.

"We had our own little scuffle. Got my head rattled."

"And we failed on our retrieval mission, basically." Peter admitted, slumping back into a nearby ottoman.

"What are you guys gonna do now then?"

"We don't know." Pietro stated. "This is a Jedi affair but kids are involved. Literal babies. And that prick Cad Bane is the one responsible for it."

"Wait, what?" Scott was bewildered by this piece of information. "Douchebag the Smurf is back already?"

"Apparently he was employed by Separatist Skynet to get a list of all kids in the Republic that have the potential to become Jedi in the future." Rhodey stated, taking a drink of something to help relieve his headache.

"What the hell _did_ I wake up to?" Scott asked again, more to himself.

"A madhouse." Pietro dryly said. "So a typical Monday…. Or Tuesday. What day is it today?"

"It is Thursday back home, Comrade Pietro."

"Thanks Tap."

"But seriously, what are we supposed to do now?" Peter asked once more. "I don't want some cowboy knockoff who tried to kill me go after some infants."

"Cowboy knockoff? You're talking about Bane aren't you?"

The boys turned to see none other than Black Widow and the Wasp entering the room.

"Scott." Hope said with joy and relief, immediately rushing over to his side.

He could barely get a word in with his girlfriend catching him in a loving kiss, pulling away to check him over.

"Are you alright?" She asked worriedly.

"Just got a headache." Scott answered tiredly, smiling as he leaned his forehead against hers.

"Where the hell have you been?" Pietro inquired.

"Helping out Jane Foster's twin sister with a certain matter involving a potential problem in the future." Natasha said cryptically.

"Nice to hear your spy vibes are as sharp as ever." Rhodey joked.

"And what have you guys been doing?" Hope asked. "Your armor looks like it's been through the ringer, Rhodey."

"It is because Comrades Rhodey, Pietro and Peter have fought the enemy known as Durge." Tap answered for them. "His suit has sustained damage and will require repairs."

"Well it's a good thing I came back with Scott waking up." Hope said.

"But what did you guys do that involved Bane?" Nat inquired.

"Douche the Smurf was hired by the Separatists to get something called a Holocron from the Jedi temple." Pietro explained. "On that cube is a list of all the kids in the Republic that are Force-sensitive, basically their future Jedi."

Nat had her eyes narrow momentarily at the mention of the Jedi and their ways of recruitment but kept her comments to herself. Right now, a more pressing matter was at hand.

"Alright, so what's the game plan then?" Nat asked.

"Good question." Pietro murmured. "I think we'll have to wait on the Jedi for an answer."

"Why can't we do anything?" Hope asked.

"Because this has to do with something the Jedi directly understand." Peter said. "I was talking with Ahsoka and Anakin and they told me how the Holocrons are meant to only react to them specifically. I mean, guys with the Force and all."

"So we really can't do anything right now?" Nat inquired.

"Pretty much." Pietro said with a shrug. "But, you can tell us what you guys were up to. Something about helping Senator Padme, right?"

"Something like that." Natasha said, taking a seat for herself. "It's a bit complicated."

"And had to deal with smarmy politicians." Hope said, sitting on Scott's bed with her boyfriend holding her hand.

"Sounds like a pain in the ass." Rhodey stated, knowing all too well on what it's like to deal with politicians.

"Yeah~ Yeah, it is."

_-Scene Cut-_

Cad Bane sat within one of his hideouts, placing on spare clothing while storing away his newly acquired Clone armor.

Say what you will about the Republic but the armor was impressive and he could work with incorporating some of the material into his own clothing.

Currently, he leaned back, adjusting his equipment while speaking with one Dark Lord of the Sith.

"I have delivered what you wanted." Bane stated, adding the finishing touches to his wrist pad. "The Jedi were no problem but the Avengers? That may cost you extra."

"I will make sure to compensate you for your efforts, Bane."

Bane nodded, leaning forward. "Since you're the one who contacted me, it seems to me you still require my services."

"I require test subjects." Sidious stated. "I want you to choose five children and bring them to Mustafar. I will take care of them."

"Abducting innocent children?" Bane said impassively. "I may be a bounty hunter but even I know that's a bit much. And honestly seems like a small-time crime from someone like you."

"Among the children of the Jedi, there are no innocents." Sidious firmly stated. "Of that, I can assure you."

"Sure, sure." Bane said dismissively, placing his hat on. "As long as I get paid, makes no difference to me."

With that being established, the Duros selected several that were within reach of one another in rapid succession until one made Sidious send a message to leave the fifth one to him. He would still be paid in full but the fifth child would be left untouched.

_-Jedi Temple-_

All the while, Anakin sat within a meditation room with several other Jedi Council members.

Yoda at the head with Mace to his right and Plo Koon to his left.

The four sat cross legged upon circular chairs with all their eyes closed in deep meditative trances.

All Four let the Force flow through them freely while reaching out to one another in a kind of link to amplify their own power. Yoda hummed aloud, the first to speak.

"A jungle world." The aged master said slowly. "Dome cities, I see. Hmm, Rodia it is."

Plo exhaled softly. "A house in Kay Tap Square. I see it. A mother and her child."

"There's an Ocean Planet." Mace spoke up. "Home to… Nautolans. Glee Anselm?"

"Glee Anselm, I see not."

Anakin then spoke up. "I sense… A place I've been to before. Waterfalls. Naboo."

"Jan-gwa. A village. Southern Sector." Yoda added. "Sense it strongly I do."

"The Gungan child was screaming." Anakin said, hearing an echo through the Force.

"The future, you see, young Skywalker." Yoda stated. "To Naboo, you must go. Cad Bane, you will find. With you, take your Padawan."

Anakin only nodded with Mace voicing his opinion on his earlier vision.

"You are certain there is no child on Glee Anselm?"

"Into the shadow of the Dark side, taken the child was." Yoda said in grim confirmation of the matter. "Shrouded is his fate from us. Great the loss is. But more children in danger, there are."

"There is something else." Plo Koon spoke up. "I am sensing a disturbance coming from... Jedha."

"Jedha?" Anakin said in confusion. That name sounded familiar.

"Old that planet is, to the Jedi." Yoda said cryptically. "A temple, Jedha holds. Withdrawal of Jedi we did at the start of the war."

"We withdrew from a Jedi Temple?" Anakin asked. "Why would we do that? That seems like the least intelligent thing to do."

"We were thrust into the war suddenly and rapidly." Mace answered. "The order was spread thin in its entirety. There are several temples that we have abandoned for the time being. Thankfully, no Separatist forces had made moves in occupying them."

"Guess that changes now." Anakin said. "Should we head there now?"

"The Force will guide us." Yoda said. "Too Jedha, not our first destination is. To Rodia and Naboo we must go."

"I shall head for Rodia then." Plo Koon declared, the group dispersing with Anakin and Plo moving to depart.

"There is still the likelihood of Bane targeting and kidnapping more children." Windu said to Yoda. "He still has the Holocron and access to all the names listed there."

"Capture and retrieve the Holocron, we must." Yoda said. "Move quickly, we can, if we are to stop the Dark Sides plans."

Anakin was running through the corridors when he ran into a room with Ahsoka and surprisingly, Peter and Pietro.

"Ahsoka." Anakin called her. "We need to get going now."

"What's going on, Master?"

"We've managed to get an idea where Cad Bane is gonna strike," Anakin said. "So we need to head for Naboo, now. There's a chance we could intercept him there."

"So we have a plan then?"

Anakin nearly jolted out his clothing at the voice behind him, looking back to see Black Widow.

"Where the heck did you come from?" Anakin asked in bewilderment.

"Just came back from a mission of my own but it looks like you guys need priority help here and now."

Anakin wanted to ask more but he was on a time crunch and frankly, having his Padawan along with three Avengers feels like a guarantee that should they encounter Bane he will be captured.

"Right, let's go then. I'll tell you all the details on the way."

The Jedi along with the volunteering Avengers had dispersed with one bounty hunter well ahead of them.

Cad Bane had arrived on Rodia well before any Jedi or Republic forces with him being garbed in a Jedi robe.

Sitting in the living room with the mother of the Rodian baby, Cad Bane observed as the young one had been levitating a ball towards himself.

"Your son is strong with the Force." Bane stated. "He will make a fine Jedi."

While the child's mother was proud, she was rather worried.

"Master Ropal said the day would come for him to go to the temple, but not for some time." The mother said with a concerned tone.

"Master Ropal was unaware of the danger your son is in. Jedi impostors have been roaming the galaxy, stealing the future younglings. For your son's protection, I'm going to have to take him now."

The mother held onto her son close to her chest as the disguised bounty hunter reached out.

"But he's my only child."

Seeing as things were going nowhere, Bane soon pulled out something that would make the mother comply, whether she willingly wanted to or not.

A Jedi Starfighter piloted by Master Plo Koon dropped out from Hyperspace over the planet of Rodia with Plo detaching himself from the Hyperspace ring and quickly flying down to the surface of the planet.

Plo's Astromech let out a few whistles of concern.

"I know D6. Let's hope we are not too late." Plo said grimly.

Flying down to the surface, the entry way for the domed city opened with Koon landing. Swiftly jumping out from his ship, Plo sprinted forth recalling the home of which his vision showed where the force-sensitive babe would be found.

Maneuvering through droids and other Rodians, Plo Koon arrived at his destination knocking repeatedly on the door.

"Hello? Hello? Is anyone there?" Plo asked.

The door opened to reveal a Rodian female who glared at Plo.

"If you're looking for my son, Jedi, he's not here."

This worried Plo Koon, causing him to question the mother. "What do you mean? Where is he?"

All he got was the door closing in his face.

"Please, I'm only trying to help. Your son's in danger."

She wasn't responding, causing the Jedi master to use the Force to open the front door.

Upon stepping inside, he was facing the end of a blaster barrel with the mother holding the weapon.

"You'll never get him."

"I do not mean you any harm." Plo waved his hand before her, the Force clearing the Rodians mind. "Tell me, where did the bounty hunter take your son?"

"B-Bounty hunter?" Questioned the mother. "B-But he was a Jedi."

Plo called upon the Force to take the blaster out from her hands, glaring at the weapon. "Jedi do not carry blasters."

The Rodian mother could only gasp in disbelief running a hand down her face in distraught.

"What have I done?" She began to weep, falling to the ground on her knees.

It was then did Plo Koon hear the sounds of engines firing right outside of the home.

Rushing outside, he saw Cad Bane flying off into the air and heading off to an adjacent building. And it wasn't long before a ship took off and went to parts unknown.

Plo could only slam his fist down onto the balcony fence, berating himself for his folly.

'Don't fail where I have, little Soka.' Plo internally

_-Scene Cut-_

On the planet of Naboo, one LAAT gunship flew rapidly through the air towards a hangar bay all too familiar to one of the gunship's occupants.

Upon landing, the side doors opened to reveal a five-man squad composed of Anakin Skywalker, Ahsoka Tano, Peter Parker, Natasha Romanoff and Pietro Maximoff.

They were greeted by Lieutenant Typho of the Naboo guard with a Gungan warrior and Naboo guard.

"General Skywalker." Typho greeted. "I was informed of you coming."

"Has the Gungan family been notified?" Anakin asked straight away.

"Yes, Captain Lunker here is in charge of the operation." Typho said, gesturing to the Gungan. "He will take you to Jan-Gwa city."

"We better move fast." Nat stated. "I worked with Bane for a short time and if he hasn't beaten us here, then he's gonna know we may have the jump on him."

"So what should we do?" Ahsoka asked.

"Simple." Nat stated. "A guy like Bane needs to be taken down quick and fast, making sure we don't give him time to think or plan. A guy like Bane is always planning several exit strategies."

"Then let me take the lead on this one, Ms. Romanoff." Ahsoka said firmly. "I have a score to settle with Bane."

"Alright, just don't do anything reckless." Anakin said.

"Like you would do Master?" Ahsoka said cheekily.

"Hardy har har." Anakin said, nudging her to follow the Gungan Captain to Jan-Gwa city. "You go on ahead. I'll be there shortly."

Ahsoka along with the Avengers departed with Captain Lunker, leaving Anakin to briefly converse with Captain Typho.

All the while, one Duros bounty hunter arrived on Naboo flying down to the coordinates given to him from the Holocron. Having radio jammers and signals on at full blast so that he could fly in undetected, Cad Bane descended down to the planet side where he saw his destination in the center of a lake with a waterfall canyon to its back.

He had his ship operating while he managed to infiltrate the city without being seen.

Sticking to the shadows and alleyways, Bane made it through the city until arriving at the house containing the next Youngling on his list.

Cautiously entering via the roof, Bane looked down at a Gungan mother humming softly in what was clearly the babies room before gently laying a small bundle into a crib. She stayed there for several moments, rocking the bed back and forth until seemingly satisfied with her work and departing from the room.

Seeing that she was gone, Bane knew his window was short. But more than enough time for him to get in and snatch the baby out from the crib.

Dropping down into the room, Bane carefully crept over to the crib and upon seeing the bundle of blankets inside frowned. Narrowing his eyes, Bane removed the covers to find nothing more than a little stuffed toy inside.

'Looks like I've been duped.' Bane internally thought.

The sound of an igniting lightsaber from behind all but confirmed Bane's assessment of the situation.

"Don't move, Sleemo." Ahsoka Tano declared, wielding her emerald blade.

"You weren't the child I was expecting to find." Bane mocked.

"Obviously."

"You're quite clever-"

"And you're outnumbered."

Bane's head turned sharply to the ceiling above where he saw Spider-man comfortably sitting up there.

Somehow, from behind the crib, the familiar face of the impersonator from his Senate job appeared with her guns trailed on his head.

And after a gust of air blowing past him from behind, Bane shifted his head to see Quicksilver standing beside Ahsoka with his arms crossed.

Bane grit his teeth, slowly raising his arms in surrender when he bent his right hand back. From seemingly nowhere, smoke erupted around him.

Quicksilver didn't hesitate, zipping the round the room twice to clear out the smoke. Peter, who had remained on the ceiling saw Bane fly out through the opening in the roof.

Spider-man made chase and fired webbing at Bane's boot thrusters.

He began falling to the ground but had already trailed his blaster at Peter who swiftly dodged all the blaster fire.

Getting ready to land, Bane felt the wind get knocked out of him when Anakin had run up atop the roof and tackled him down to the ground below.

Groaning, Bane had looked up to see all five of his captors staring down at him with Ahsoka holding her lightsaber up to his face.

"Looks like I win." Ahsoka declared with Bane only glaring in defeat.

Bane was quickly cuffed and before he was taken away, Ahsoka made it a point to grab her Padawan braid charm off of his belt.

"I think this belongs to me." She said pointedly, reattaching it to her head.

Bane only huffed with Anakin and Nat shoving him to get moving.

Ahsoka looked over to the Gungan mother who held her child in her arms. Peter was next to her, looking at the young baby with open awe.

"Wow." He muttered quietly, smiling broadly as the Gungan child grasped his hand while cooing at him. "She's adorable."

The Gungan mother smiled, turning to Ahsoka who gave them both a reassuring smile of her own.

"Your daughter is safe now." Ahsoka assured, caressing the baby's side which made the baby laugh happily.

"Do you really believe that?" Bane yelled out, startling the child.

He suddenly found his mouth covered by a rag, blinking as he bit down on fabric that wasn't there before.

Bane looked forward to seeing Pietro dust his hands off giving the Duros a bored look.

"Are you finished?" Pietro asked dryly.

Cad Bane only growled while Anakin chortled aloud, sending a look of approval towards the speedster before taking him away.

It didn't take long for them to return back to a Republic fleet, Anakin's being the one they used when arriving on Naboo.

Cad Bane was seated in the holding cell of the _Resolute,_ hands cuffed to the table. Around him was Plo Koon, Mace Windu and Natasha Romanoff.

He had kept his head down, the single light within the room shining down upon him.

"As of now, we know you have taken two children." Plo Koon said with a calm steel to his tone. "Where have you taken them?"

"Beyond your reach." Bane said curtly.

"Who are you working for?" Windu inquired.

"I work alone." Bane answered.

"Bane, you and I both know that that is the biggest load of bullshit to fly out of your mouth." Widow said from her corner of the room. "I don't know what this Holo-thing is entirely but you stole it from the _Jedi Temple._ Pretty sure that's one of the last places you'd ever want to steal from."

"You're the last one to say anything to me, "Shataan"." Bane snarled at her. "Don't think I've forgotten your little deception on Coruscant."

"Oh how my heart aches at the loss of comrades." Nat said sarcastically.

"You must realize that you are only delaying the inevitable." Plo stated. "We will retrieve the Holocron you stole. Just tell us where it is. Make it easier on yourself."

"And what will you do about it, Jedi?" Bane taunted. "Torture me?"

"They may not." Nat clenched her fists, electricity crackling from her wrists. "But I sure can."

Bane only glared at her with the Avenger stepping forward.

"Romanoff." Windu said sharply as silent means of telling her to back down in a manner all too similar to Nick Fury.

However, this wasn't Nick Fury. And this sure as hell wasn't SHIELD.

Not waiting for another response, she punched the Duros in the side all while sending a powerful jolt of electricity that caused Bane to yell out in pain.

"Hey." Windu pulled her away. "That is not how the Jedi do things."

"I'm not a Jedi, remember?" Nat shot back challengingly. "And aren't you trying to save two babies that have been kidnapped by this scumbag? You know you need him to talk."

"Enough." Plo Koon cut in. "Now is not the time for dissension amongst us. We have more pressing matters to attend to right now."

Both Avenger and Jedi stared each other down before the latter of the two reigned himself in, turning back to Bane who had crossed his arms with an amused grin on his face.

Narrowing his eyes at him, Windu walked around the Duros with measured steps.

"You are a strong-willed bounty hunter, Bane." Windu said. "I shall give you that much. But your thoughts betray you. I believe your fear of who you work for overpowers your fear of us."

Bane's grin turned into a frown, with him leaning back into the shadows.

"This conversation is over."

Narrowing his eyes, Windu inclined his head to leave the holding cell having seen Anakin with his Padawan and the other two Avengers that had accompanied them on this mission.

"We tore the ship apart." Anakin informed the trio that had interrogated Bane. "But there were no kids or the Holocron."

"Have you checked the ships navigation systems?" Windu inquired.

"We did and it's been wiped clean." Anakin stated bitterly.

"He must have done it before arriving at Naboo." Ahsoka added.

"So what do we do now?" Peter asked. "What does he even want with babies?"

"Well he's a bounty hunter who is also a gigantic asshole." Pietro said plainly. The Clones standing guard barely managed to hold back their chuckles.

"So wild guess, it's something super sinister and generically evil that needs to be stopped." Pietro declared with finality.

"Then that begs the question, how do we get him to talk?" Plo asked the group.

"Perhaps the Force could be used to make him talk." Anakin said, glaring at the cell containing the captured Bounty Hunter.

"Bane isn't some ordinary bounty hunter." Plo countered. "I fear a simple mind trick will not have any effect upon him."

"Mind trick?" Pietro perked up. "What's that?"

Anakin gave a quick explanation. "Basically, we could use the Force on those of weak mind or will to… _influence_ individuals into doing something they wouldn't usually do."

"Right, that's totally different from torture." Nat dryly said. "Just bypass free will, why dontcha?"

"It is a much more complicated matter then that, Ms. Romanoff." Plo Koon said placatingly.

"What if we all concentrated on his mind together?" Ahsoka suggested. "If three or four of us can use the Force to draw out the answer, could it work?"

"Hmm. Using the Force to compel a strong mind to cooperate is… risky."

"There is a danger that his mind could be destroyed in the process." Windu added.

The alarm on Pietro and Peter's faces were clear.

"Wait, what?" Peter interjected. "Destroy his mind?"

"Do we have any other choice?"

"I vote for any other choice." Pietro said before jabbing his thumb to Natasha. "I'd go back to whatever interrogation methods she has up her sleeves rather than destroying Bane's mind."

"Thank you." Nat briefly said.

"Children's lives are at stake right now, guys." Anakin argued. "I know it's not pretty but we have to do this."

"But destroying a mind?" Peter reiterated. "I thought you guys were peace-keepers, not lobotomizers."

Ahsoka and Koon actually gave the young hero a stare with the former cringing at feeling a bit called out at the moment.

Plo Koon sighed wearily, placing a hand upon the New York natives shoulder.

"If that does happen, then we shall claim responsibility for this matter." Plo said gently.

Peter's eyes abruptly steeled up, narrowing at the Jedi.

"Responsibility, huh?" Peter said rhetorically. He wanted to stop this, but right now wasn't his place to do so much as he internally loathed to admit it.

Instead, he promptly turned and left with Pietro joining him a moment after.

"Is there something wrong?" Ahsoka inquired.

Natasha released a small sigh. "There are things that trigger all of us in some shape or form. And despite not knowing Parker that long, _responsibility_ must be a big one."

Now that she thought about it, Ahsoka recalled a conversation with Barriss and Peter back at the temple with Peter reacting rather strangely to that word. What did it mean to him?

"As much as I hate to do this, we need to do this." Anakin said, now feeling a bit guilty considering the reaction he just saw from Peter.

Nodding at Skywalker, Windu followed by Anakin and Plo entered the cell once more with Ahsoka and Nat standing behind them.

The three Jedi stood before Cad Bane with the Duros looking at them in slight confusion.

Closing his eyes, Skywalker raised his hand first.

Channeling the Force, Anakin spoke. "You will take us to the holocron."

Bane scoffed. "Jedi mind tricks don't work on me."

Plo Koon then joined in, repeating the same action Skywalker is doing as they spoke in synch. "You will take us to the holocron."

This time, the Duros bounty hunter was starting to feel something. He started shaking his head, which throbbed a bit more with each passing second.

"Forget it."

Soon Mace Windu finally joined in as all three elder Jedi focused hard. "You will take us to the holocron."

Bane was struggling more and more now as he was having a migraine. "I… I… I won't!"

"And you will take us _**NOW**_!"

Bane started slipping, heavily breathing at this point. "I… I will take you." He then snapped out of it, realizing he was submitting to them. "NO! GET OUT OF MY HEAD!"

From her spot, Ahsoka started to look on in worry. She saw the bounty hunter having his veins pulse upon his head as he fought against the mind trick.

Soon enough the male Jedi released their hold on Bane, causing him to collapse onto the interrogation table. He panted heavily with his veins slowly receding back.

Seeing they had no luck; Anakin voiced an idea. "Perhaps we should try… _again_."

Ahsoka was about to voice her concern when the bounty hunter seemingly gave in.

"I… I've had enough of that." He breathed out. "I'll take you… to the holocron." Looking up, Ahsoka could possibly see he was glaring at the elder Jedi. "You'll get your children back."

Soon enough, Bane was being escorted by a Clone squad led by Commander Wolffe and Ponds with the Jedi and Widow being joined by Pietro and Peter.

The assembled group of Jedi and Avengers stood in the hangar bay of the _Resolute,_ thinking on Cad Bane's words.

"He's taking us to the Holocron." Windu said. "But he spoke of unfinished business on Jedha."

"What does that mean?" Ahsoka asked.

"Something much more dangerous than we had anticipated." Plo Koon said grimly. "Something we have foolishly not considered."

"Which is?" Pietro inquired.

"He had access to the Holocron." Plo stated. "Information that he could have easily documented and sent out to whomever it was that employed him."

A stark realization began settling upon the assembled group.

"Which means he could have others going after the other kids." Anakin said aloud in frustration.

"More specifically, Jedha." Windu said ominously. "We were foolish not to consider this. And it's been bothering me since Coruscant."

"What?"

"The Dark Side." Mace said in a foreboding manner. "It may have claimed two children on the list, but it has yet to claim another. But it is moving. And whoever is pursuing this one… they are not alone."

"Then what do we do?" Peter asked calmly, having been a bit guarded after leaving the holding cells.

"We're going to have to split up." Anakin stated. "One team goes to Jedha to secure the child located there. One goes to retrieve the holocron while another tries to find where the kidnapped children are at."

"Bane would be foolish in having the Holocron and the children in the same place." Plo stated. "He will have undoubtedly kept them separate."

"But he deleted all his navigations." Ahsoka countered. "How can we find them?"

"There's bound to be clues on his ship." Natasha stated. "No matter how well he scrubbed his systems, there's some things that could be overlooked."

"Then what's the plan?" Pietro asked.

"Plo and I will go with Bane to retrieve the Holocron." Mace stepped forward. "Anakin, the kids will have to be found by you since you know ship navigations better than most."

"That leaves Jedha." Nat said. "So who's going there?"

"Jedha." Plo Koon hummed to himself. "If I recall correctly, Jedi Knight Aayla Secura is only a system away from that planet."

"Ahsoka, contact Aayla and inform her of the situation." Anakin instructed his Padawan. "You won't be alone in getting to that kid and keeping it out of the hands of whoever is going Jedha."

"Are you sure Master?" Ahsoka asked nervously.

"I'll go to." Peter stepped forward with a determined expression.

"And me three." Natasha added, leaning her elbow on the web-heads shoulder. "You guys need at least one adult."

"Then I'll stick with you for now, Anakin." Pietro said. "Will need help getting those kids out quickly when the time comes, right?"

"If you say so." Though he still gave the speedster an appreciative nod.

"Then let's get moving." Mace said, turning to enter the ship that was prepared for them.

"Masters." Anakin halted them momentarily. "The two of you could be walking into a trap."

"Of course it's a trap." Windu said expectantly. "And we're gonna spring it."

"You sure you guys don't need more help?" Peter asked. Despite the earlier interactions between them all in regards to the whole Force mind manipulations, he wasn't so petty as to be unconcerned with their own mission.

"We shall be fine, Mr. Parker." Plo assured. "For now, we can only do what we must and be prepared for whatever comes our way."

Plo turned to enter the shuttle Commander Wolffe had prepared with Cad Bane being shoved inside.

Knowing that time was short, the group began dispersing amongst themselves with Ahsoka's team going to the bridge of the Resolute to make contact with Aayla while Pietro and Anakin remained behind going over to Banes acquired ship to find a means of tracking down the kidnapped children.

_-Scene Cut-_

In the hangar, Skywalker was in Bane's cockpit as he went through the systems for the umpteenth time. Maximoff, however, had to slow things down considerably when inspecting the ship's exterior.

"What are you doing?" Pietro inquired, looking at the map that Anakin brought up when scanning Bane's ship.

"Trying to figure out another way of tracking Bane's ship routes." Anakin said, inputting several commands as it highlighted multiple planets that Bane had been to. "R2, can you keep adjusting the lines?"

"So, there's got to be another way to track him right? Cause it sure seems like it." Pietro said leaning on the ship before getting off it a moment later. His entire sleeve was covered in black dust.

"What the hell is this guy's deal?" Pietro remarked, patting the dust off his arm. "Don't know if the guy bothers cleaning his ship or not but damn, there's quite a lot of soot caked here."

Hearing this detail gave Anakin an idea.

"R2."

The Astromech droid beeped in confirmation, sharing the idea with his friend.

"What you got?"

"For one, putting down the locations on where Bane took the kids. Need to see the intersecting distances between them. Something us Jedi use when tracking down smugglers, only once getting all the information. And nothing seemed to jump out until you pointed out the soot."

"What does that mean?"

"Bane may have erased all his navigation routes, but his fuel routes on the other hand-" A new planet had appeared in between Rodia and Naboo.

"What's that one?"

"Mustafar."

"Mufasa?"

"Mustafar." Anakin corrected. "It's a planet way off the midrim. It's a mining world, very remote. Often used as a fueling world."

"What's it like?"

"Lot of molten ash, lava and volcanoes to say the least. And with the soot, it's the only place that comes to mind as to where the kids might be located.

"Sounds like fun." Pietro sarcastically said. "Hell, sounds like a generic evil bad guy fortress he'd use from those old movies on Earth."

"Heh~ Still would like to see those to see if you guys are right on certain elements." Shaking his head, Anakin jumped out of the cockpit and headed towards the Twilight. "For now, Mustafar is the best lead we got."

"Think we'll find anything there? Or anyone?" Pietro inquired.

"Depends if we get there soon enough."

_-Scene Cut-_

Plo Koon and Mace Windu, accompanied by Commanders Ponds and Wolffe were seated around the captured bounty hunter making sure he wouldn't try anything to escape.

The coordinates given to them by the Duros bounty hunter had led them to a secluded asteroid belt where they eventually found a safe house station hiding in plain sight. It could not be accessed through larger ships, thus Plo Koon and Windu had to take a small transport in order to get inside.

"This is rather far into the outer rim, Bane." Plo said calmly, connecting their transport to the station's hull. "We are in neutral space if memory serves me correctly."

"In case this part of your memory fails you, have you forgotten about the war going on across the galaxy?" Bane countered rhetorically. "Business is booming for bounty hunters but there's still a matter of keeping one's self alive in all this madness. Now, do you want your holocron back or not?"

Mace and Plo shared a look, turning back to their Clone Commanders with nods to keep the ship running just in case of anything.

With the connection properly secured, the doors opened up. Bane was forced to go on ahead of the two Jedi Masters in case if the bounty hunter was going to lead them astray.

Coming across an elevator, the three stepped onboard the platform as they were all raised an unspecified number of levels.

"I do not sense any children nearby." Plo noted.

"Neither do I." Mace said in grim agreement.

"Why would I leave them here?" Bane asked in a deadpan. "Does this place look like your typical daycare?"

Mace only gave the Duros a stern glare, unaffecting Bane.

"Regardless..." Bane nodded his head over, prompting the two Jedi to look over. "There is your precious holocron."

In the darkness, the two Jedi Masters saw a recognizable blue light at the far corner of the room.

"Let me get it for you."

"Unnecessary." Plo held him by the shoulder and extended his other hand. The Holocron jolted slightly before sailing into the Kel-Dor's awaiting hand.

Suddenly an alarm went off in the room, blaring sounds going alongside flashing lights.

"What the-?"

"What did you do?"

"Touch sensors, Jedi." Bane stated, eying several compartments opening up. "Keyed to my signature which only I can safely remove."

Wasn't long before a number of turrets came out and aimed directly towards the Jedi.

"And only I can be safe from my defensive measures."

Both ignited their lightsabers as security beams surrounded and directed their lasers at them.

Rushing away from them, Bane went to a section of a nearby wall and pressed a series of keys. With the sequence made, a door opened up for him to enter.

"So long, Jedi." Bane taunted before closing the entryway.

"No you don't, bounty hunter." Said the Kel-Dorian Jedi, rushing forward.

While Mace had taken out several of the security beams, Plo moved to pursue halting when someone was waiting for Bane on the other side of the door.

It was another Bounty Hunter that fired several bolts at the Jedi who swiftly deflected them when he felt himself abruptly get pushed back.

"Took you long enough."

"Please, you didn't wait that long for me Aurra." Bane drawled out.

"Whatever." Aurra shook her head, seating herself as the two prepared to make their escape.

"An'ya Kuro would be sorely disappointed in you, Aurra." Plo called out to her, making the former Jedi seize up and hiss in anger.

"Don't you dare speak her name in front of me!" Firing off several rounds, Aurra growled with utmost hate. "She left me to rot, in case you council members forgot!"

"We don't have time for this." Bane promptly closed the door and slammed an emergency button which closed the door and launched the escape pod they resided in away from the ship.

Taking out the remainder of the security beams, both Jedi stared at the door where Bane had escaped to.

"We have gotten the Holocron." Plo held up the cube. "But… it still feels like we failed."

"I fear in this war, that will be a common occurrence." Mace stated with grim countenance.

With their mission well and complete, the two Jedi Council members departed from the ship safehouse.

_-Scene Cut-_

Inside of a certain station on Mustafar, three infants were crying as several droids were scanning them and running tests.

One Astromech in particular was projecting a holo-communication of a particular Lord of the Sith.

"There, there." Darth Sidious said softly to the Rodian boy. "Soon you will cry no more."

A droid rolled up to the holo-projection and gave off a report. "Master, subjects of this age rarely survive the slave conditioning procedure. If we were to do this when they are older-"

"I'm afraid the risk is necessary." Sidious interrupted as he eyed the Nautolan boy, the Rodian boy and lastly a human girl in their cage-like cribs. "The natural talent these children possess is too great to be wasted by the Jedi. I foresee an army of Force-talented spies in my service, trained in the dark side to peer into every corner of the galaxy from afar." Coming close to the human female infant, he released a chuckle. "And my enemies would be helpless against such vision." Turning back to the droid, he gave an off caring wave. "But if the surgery fails, I will have lost nothing."

As the Dark Lord continued his inspections of the children, the door to the room opened with a grown man walking in.

"My Lord."

"Ah, Tol Skorr." Darth Sidious greeted the newcomer, his Astromech droid coming over with Skorr going down to one knee. "I am most pleased with Dooku being able to send you on such short notice."

"What is thy bidding, Lord Sidious?" The fallen Jedi Knight inquired.

"There is a great deal that must be done, acolyte." Sidious stated. "These younglings shall be the future of the Sith order and must be watched over while the droids conduct their surgeries. Mustafar may be remote, but the Jedi can be cunning and find other methods of tracking them down."

"Thy will shall be done, master." Skorr promised getting a satisfied nod from the Dark Lord who then turned back to the droids.

"Start making preparations."

All the while, Anakin and Pietro were making their way through Hyperspace before at long last arriving at their destination.

"So this is Mustafar? Sure looks cheerful."

"Yeah, great beachside." Anakin remarked. "R2, prepared the landing cycles."

Everything was ready for the operation to finally commence. Yet before the devices could be placed onto the infants, a droid came up to the fallen Jedi and his Sith master.

"A starship is approaching and it's not the bounty hunter."

"Could it be the Jedi?" Skorr inquired.

"Must be." Sidious turned his attention towards the acolyte. "Secure the children and transport them to the secondary facility before resuming the procedure there. I'm afraid this installation is lost. And all evidence must not fall onto the Jedi's hands."

"Of course, my master."

"Turn off the gravity supports and let the building sink into the lava."

With the holo-projection ending, Skorr went onto his task in getting the orders met.

The Twilight landed on empty pad, with Pietro, Anakin and R2 walking out.

Pietro could barely restrain himself. "Jesus fuck, it's like we stepped into hell itself."

Anakin shrugged his shoulders. "An… apt description."

"Sure hope this is the right place." Pietro said, glaring at the facility before them.

"We're about to find out."

R2 went ahead of them both, accessing the control panel to open the door for them.

Walking inside, Pietro grimaced at the dimly lit hallway.

"Yeah, this isn't creepy or ominous at all." Pietro stated. "My gut is telling me there's some nasty stuff in here."

"The Force." Anakin said slowly. "The Dark Side is strong here."

"Meaning?"

"This is the place."

Traversing through the corridor, Pietro soon heard a faint cry of a baby.

"Did you hear that?"

"I did, Pietro." Anakin closed his eyes and focused on the sound. After several moments, he located where it originated. "Down this way!"

Pietro sped on ahead with Anakin using the Force to help him try to catch up to the Avenger. The sounds were becoming a bit more noticeable now as both men drew near.

Coming to a closed off room, Anakin ignited his lightsaber and used it to cut open a hole. From behind, Pietro was stepping in place as he was ready to rush in there and take back the stolen kids at a moment's notice.

The moment the large slab of metal fell onto the ground, Pietro ran inside with Anakin jumping in with his weapon still ignited to help light up part of the chamber.

Entering the room, both were tense as it was dark making it very hard to see.

The Sokovian saw the cribs were empty and snarled slightly.

"Dammit." Pietro stomped his foot. "We're too late."

"I don't think-"

The sound of a baby crying out in the room caused both men to whirl around at a Nautolan baby being held by a nurse droid that charged straight at Anakin.

To Pietro, the droid was moving in slow motion with him already zipping right at the droid. With a high-speed elbow to the head, the droid shattered and the child was held securely in his hands.

"Be careful of the younglings." Anakin said, blinking at the rather sudden set of movements.

"You think I'd hurt a baby? Are you daft?"

"I know, but come on, we're in a tight space."

"Anakin Skywalker."

Anakin aimed his lightsaber at the sudden noise while Pietro held the Nautolan in one arm.

Before the two stood an individual garbed in a set of armor and robes while wielding a crimson red lightsaber. Behind him stood another droid, carrying the Rodian baby.

And in the grasp of this man was the last youngling.

"Well this is just great." Pietro muttered out. "And who the hell are you supposed to be?"

Anakin's eyes squinted at the man. That hair, the scar on his right eye.

"I… I know you. You're Tol Skorr. Weren't you supposed to have died on Korriban?"

Pietro was rather confused at this point. "Say what now?"

"Pleased to know that someone with a growing prestige like yourself would recognize one of his brothers."

"Brother?" Pietro said in bewilderment. "This guy is your brother?!"

"Not like that." Anakin said in a steady tone before addressing the former Jedi General. "How did you survive?"

"Why Count Dooku, of course."

"Dooku." Anakin's eyes narrowed. "You've fallen to the Dark Side."

"Not fallen." Skorr said calmly. "Saved. Enlightened. Awakened to the true potential and face of the Force. Not like the dogmatic and stagnant dictatorship of the Jedi."

"You would turn on those that helped you become who you are?" Anakin growled.

"Have I? It is Count Dooku who helped me in my greatest time of need." Tol said firmly. "It was Count Dooku that showed me my true path through the Force, not the Jedi."

Skorr held up his crimson blade.

"And it is with Dooku's power and training, that I shall defeat you Skywalker."

"Wow, that wasn't generic at all." Pietro taunted. "Did you practice in front of the mirror to get that just right or was it all natural?"

Skorr regarded the Avenger.

"And who are you supposed to be?" Skorr inquired with an uninterested tone. He had seen the man move at extraordinary speeds but he didn't look like much.

"Someone who's about to get the kids back and kick your ass." Pietro stated determinedly.

"Isn't it usually one requesting the return of a child before threatening violence?"

"No, I'm still gonna kick the shit out of you." Pietro said plainly. "You're holding a baby hostage. As an Avenger, not gonna lie, we don't take too kindly to those types of actions."

At the mention of the word Avenger, Tol's demeanor changed making him vastly more guarded.

Stretching his connection out with the Force, Skorr's nostrils flared as he felt the familiar sensation he had that every Force-Sensitive experienced those few weeks ago. His Master had informed him of these Avengers being the source of and for one to stand before him right now.

He was not going to take this lightly.

"Wait, why am I even standing here?"

In an instant, had it not been for Skorr's last second reflexes, the other droid was promptly destroyed with the Rodian baby firmly held in Pietro's other arm.

Quicksilver grinned smugly at the fallen Jedi when the entire facility jolted abruptly.

Warnings blared at the nearby screens with the gravity systems were failing. The floors creaked with the heat starting to affect the installation. And in a quick turn of events, the floor started to collapse.

"Oh crap." Pietro said, stumbling slightly.

Seeing this, Skorr leapt forward at the speedster with his lightsaber swinging downward only for him to be intercepted by Anakin.

Anakin shoved the blade back and moved to swing when Skorr brazenly held the baby before him with the baby crying.

Hesitating, Skorr used the moment to Force push Anakin into Pietro who barely managed to keep himself standing and the kids from getting hurt.

Suddenly, the floor beneath Skorr collapsed with the acolyte deactivating his lightsaber and quickly grabbing onto a wire that had luckily been hanging from the ceiling.

Seeing his opportunity, Anakin used the force to pull the baby out from Skorr's hand and safely tossed the other children into the Avenger's reach. The Sokovian quickly grasped the final child and tried to calm it down.

"Pietro! Get the kids outta here!"

"What about you?!"

"I'll hold off Tol while you get back to the Twilight!"

"But-"

"Just go!" Anakin yelled, blocking another strike from the fallen Jedi.

As much as he wanted to help beat the Jedi traitor to a bloody pulp, Pietro had to get the recovered kids to safety.

"You just come back in one piece, alright?"

Without waiting any further, the Sokovian ran through the hole and through the corridors.

Tol in the meantime had swung back from the cable he had held onto back to more stable footing and reignited his lightsaber.

Skorr tried to go after the Avenger, but Skywalker was blocking his way in getting back his master's test subjects.

"Get out of my way, Skywalker."

"Over my dead body."

"That can be arranged."

Skorr dived forward, his crimson blade clashing with Skywalker's azure one. The Jedi shoved back and swung horizontally with Tol parrying the swing.

An overhead strike was deflected by Anakin with Skorr then smacking away a spinning swing before the two were locked into a momentary stalemate.

"You're strong Skywalker, but oh you should feel the Dark Side." Skorr goaded. "It's power is limitless just as much as its possibilities. Think about it. How restrictive and antiquated the Jedi have become."

"Easy talk from a willing fool who follows a Sith Lord bent on power." Skywalker shot back.

"Master Dooku seeks only truth." Tol snarled out, his loyalty for the former Jedi Master coming out. "I owe him my life, my existence, my-GAH."

In the midst of the Acolyte ranting, Anakin had headbutted him in the face and would have gotten in a good swipe had it not been for the collapsing floor.

Making it to the Twilight, Pietro saw R2 give off a series of sounds which gave off a worried tone.

Pietro figured the Astromech was wondering where his Jedi companion was at.

"Anakin told me to get over here with the kids." Said the Avenger. Speeding throughout the Twilight, he quickly made makeshift cribs to properly hold the infants before settling them in. "Right now, we need to get this ship ready to head out for his return."

Anakin had jumped back to the corridor with Skorr swiftly following after him and the two engaged in a heated clash of Lightsabers with Anakin primarily on the defensive. Skorr's attacks were wild but not uncoordinated as he had to move within the confines of the hallway.

All around them, the facility was falling apart with wires and debris beginning to litter the area.

Back on the Twilight, the ship was all set and ready for lift off with a very impatient Pietro and a trio of crying children.

"God Dammit Anakin, what is taking you?" Pietro said frustratedly.

R2 let out a series of whistles and beeps.

"Yeah, like I can understand anything you just said."

The Astromech droid only responded with an affronted chirp.

"Aw forget this waiting."

Quicksilver had dashed out of the Twilight back to the facility.

Anakin and Skorr were grinding their Lightsabers against each other, trying to get the upper hand but to no avail.

That was until Skorr found himself struck back violently by a fast traveling blur that now had his arm on Anakin's back and head.

"We really don't have time for this Anakin." Said an exasperated voice.

"PietrOOOOOOOOOOO"

Anakin was whisked away, leaving a befuddled and now endangered Tol Skorr who realized he was now alone and had to move fast if he were to survive the collapsing installation.

Anakin found himself in the Twilight, slightly dazed.

"Anakin." Pietro was by his side. "Come on, let's go."

"Uh… Oh, right, right."

The Twilight lifted off in time just as the landing pad beneath it fell apart with the rest of the facility following suit.

Off upon the craggy rocks that littered around the collapsing station, Tol Skorr stood looking upon the ship that ascended up and out from the planet's atmosphere.

Grimacing, the dark acolyte knew that neither Dooku nor Sidious will take kindly to this failure.

_-Scene Cut-_

Ahsoka stood within an LAAT gunship that was a part of a small contingent of other gunships having been accompanied by the Torrent squadron of the 501st as well as Blitz Squadron of Aayla's 327th star corps.

With her was Spider-man, Black Widow, Aayla, Rex, Commander Bly and Domino Squad.

After hearing of pursuers going after Force-sensitive children, Aayla would rather not take any chances. A sentiment shared with Ahsoka and the Avengers.

The city where they were going to was a particularly large one and even with the Force it may prove to be difficult in tracking down this youngling. The Force had told them that the child was still here on the planet but the unending nervousness was something Aayla pinned on the Dark side.

Whomever it was that was sent to take this particular child were either on their way to Jedha or were already there.

The gunships began touching down upon the city of NiJedha with the occupants quickly exiting.

"Remember, our objective is to find and secure the child." Aayla ordered, being the senior Jedi Knight. "We must be wary of the other forces sent here in acquiring the youngling. Bly, take Cameron, Flash and Lucky and have Widow accompany you. Inspect the southern section of the city."

"Yes general." Bly complied.

"Try to keep up, boys." Nat teased, already running off with the Clones following after her.

"Captain Rex, have your men divided up into two groups and search throughout the northern parts of the city." Aayla ordered, with Rex nodding.

"Jesse, Echo, Hardcase, you're with me." Rex instructed. "Fives, Cutup, Hevy, Kix, take the eastern portion."

"Everyone stay in touch." Aayla told the entire group, speaking to Ahsoka and Peter directly and on comms to the others. "If anything seems out of the ordinary, report immediately."

"I'll be our eye in the sky." Peter said, leaping up into the air and swinging away to the west.

"That leaves the two of us for the east." Aayla said to Ahsoka, with the two breaking off into a run towards their destination.

Traversing through the city was a little difficult. It was really packed, mostly due to the time of day and there not being any major cities on the planet.

"Almost reminds me of New York." Peter noted, swinging through the many buildings the city held. "Well if New York had a baby with the wilderness of the Midwest back on Earth."

He had jumped from rooftop to rooftop, swinging in between buildings startling many who had caught sight of the web-head.

Widow in the meantime had been more discreet, informing Bly she'll stick to the crowds and shadows to be their watchful eye since their armor sticks out so much.

Rex and his group had already reported finding nothing other than a few monks telling them that the area had been relatively quiet.

Ahsoka and Aayla were walking side by side within the crowded streets of Jedha.

"So what's so special about the temple stationed here?" Ahsoka asked. "Been meaning to ask."

"This was a sacred place for the Jedi and still is." Aayla answered. "Many Jedi have come before when seeking out spiritual guidance, Jedha being one of the main planets for such a task. The inhabitants who live here have long been under the protection of the Jedi and those who follow the ways of our order and the Force."

"Whoa~" Ahsoka murmured in awe. "I had no idea this place held such significance."

"It's not just that, but the Jedha temple was also called the Temple of the Kyber or the Kyber temple."

"Like the Kyber crystals?"

"Yes."

"And why call it that?"

"Because it's a location where one can acquire Kyber crystals, of course."

"But I thought only Illum had Kyber crystals." Ahsoka said in confusion.

"And who said they are _only_ found there?"

"...No one."

"There are other places in the galaxy one can acquire them." Aayla informed the young padawan. "Illum is just more notable as the most common place in acquiring a Kyber crystal, Ahsoka."

Ahsoka nodded as the Twi'lek Jedi continued her educational lecture.

"Jedha has long been a part of the order with many believing this is one of the first worlds where the Force was studied more extensively then most." Aayla said. "I have actually been here my-Oop."

"My apologies."

"No, the fault is my own." Aayla said to the individual she had bumped into.

He was a middle-aged man, possibly late 20's or early 30's wearing shades upon his head and grasping a walking stick. It was easy for the Twi'lek Knight to discern that he was blind.

"I am sorry for not paying attention." Aayla said apologetically.

"It's quite alright, ma'am." Spoke the blind man. "It's just rather crowded today."

"Would you like some assistance, sir?" Ahsoka offered.

"No, I believe I would be alright. Just got turned around, that's all. But thanks for asking, though." The man then walked off, leaving the two.

"We found something." Widow's voice chimed in through the comms. "Got a shifty group of pirates and they are armed to the teeth here."

"Are you certain?" Aayla asked.

"We are, general." Bly responded this time. "They aren't exactly being discreet about whatever it is they are doing."

"What do you all think?" Aayla asked the entire group.

"We're here to make sure that a baby that's strong with the Force is safe and there's a big group of pirates who look like they're ready for a fight." Cameron of the Blitz squad chimed in. "I'd bet our money on this here for the time being."

The rest of the Clones and Spider-man had all voiced their agreements with Aayla nodding. She and Ahsoka then turned and began sprinting with Bly sending out their location.

"Then hold your positions, Bly." Aayla said.

"They're moving." Bly spoke up.

"What now?" Ahsoka asked.

From their end, Bly, Flash, Cameron, Lucky and Nat all watched as the pirates composed of Niktos, Humans, Twi'leks and several other species were all moving about, performing the same action around a bunker area.

"They're packing up and… I don't know, I don't see-"

"Who's that?" Widow inquired, gesturing her head in the direction of two individuals in black robes. "They sure look mighty suspicious."

"Let's see what they're on about." Bly said, having his hand hovering over his pistols.

"Still any sign of where the child is?" Aayla asked from her end as she and Ahsoka kept running.

"Should I check?" Spider-man inquired, landing on an antenna from a blind spot where the pirates and two new arrivals were unable to see. "I could come in from above. Or sneak in through the roof."

"That does sound like a good plan." Ahsoka remarked.

"I wouldn't just yet." Rex chimed in. "Kid, down here."

Spider glanced down and saw Rex with his group of Clones all sticking to the alleyways.

"If you go in from above, there's still a chance of you getting spotted from inside. That suit isn't exactly stealthy." Rex stated.

"What? This suit is totally stealthy."

"Yeah, if they're as blind as a mynock."

Spidey sniffled a little. "Hurtful. Just hurtful…. Then again, what's a Mynock?"

"I'm seeing something." The Clone Trooper Lucky spoke up. Behind him with his blaster resting on his shoulder was Cameron.

"And?"

"Eh… Don't know what's being said between the two groups." Stated the clone. "And now the pirates are aiming their blasters at them and about to open fire."

"We made a deal with your "Lord" Dooku." One of the Pirates barked aloud in a sneer. "Now either you pay in full here and now or you're not getting the kid."

"Okay _noooow_ we can hear them."

"What's up with all the mumbles?"

"Don't ask."

"Will you shut it."

"Sorry."

The two robed figures shared a look, with one of them removing their hoods to reveal a feminine face with spiked horns.

"My Master Dooku will not tolerate such treachery." The Zabrak female stated with a fiery tone. "I would figure that Pirates as your reputation would at least attempt to hold up some form of honor upon agreements."

"Then you're looking for Hondo's stupid crew." One of the Twi'leks barked out. "But he ain't here and we got the little brat first."

"Careful how you speak to us." The other hooded figure said, voice deep and scratchy.

"Or what you'l-URK."

Suddenly, the Pirate that was sneering at them seized up reaching for his throat.

Not liking where this was going, one of the pirates ran up and pulled off a tarp to reveal a blaster turret. Hopping on, he quickly turned on the weapon before he started firing upon the two arrivals.

Said arrivals ran out of the way, avoiding the incoming volley of blaster fire.

The Republic forces wondered what will become of them.

That was until one of them ignited a green lightsaber, reflected and parried the incoming fire and used the Force to swerve the pirate's aiming to attack his fellow crew members.

"Okay so the bunker is closing up." Echo said, informing the others. "Won't be able to get inside until later."

The clones were about to jump in and stop what was happening when the sounds of boots stomping came near. Looking around, they all saw they were surrounded by more pirates.

"Hold it, you nerf-herders." Spoke a human pirate.

"We got ya surrounded." Spoke a Twi'lek one.

"Easy." Cameron calmly said. "We are not here for any trouble. We are just here for the kid you got. No need to shoot each other out."

"Like we're parting ways with such a good meal ticket."

"Bet they are with those robbed freaks down there. "Said the Weequay pirate. "Gonna kill us when we least expect them."

The fellow crew members nodded at the assumption and were about to open fire, until...

"Let them pass in peace."

The Pirates that had surrounded the Clones turned to a man walking towards them with a walking stick.

"The hell is this guy's deal?" Muttered Flash.

"Stop right there." One of the Pirates stated, holding up his blaster which was ignored by the man.

"The Force is with me. And I am with the Force for I fear nothing." The man declared. "For all is, as the Force wills it. Let the men pass in peace. Their goal is one of righteous cause for which you impede."

"What is he deaf?" A Weequay pirate grunted.

"He's definitely blind." A human pirate added.

The man kept walking towards them undeterred by the sound of blasters now being raised in his directions, powering up to fire at him.

"Stop right th-GAH!"

From seemingly nowhere, a baton flew down and struck the pirate dead in his forehead making him fall back to the ground flat on his back.

This was all the blind man needed as he burst forward, swinging his walking stick at the nearest pirates whacking aside one in the face then jabbing another in the stomach.

The rest of the clones took the initiative in firing at the pirates that surrounded and soon enough the entire area broke down into a battlefield.

"Get to cover." Bly ordered his men.

"Come on grunts, move it." Rex said on his end, the Clones of the 501st rushing in to help their brothers.

While the Clones went for cover, the blind man tilted his head to the side, dodging the bolt sent at him which struck a pirate he was fighting. Kicking up dirt on the ground to the pirate from behind, he rushed over to him and gave out a series of strikes to the head, neck, chest and hip. With a finishing strike to the chin, he turned to face a half dozen more pirates that were now rushing at him.

And from the distance, blaster fire impacted the new set of pirates. The clones looked towards the source and saw a bearded man in unique looking armor holding a sniper rifle.

"You almost shot me!"

"You're welcome." Called out the sniper marksman.

"Boys, not now." Said a voice from above.

The Clones looked up in time to see what they thought was Spider-man swinging down to them yet it turned out to be someone else entirely.

At first, the Clones thought they were dealing with a Devaronian yet this proved to be false as they realized that it was actually a human wearing a helmet that had horns on it.

He was garbed in primarily black and red armor/clothing, though it looked like an unusual mixture of both.

"You folks alright?" Asked the newest arrival.

"Sure… And you are?" Bly said cautiously. These three helped them in this situation but they had no idea about their true intentions. They literally came out of nowhere.

"We, well, myself really and Baze here are the Guardians of the Whills." The blind man with the staff said. "This here is a recent friend of ours with a flair for the dramatic."

"Chirrut, you are the last person to tell me that after what you just pulled in helping these men."

It was by this point that the Avengers and Ahsoka arrived onto the scene. Each of them looked at the various dead or unconscious pirates sprawled about.

Before anything else could be said or done, Spiderman came swinging in and landed nearby.

"Whoa, what happened here?"

"The usual, Peter." The horned helmed man said calmly. "You know how it is."

The wall crawler directed his attention elsewhere and was about to speak when he saw an all too familiar visage.

"M-Matt?"

The man turned to have his helmet retract, revealing a familiar face to the New York native.

"Hey Peter." Murdock said with a wry grin.

"Wait." Ahsoka asked. "You know him, Peter?"

Peter had already gone over to the fellow superhero, hugging him immediately.

"Aw man, it's good to see you're ok Matt." Peter said in a relieved tone.

Matt only had his lip twitch upwards, patting the Queens teen on the back.

"Glad to know you're alright as well." Matt said, sharing in Peter's sentiment.

Peter then turned back to Ahsoka.

"Yeah, this is Matt Murdock; Daredevil and my Avengers recruit buddy."

"Well, at least we didn't have to wait _that_ long in finding another wayward Avenger." Black Widow said, walking up to the assembled group.

"Ah, the illustrious Natasha Romanoff." Said the Devil to the Widow.

"Matt."

"It's been a few years, hasn't it?"

"Wait, you two _know_ each other?" Parker asked in bewilderment. "How?"

"We need to get down there." Spoke one of the clone troopers. "All the pirates are dead down there."

"All the ones that we saw on the outside." Echo stated. "And the general just arrived."

"Story for another time then." Natasha said, running on ahead.

"We'll hold you to that." Peter said.

The group ran back to the pirates base, arriving in time to see Aayla defeating one of the pirates while the other two robed individuals fought off several others.

"Bly, Rex, take your men and secure the area." Aayla called out to them.

"Yes sir." the Clones quickly dispersed leaving them with the two clearly hostile duo.

"Stay back everyone." Aayla said, eyeing the two who were now walking up to them. "This is our fight."

"That sounds dumb." Nat voiced her opinion.

"For now, allow the Jedi to go about their duty." The blind monk Chirrut said.

"That sounds like an excuse." Peter said.

"There's movement." Daredevil spoke up, looking towards one of the directions. "Mechanical. Droids with tactics."

"Well that's convenient." Spider-man quipped just as blaster fire erupted nearby with Clones shouting for cover.

"We'll take care of the droids." Natasha spoke to the Jedi. "You two take care of them."

With the clones and Avengers taking care of the incoming threat, the two Jedi were now all alone with the only other people presently alive.

Ahsoka and Aayla stood together facing the female Zabrak and strange humanoid male beside her. Said man was covered almost from head to toe in dark armor with only the lower half of his face uncovered. The Zabrak held a green lightsaber while the armored male bore a red lightsaber.

It didn't take long to realize who these aligned themselves with.

"Kadrian." Aayla said softly, recognizing the Zabrak before her. "To think you have fallen to the Dark Side. Do you truly believe in such a man like Dooku?"

"Dooku holds greater wisdom and knowledge then any of those aged prunes that run the Council." Kadrian sneered.

"Wait, she was a Jedi?!" Ahsoka asked in disbelief.

"Ah, a poor young Padawan." The armored one taunted. "Brainwashed into servitude to a dying order."

"You…" Aayla regarded the humanoid. "You're not a Jedi."

"Never was." The armored man said, holding his blade up to her. "But, I am a man of principle. Bil Valen is my name. Remember it as it shall be the name of the one who killed you both."

"Wow, that wasn't generic at all." Ahsoka remarked, igniting her own emerald blade with Aayla lighting up azure lightsabers.

The four stood in tense silence, the sound of blaster fire happening all around them when Valen moved first. In a burst of speed, he went for Ahsoka with Aayla blocking the blade.

Ahsoka quickly returned the favor, holding back Kadrians own saber that was aimed at Aayla.

The four all pushed back against one another before Valen clashed with Ahsoka and Aayla with Kadrian.

Aayla altered her stance into the basic Djem So stance, parrying several swings before elbowing Kadrian in the face.

She attempted to cut through her but Kadrian was still aware, spinning her lightsaber to a backhand grip to block the blue blade. Pushing her off, Kadrian spun her blade in rapid succession from side to side with Aayla dodging and blocking with the best of her ability.

Noticing a small gap in between the transition from left to right, Aayla blocked one of the swings and force pushed Kadrian back.

Kadrian landed on the ground, though kicked up to her feet with a glare being leveled at Aayla who stood calmly. She held up her Lightsaber over her head before slowly lowering it to abdomen level.

"Don't do this Kadrian." Aayla said softly. "It's not too late. Come back to the temple."

"And rejoin the order of enslaved fools?!" Kadrian hissed. "Don't even try."

Kadrian lunged into a corkscrew, Aayla deflecting several of the strikes.

Ahsoka was about to assist her friend when Bil came charging in. The padawan was forced to abandon helping the Master and focused much of her attention on the male acolyte.

She ducked and leaned away from several swings, even blocking and parrying them, but it was proving difficult with how strong and fast the man was.

"Still just a Padawan." Valen hissed with glee, constantly landing powerful blows that made her stagger back. "You can join us and I'll spare your life."

"Shut up, you sleemo." Ahsoka barked, grasping her lightsaber tightly as she held back Valens crimson blade.

"So much anger and feistiness for one so young." Valen taunted.

Ahsoka grit her teeth, pushing Valen back but that was her undoing as she narrowly avoided his Lightsaber from cleaving her head off before feeling the wind get knocked out of her. Getting kicked in the gut, she fell to the ground clutching her stomach.

Valen was ready to strike her down yet hearing Kadrian yell out frustratedly. He saw her having difficulty going up against the Twi'lek Jedi, showing they were on an even level of skill against one another.

Bil was about to rejoin his fellow acolyte when a man rolled into the area avoiding an explosion. The new arrival stood when he paused and turned towards Valen, revealing his glassy eyes towards the dark side user.

"Move along, blind man." Said the armored Sith acolyte. "Or else I'll be forced to kill you."

"You say that I am blind, yet it is you who are blind to the Force." Chirrut calmly retorted.

"Is that supposed to annoy me?"

"It is supposed to show you the error of your ways. But I would have a better chance at speaking to a child."

"Seems I'll be forced to kill you then."

Bil Valen came charging in at the blind man and was about to strike him down. Chirrut effortlessly moved to the side, avoiding the lightsaber swings left and right. Even ducking and jumping away from the incoming strikes.

"Hold still, damn you."

"I am one with the Force, and the Force is with me."

Chirrut swung his staff at the Sith acolyte, causing the dark side user to avoid the hits. Not wanting to toy around with the blind man anymore, Bil aimed his lightsaber on the wooden parts of the man's walking stick to no longer be used properly.

With the staff lying on the ground, Chirrut was seemingly defenseless.

"Hah! Without that, you're wide open for your death."

"Your short sightedness in the Force is beyond obvious. More so than my own blindness." Chirrut said holding out both hands.

With his outstretched hands, the metal parts of his walking stick moved for the briefest of moments. This was unnoticed by the gloating acolyte.

This ended when the metal parts flew into the blind man's hands. He slammed the two pieces together, twisted them into place and ignited what appears to be a lightsaber, with its white blade ignited.

"Y-You!" Valen was stunned. "You're a _Jedi?!"_

"I am one with the Force." Chirrut stated, aiming his lightsaber at the arrogant acolyte. "But I am no Jedi."

Valen snarled. "Jedi or not, you're just another dead man."

"Ah, a familiar phrase." Chirrut said, blade held horizontally with his other hand hovering behind it. "Can you follow through on such an action?"

Valen only rushed at him with a flurry of attacks that Chirrut swiftly dodged and deflected the red Lightsaber. From nowhere, Valen hissed as he felt someone stomp on his foot.

"Is your foot alright?" Chirrut mocked, palming Bil's chin making him stumble back.

Valen growled, now opting to make large arching swings to make some distance between himself and Chirrut.

Chirrut took several steps back, his ears constantly in Valens direction with his head angled down.

"You carry a great rage and darkness within you." Chirrut said. "A cage not of your own doing. But of the side that wishes to keep it that way."

"Will you just shut up!"

"I'm merely stating the truth. Something you refuse to listen and accept."

Valen only yelled out, now going for a jab yet Chirrut ducked delivered a powerful boot to the Sith Acolyte's chest.

"Unbalanced foes are easily bested." Chirrut plainly stated, lightsaber held to the ground. "What do you hope to gain following those who are as blind as I am?"

The armored man didn't say anything, merely growling.

Aayla was fighting Kadrian in a stalemate though she was starting to pick through the Zabrak fighting style. It was a crude Form-II Makashi attempt though mixed with the Acolytes detected Form-V and hints of VII.

Kadrian was attempting to overwhelm the Twi'lek by being fluid in form changes but Jedi Knight as she once was, it was no easy feat.

Seeing her arm was wide open with an overhead swing, Aayla pounced on the opportunity.

Throwing her free hand out, Aayla halted Kadrians swing by grabbing her elbow and utilizing a trick Steve had shown her tossed the Acolyte over her hip.

Kadrian landed with a grunt, scrambling to get up yet she saw Aayla had stepped away from her only to jump and flip gracefully through the air. The Zabrak felt a hard boot cheek as she fell over again.

Groaning, she tried to get back up again only feeling that her hand was now empty.

The lightsaber was gone from her grasp. Looking around desperately, she spotted the saber a few feet away from her. The acolyte reached out with the Force to return it to her hand. Yet another pull held onto Kadrians weapon. And it didn't take long for her to realize her Twi'lek opponent was playing tug-o-war with it.

"You don't deserve that lightsaber, Kadrian." Aayla said emphatically.

With how exhausted and tired she was, it was easy for Aayla to overpower her connection to the Force and wrench it out from her telekinetic grasp. It flew into the Jedi's hand with Aayla instantly clipping to her hip.

The rage emanating from Kadrian was palpable to say the least. That was her Lightsaber, her journey and everything she represented in her journey to this point.

And yet that bitch Aayla held it on her belt.

From the side of her eye, she saw Valen wasn't fairing any better though he remained standing.

Despite not wanting to back down from the fight, Kadrian knew she was outmatched now. She needed the means of escape so she may fight another day.

With her other hand going unnoticed, the acolyte activated a transmitter on her person.

Back with the Avengers and Clones, they were doing well in fending off the droid forces.

"How much longer can we hold them off?"

"I've got no clue. We just need to wait for the Jedi to get the kid so we can bail."

Unbeknownst to the majority of them, a select number of droids halted their actions with lights blinking in their optics. Returning to normal, they shifted their positions and snuck away in order to reunite with the acolytes.

Kadrian was hoisted onto her feet before being shoved along by the Jedi.

Along the way to properly secure the acolyte, Aayla took notice of the blind Force wielder some distance away.

"I'm surprised another Jedi would be here." Noted the Twi'lek Jedi. "Were you here perhaps on a previous assignment?"

Chirrut shook his head. "I am no Jedi. Merely a devoted follower and practitioner."

"A follower of the Force?" Aayla was now beyond curious. "How is it that you were able to obtain a Lightsaber?"

"The Force guided me to what it is I possess now." Chirrut said sagely. "You believe there are only the Jedi and Sith in the galaxy. Yet there are more out there than you will ever know."

Aayla nodded at the bit of information. She will look more into this later.

"Aayla!"

Twi'lek turned to see Ahsoka running up to her with the 501st troopers right behind her.

"There you are, Ahsoka. Guess you went to help the men."

"Commando droids." Rex said with grudging irritation. "Lot stronger than the last bunch we took down."

"Seems like they've been getting stronger in a lot of ways lately." Aayla murmured, hand resting over Kadrians Lightsaber.

"Programmed a whole lot better, most likely. The boys are not gonna like that."

"Hey guys."

Spider-man landed next to them with Widow, Baze, Daredevil and the 327th squad joining them a moment later.

"Guess everything's taken care of them." Hevy said aloud, looking at the two Acolytes that remained on the ground with blasters trailed on them.

When all seemed well for them all, another batch of Commando droids arrived onto the scene and ambushed them all.

Kadrian smirked as her fallout plan worked out well.

With them distracted, the female acolyte punched Aayla across the face before using the Force to push her and several others away from her. In the scuffle, Valen was able to get free as well and ran off with his partner not far behind.

The Avengers and clones went to go after them, but the remaining contingent of droids blocked their way. It took some work to finally be rid of the Commando droids, yet the damage was already done.

"Give me some minutes and I might-"

"Don't bother, Parker. They're already out of our reach." Aayla said before seeing a Separatist craft taking off into the air and going into the distance.

In the craft, Valen was nursing his wounds… well more likely his pride by drinking some amount of alcohol. His partner, however, was getting in contact with their master as the droid pilot set their course to the rendezvous point.

After some minutes, Dooku's holo-projection appeared on the deck. The moment it came up, the two acolytes knelt before him.

"What news do you have to report? Were you successful in your mission?"

"Afraid not, master." Valen simply said.

Dooku narrowed his eyes. "Explain."

"Everything was expected as you've told us." Spoke the Zabrak acolyte. "The Jedi and their clones arrived to retrieve the child. It all went as you foresaw."

"Yet…"

"Yet there was this man. A blind man. He was able to use the Force, master." Valen answered. "And he was no Jedi."

The Count hummed, pondering this bit of information.

"You will explain to me more in detail upon your return."

Back on Jedha, everyone was spread out in the area in order to regain their bearings and check for any other wayward separatist droid to come their way. After all, commando droids show up when one least expects them.

"So~ now what?" Fives asked aloud.

"Area is secured for the moment." Rex said, examining the area.

Daredevil kept his senses sharp. "There aren't any hostiles out here. But inside…"

The Clones, Jedi and Avengers stood with the two Jedha natives and newly found Avenger in front of the Pirates base that supposedly contained the Force-sensitive child.

"So, how are we getting through this door?" Jesse inquired. "Panel's fried during the fight earlier."

They all looked around with one of them spotting one of the remaining weapons of the pirates.

"Let me try something." Lucky spoke up, going over to the turret.

"What are you doing?" Echo asked.

"Improvising."

"You know I think I could just pry the doors open." Peter stated.

"Nah, I wanna see this." Hevy waved the superhero down.

Lucky proceeded to fire the turret around the door, tearing through the metal.

The group was met with silence.

"Looks like it didn't wo-" Flash didn't finish as the sound of metal creaking followed by metal meeting the floor in an emphatic slam effectively silenced the trooper.

"Huh, it worked. Nice job, Lucky." Rex praised.

Stepping inside, some of the clones surveyed the area. They remembered seeing some pirates coming in here before the fight commenced and were closed off earlier.

Stepping further in, a few pirates tried to ambush them. Yet they were quickly taken care of in retaliating fire.

"Anyone else?" Hevy questioned.

No one answered.

"Clear." Echo sounded off.

The Jedi and Avengers soon came in and started searching the bunker.

"So, what are we looking for?" Peter asked.

"A kid, dummy." Ahsoka said, poking at his head.

"Check some of the rooms." Aayla ordered, her and Widow going down one of the hallways.

Daredevil had tilted his head, looking around several times.

"This way." Matt said, going down the opposite corridor from Aayla and Nat.

The two teens shrugged and followed after Matt with them peering into several rooms, finding some of the Clones already clearing it out.

Approaching a closed door, Ahsoka paused as she reached for the panel.

Peter had noticed her not moving. "Ahsoka?"

She didn't respond, hand hovering over the panel to open the door before pressing it open.

Inside was one last pirate who held up his blaster, only for him to be immediately encased in webbing before promptly falling to the ground.

"Whew~" Peter let out. "That was close."

Giving the Web-head an appreciative smile with Matt patting the fellow New Yorker on the shoulder, she entered first with Peter right behind her. They found nothing out of the ordinary within the room. Nothing but…

"What's that?" Peter pointed to a sphere of some kind floating in the air.

Coming closer in order to inspect the object, Ahsoka pulled off the rope like blanket off the airborne object. Once clear, the Tortuga saw creases in it, indicating it would be able to open up in some manner.

Inspecting it from all sides, she found and pushed the button in the back with the creases opening up to reveal a bundle of blankets.

It wasn't long before the two teens slowly widened their eyes in disbelief.

"...Ahsoka."

"Yeah."

"You seeing what I'm seeing?"

The child within with a three fingered, green hand pushed its blankets down to stare at the two in front of it.

"Have you ever seen a baby of Yoda's species before?"

"I have not."

"Ah, okay then."

…..

…..

…..

The two continued to stare, unaware of Aayla and Nat who had entered the room.

"Alright you two, find any-"

Aayla stopped dead in her tracks, eyes widening and jaw slightly dropping as she spotted the baby resting inside its little bed.

"Is-is that?"

"Whoa." Widow spoke up. "Is that a baby… baby… What's his name? Yoda? His species name? Anyone?"

Peter kneeled down to eye level to the Force-sensitive child.

"Hey there little guy." Peter said before seemingly gushing. "This little guy is freaking adorable. I think I just might die with how cute he is."

The Yoda child merely cooed in adorableness, grabbing Peter's outstretched finger.

"General?"

Aayla looked back to see Commander Bly. "Base is secure."

"Good job, Bly." Aayla praised. "All of you, well done. Let's pack this up and head home."

_-Scene Cut-_

Back at the Jedi Temple on Coruscant, the various teams made their respective returns with mixed results.

In the Council chamber, most of the Jedi were discussing what went on in the respective missions. They were happy both the kidnapped children were safe and sound with the stolen holocron returned back into the vault.

But…

"I don't like that Bane was able to get away." Anakin noted.

"Neither do I." Plo stated. "With him on the loose, things will be much more difficult when we run into him again."

"What I'm more concerned about is the fact that two of our own, who we have presumed deceased, have joined Dooku's ranks." Windu said with much displeasure.

"Rightly so." Aayla said with utmost worry. "Tol Skorr and Kadrian Sey have been very talented. But now we have more people to worry about in this war."

"What about the two younglings we brought back?" Ahsoka inquired. "What're we going to do about them?"

"Where are they right now?" Windu inquired.

"The Avengers have them in their care." Anakin answered, making several of the Jedi shift about.

"Are you certain that this is a good idea?" Windu said with his eyes narrowed.

"I think for now we should leave them in their care."

Of all people to speak up, none had expected Obi-wan to say such a manner.

"Master?" Anakin spoke in a clearly stunned manner.

"Kenobi." Windu said in a sharp stare. "What are you getting at here?"

The Jedi Master in question slouched a bit in his seat, exhaling a tired breath. Now that Anakin took a moment to look at him, his former master certainly didn't look all that good.

"Right now, the Avengers have discovered a few things about our order that I feel may damage our trust with them." Kenobi said plainly, eyeing the entire council. "If we take the children away from them and put them under our care then we may end up ostracizing our new friends in a damaging way."

"Certain of this, are you Kenobi?" Yoda inquired.

"Very much so, Master Yoda." Kenobi said firmly. "Right now, they have done a great deal for us in the short time we've known them. We have to show them that we are what we say and let them care for the children for the time being."

"Hmm, indeed." Yoda said. "Be on our guard, we must."

In another part of the Jedi temple, the Avengers were back together with Captain America and Falcon having returned from their own mission with Obi-wan and a Jedi named Quinlan Vos.

"So, I guess we've all been pretty busy these past few days." Sam said, arm bandaged up. "And you~ must be Matt Murdock."

"Pleasure to meet you Mr. Wilson."

No longer in his Daredevil attire, Matt was currently in what passed as a civilian in the better part of Coruscant. Well it was hard to really tell what the attire looked like to a blind man.

Now that he was off Jedha, he might get something to reflect his daylight hours profession.

"So where did you guys find him?" Steve inquired.

"A far off, remote planet named Jedha." Natasha said, as she was playing with the little Force sensitive baby girl Pietro and Anakin saved earlier today.

"And it was there where I met and befriended a pair of wayward guardians." Matt stated.

"Guardians? Guardians of what?" Peter inquired.

"They called themselves members that Guard the Whills. Or something like that."

"And where are they right now?"

"Chirrut is somewhere in the temple, meditating most likely." Matt said, managing to hear the heartbeat of his newest friends being somewhere in the temple. "Baze is no doubt with the Clones right now, playing pool and whatever games you lot brought here from Earth."

"Seems they'd fit right in."

"Though I am unsure if they'll stay here for long." Matt stated.

"Why do you think that?" Steve asked.

"They follow this whole "Force" thing, not the Jedi." Matt said. "They feel they go where they are needed in the end. Well Chirrut leads the way with Baze merely tagging along."

"So what's this cutie's name?" Widow said, gazing down at the human force-sensitive that was clutching her red hair.

"From what the Jedi told us on the list on top of the orphanage she was abducted from, said her name was Mara Jade." Pietro answered.

"Mara Jade, huh?" Nat murmured softly, stroking the young babes red tuft of hair. The baby gurgled happily making Nat smirk. "Fat."

"And what of that Yoda baby?"

"Wait, there's a Yoda baby?" Hope asked in bewilderment.

"Yeup and he is adorable." Peter said cheekily. "Currently sleeping in the other room."

"Any idea what that kid's name is?"

Some of the Avengers were pretty unsure when giving a response.

"From what we were told, the records of the kid were wiped clean." Natasha said. "No birth certificate, no parentage, no birthplace. Something the pirates must've done in order to be sure the kid never existed in the first place."

"How about we call it wrinkles?" Scott suggested making several members chortle.

"Scott, it's a baby Yoda, not a grandpa like Yoda." Rhodey stated though he chuckled.

The conversation was abruptly cut off by a soft cooing sound from the front door.

All nine assembled Avengers had their heads turned to the door to see the little tike waddling into the room, stopping to look at them all.

"Ah~ he's so cute." Hope couldn't help herself, going over to the Baby Yoda lifting him up off the ground.

"Jeez, look at those eyes." Scott said. "They're like Cassie's when she was a baby."

"So this is him, huh?" Steve stood beside Hope, raising his hand to wag at the baby with the little one reaching for him. "Doesn't look like much."

The Yoda child was merely happy when seeing all these new people interacting with him.

"Gonna have to ask Yoda more on his species later." Peter saw their respective looks. "Just so we can at least know facts like dietary restrictions to, well, how old he gets. I mean he's ancient."

"How old did they even say that little guy is?" Sam asked.

"Right now… I think he was about 30 or something." Peter said.

"30!?" Several Avengers exclaimed.

"How in the hell is that thing 30?!" Rhodey said aloud.

"Maybe cause he's a different species, he ages differently." Peter said. "Hey Cap, didn't you say Thor was nearly 1500 years old?"

"That's what he told us." Nat said, smiling down at Mara who was reaching up for her.

"So we help save a bunch of kids and end up adopting two of them?" Rhodey said, looking between the two babies in the group. "Since when did we become a daycare?"

No one really responded. All they merely did was enjoy their time together before each respective group recounted on what went on in their respective missions.

"Alright Avengers." Steve declared. "I think it's time we all got some rest."

**Omake**

"Tell me again why we're doing this again?"

"Because you were curious about having a newly upgraded robot hand." Scott replied. "That's why."

"No… I was just curious about your Earthen tech." Anakin responded as he was without his mechanical hand attached to his right arm. "You two just went on from there without my consent by ripping off my hand."

Scott looked at his assistant, Peter, before they merely shrugged.

"Well we're doing this anyways."

"For justice!" Peter exclaimed.

"For science!" Chorused the two techies.

Anakin used his other hand to rub the bridge of his nose, wondering what mess will come from this.

Sounds of metal grinding, bolts being pounded and screwed into place, sparks flying and saws cutting filled the workspace. The Skywalker wondered how long this whole process was going to take. He wanted to get back in time to have his dinner date with Padme after a very long day.

"And here we are."

Anakin looked towards the two Avengers and saw a rolling cart with a large cloth covering several lumps.

"Took a bit to figure out what could suit your taste," Scott began.

"So we decided to just make a bunch and go from there." Peter finished.

The teenager pulled over part of the sheets to first uncover… a large, bulbous blue cylindrical object with a yellow meter seen on one side and a tapered barrel on the end.

"I give you… the Mega Buster."

"...It looks like an arm cannon."

"Which it is!" Scott picked up the object before quickly slamming it into Anakin's stumpy arm. "Fires off energy blasts and if charging long enough can leave a devastating hit on your opponents."

Anakin struggled to lift up his arm. "How much does this weigh?"

Peter and Scott looked at each other before speaking in sync. "A lot."

"Then I'd rather not want to have this attached to me." Using the Force he pried the Mega Buster off his arm with a small hiss coming out of his mouth. "Next."

Placing the Mega Buster back onto the cart, Scott then presented the next item.

"I give you… the Pasta Breaker."

Anakin soon gave the con-artist a blank stare. "It looks like a bunch of cooking and eating utensils strung together."

"...You wouldn't know if you were attacked while eating."

"True, but I would look ridiculous if I had that attached to me. Next."

"But aren't you going to try it on?"

"I said next."

"Okay, fine~"

The cloth was pulled over once more to reveal a white prosthetic hand with decorative gold on over the wrist area of the forearm.

"Huh, that looks… promising." Anakin used the Force to bring the item closer to him. Attaching it to his stubby right arm, the Skywalker brought his fleshy hand across its surface. "Seems good so far… but why is the hand mostly feeling like rubber?"

"Don't know for sure." Peter responded. "Scott had it done that way for its purpose."

"And that purpose is…"

"Supposed to be used for massages. Gives off vibrations so it could help relieve pain in certain areas; like one's shoulders or legs."

Anakin looked at the prosthetic hand for a little while longer, especially once turning said function on. It was quite odd with how it exactly moved.

'Yeah~ This is not gonna go out on the field.' Thought the Jedi before placing the vibrating hand onto his shoulder. 'Does feel good though. Maybe I could use this on Padme sometime. She has been stressing out a whole lot lately. She might like it'

Oh Anakin… you have no idea how _well_ she'll like it.

Removing the oddly named "Sweet Surrender" off of him, Anakin looked at the last prosthetic on display.

It was a little thicker than his normal robotic prosthetic as it was a bit more armored. And in the center of its palm was a circle indentation.

"And what's this?"

Scott looked over and saw the particular model in Anakin's grasp. "Oh that? That would be the Repulsor."

"Repulsor?"

"Name's a working progress." Peter said, tinkering around with Anakin's normal robotic hand. "It's supposed to be like the repulsor hands in the Iron-man and War Machine armors."

"Really?"

It didn't take long for Anakin to quickly attach the final prosthetic onto his stubby arm.

"This one could take some getting used to." Noted the Jedi. "You sure this couldn't be slimmed down?"

"Possibly, but for now you'll have to get used to the bulky size."

Anakin nodded before looking at the palm of the robotic hand.

"So how do I do the whole repulsor thing?"

"Point, aim, focus and fire." Scott listed. "It's what Rhodey told me."

Anakin nodded and aimed elsewhere, nowhere near anything to end up hitting on accident. He focused and the repulsor flared to life.

"Oh and do be careful. First time kicks tend to be-"

*BOOM*

Both Scott and Peter saw Anakin fly from his spot, sail across the room and crashed into the adjacent wall face first. The Jedi gave out a muffled groan as he slowly skidded off its surface and soon fell onto the floor.

"...You okay, Anakin?"

"I'll be fine, Peter." The Skywalker pried off the Repulsor prosthetic and threw it to the side. "Once I get over this splitting headache."

"Guess we should have lowered the output." Scott muttered. "Alright, let's try that."

"No, No." Anakin said aloud. "I am not trying that again."

"Aw come on Anakin, don't you want your arm to do something cool?" Peter whined.

"It's cool as it is. I like my robot arm. It's gold underneath and custom made." Anakin argued.

"But can it shoot a giant laser that could blow enemies away in an instant?" Scott asked with a goading grin.

"Yeah~ Tempting, but I'll pass."

Peter sighed. "Alright, I didn't want to do this but Anakin please take a look at this."

Confused, Anakin watched as Peter held out his earthly device watching what looked like some sort of over the top cartoon. And in said over the top cartoon, he saw a boy transform his arm into a literal cannon and fire a gigantic beam of energy that obliterated everything in its path.

"Now tell me," Peter said in a teacher-like manner. "Do you want your hand to be dull and boring? Or~ do you want your hand to do that?"

"Peter, are you stupid or something?" Anakin said rhetorically. "Of course I want to have an arm like that. Get that arm and let's try this again."

The two Avengers soon went to work, vowing to get things right for Anakin's request.

"Alright, we've gotten impact nullifiers on your arm now to take the recoil." Peter said. "Now aim for that target and let it rip."

Standing behind the Jedi knight, Scott and Peter watched as Anakin got into position raising his new arm that began whirring with energy.

A few yards away was a target they had set up for Anakin.

The energy in the arm kept gathering until…

_***BWWEEEEEE BOOOOOOMM*** _

The trio stared with their mouths gaping at full capacity at the gigantic new hole Anakin had made.

"Uh… I think we overdid."

"That's an understatement, Scott." Peter muttered.

"What was that?"

"Are we under attack?"

"Did you see that?"

"ANAKIN!"

"Guys…"

"Yeah?"

"Run."

"Wha-"

"RUN!"

**Whew, alright hooray and yay another one done.**

**Me and Jebest worked like crazy but holy fuck can outside life be a madhouse. Now more than ever considering what's going on and all.**

**Just wanna say keep yourselves clean and all, stay safe and calm. It's scary times but now isn't the time for fear. And as much as I'd love to be Bane and say that comes later now is the time to remain calm and do what is needed to help yourselves and others.**

**Other than that, thanks for reading this mad dash of a chapter and take care everyone.**

**Rate Read and Review and as Always Have Nice Day.**


	29. Stalking a Space Slug

**Alright, so Holocron Heist is said and done a very important Arc in the grander scheme of things to come but that wasn't the only thing going on. This is after all a story taking place in a galaxy at war. As well as taking place in a series of anthology stories.**

**Many events taking place at the same time.**

**So from one crazy arc, let's move on to another that has another set of crazy ass surprises that will further change and set up the crazy shit to come in this story. Got a lot of things planned out within this chapter.**

**Really, can't say much else other then let's get this show on the road.**

**Rate Read and Review and as Always Have Nice Day.**

Avengers Infinite Wars Chapter 29: Stalking a Space Slug.

"What's this about, Obi-wan?"

Having been pulled aside from an earlier conversation with the Avengers, Steve and Kenobi stood in the hallway outside the room granted to Earth's team within the temple.

"I require your assistance on a certain matter." Kenobi stated. "Do you recall the events surrounding the hostage situation regarding the senate a few weeks back?"

Steve strained his memory for a brief moment.

"Yeah, something about that blue bounty hunter taking senators hostage to release a… what was it again? Some criminal gangster named Hutt?"

"Hutt is the name of the species that Ziro belongs to." Obi-wan clarified. "He was a criminal that nearly ruined our chances of being able to ally ourselves with the Hutt cartels, having free mobility through their controlled space."

"Hutt Cartels?" Steve said with a dubious look, making Kenobi grimace.

"I do admit, I am not a fan of working with such a lucrative criminal organization myself but-"

"War calls for it." Steve cut him off. "Believe me, I know."

Back during the second World War on Earth, Steve was well aware of the working relationship the US government had with its criminal syndicate in helping with the war effort.

Like he had once stated to Fury, he and his generation compromised so that people could be free from committing the choices that they themselves had to do for the greater good.

"Yes, well the Council has assigned me along with another Jedi and his Commando squad in going after Ziro and apprehending him." Kenobi stated.

"A Commando squad?" Steve repeated, having heard a great deal of their skills and prowess from other Clone Troopers he had gotten to know. "Is it that serious?"

"Ziro has been keeping a low profile but he is no doubt going to be difficult to track." Obi-wan said firmly. "As a Hutt who doesn't have the best of relations with the rest of the clans, Ziro is open game for many other criminal organizations. We may be encountering other bounty hunters and syndicates that wish to pursue the Hutt."

"Why is catching him so important to the Republic then?" Steve inquired.

"He's a criminal that held Senator Amidala prisoner at one point and nearly caused a serious conflict between the Republic and the Hutt Cartels." Kenobi said calmly.

Steve mused to himself, thinking over Obi-wan's words on the matter.

"Just one question, Kenobi."

"Oh?"

"Why come to me exactly? This seems like a mission that could be done with this other Jedi and that Commando squad that's gonna be accompanying you. Why need more help?"

Kenobi sighed. "To be honest with you, Rogers, these past few conflicts have been getting rather maddening in terms of scale and such. The Force has been in a state of constant frantic change with everything that is happening. Master Yoda himself stated that this mission I am undertaking holds a dark new threat he has sensed and has told me to prepare accordingly. And what better way than to ask the unpredictable element outside of the Force."

Slightly humbled by this, Steve couldn't really deny Obi-wan's request agreeing to help him in his pursuit of this Ziro the Hutt. At least he knew what he was gonna be doing tomorrow.

The next day, Steve was walking towards a docking platform being accompanied by Sam with both Avengers geared up and ready for this mission.

"So~ let me get this straight." Sam spoke up. "We're gonna be helping Kenobi out in finding a literal overgrown slug who's a wanted criminal by the Republic."

"Pretty much, yeah."

"So are we gonna pull a cops type of routine here in catching them? Go Mark Fuhrman on someone's ass?"

Steve chuckled aloud. "Not quite sure but I wouldn't put it past it for this scenario."

"Steve, there you are."

Both men looked behind them to see Aayla Secura jogging to catch up to them.

"Aayla." Steve said pleasantly. "Do you need something from us?"

"Not exactly." Aayla shook her head. "Hello Sam, how are you?"

"Well enough all things considered."

Nodding at him, she turned back to Steve. "I had heard that you were going on a mission with Master Kenobi."

"Yeah, him and another Jedi with a Commando Squad." Steve confirmed for her.

"Yes, I have recently found out that this Jedi is my former master." Aayla stated.

"Really?" Steve said with intrigue. "He was your teacher?"

"Indeed, he trained me to knighthood and was the one who found and rescued me bringing me to the temple when I was very young."

At the mention of "temple" and "young", the mood between the two Avengers shifted. Something that didn't go unnoticed by Aayla.

"He rescued me." She said softly. "Him and Master Tholme and Saa are the reason I have a better life here than what I may have endured if I was left on the planet I could have been sold off to."

That made both Avengers look to her sharply with Sam's features slightly tensing up.

"You were a slave?"

Aayla nodded. "Nearly was one. There are many in the temple that could have been slaves or have been slaves at one point. The Jedi Order saved them from that life."

Steve and Sam shared a look, thinking on these words while the trio continued towards their destination.

Soon enough they saw Obi-wan waiting there with his backs turned to them, arms crossed with one hand stroking his beard as he appeared deep in thought.

"Obi-wan." Steve called out to him with the Jedi tilting his head to the side, turning a moment later to see the three of them walking towards him.

"Ah, Steve, Sam. Glad of you to join me." Kenobi greeted. "Aayla, this is a surprise. Are you joining us as well? Here to help keep your former master under control?"

"If only I could, Master Kenobi." Aayla said with a mischievous smile. "No, I'm only here to catch up with him, scold him into staying focused and not get any reckless ideas."

"Well, there goes my hopes." Kenobi said whimsically.

"You seem troubled." Steve noted with a bemused smirk.

Obi-wan released a sigh. "Quinlan Vos has that effect."

"How so?"

"He's got a certain… reputation."

A drop ship flew on by from the west and was coming in fast. Coming in close, the hangar door quickly opened with a man leaping out and diving towards them. And upon landing, the new arrival performed a recovery roll before standing up with a gleeful smirk on his face.

"Hello, Kenobi. Been some time. You look worse for wear. How's temple life? Aayla, look at you. Already looking like a better Jedi then I ever could be."

Kenobi merely gave the man a deadpanned glare whilst Aayla only chuckled silently.

"...Good to see you too."

"Yes, well, if you could tell time half as well as you could stick a landing we wouldn't be behind schedule, now would we, Vos?"

The present Avengers got a good look at the newly arrived Quinlan Vos. Having dark dreadlocked hair with tanned skin and a yellow striped tattoo running across his nose. And his armor was a mixture of yellow and black as he appeared to have a happy go lucky personality.

"Well, that's your opinion man."

Sam nearly did a double-take, startling Steve, Aayla and even Vos.

"Whoa there, you alright?" Vos inquired, quirking a brow at the aviator.

Sam held up his hand in a placating manner. "Nothing trust me. It's just… Well, the dude abides."

"Riiight~" Vos remarked. "Hang on a second, who are you two again?"

"Vos, this is Captain Steve Rogers and Lieutenant Sam Wilson." Kenobi introduced the two to the Kiffar Jedi Master. "They're of-"

"The Avengers, yeah, been hearing a lot about you guys." Vos said with a nod of approval. "Aayla mentioned you guys, same with ol' Master Tholme. It's a pleasure to be working with you guys."

Before the two could respond to the Jedi, the gunship he had arrived on landed behind him with four Clone Troopers with unique armor walking out. Clone Commando Armor.

"Sir, that was cheap and you know it." A Clone Commando with orange markings upon his armor stated as he walked off the gunship with the rest of his squad.

"Ah Boss, see, that's the benefits of having the Force on your side." Quinlan said with a roguish grin. "I can make a grand old entrance."

"Oh yeah? More like compensating if you ask me." This Commando had distinct red markings all over his armor that looked rather morbidly like blood.

Vos only chuckled, looking back at the others.

"Everyone, this is Clone Commando Delta Squad." Vos introduced with a hint of pride. "They were assigned to me at the start of the war and the five of us have been on hell raising missions since the beginning."

"More like us having to pull this jackasses hair out of the fire repeatedly." The Commando that was called 'Boss' stated.

"Ah, then it's good to know that someone is looking out for him." Aayla said in approval.

"You guys are just the worst." Vos said though his tone clearly showed he didn't mean it.

The Commando squad then faced Steve and Sam and having heard their ranks snapped to a salute.

"Delta Squad ready for action." The Lead Commando stated firmly.

Both Sam and Steve saluted back in turn.

"I'm Captain Rogers."

"Lieutenant Wilson."

"Pleasure to be working with you both, sirs. I'm Boss, leader of Delta Squad."

"No better way of distinguishing that." Sam said with amusement.

Boss went on to introduce the rest of the squad.

"This is Fixer." The green marked Commando nodded. "He's our tech expert and slicer. Can get in or out of any fortified base."

"With the proper cover." Fixer said.

"Sev here is our sniper." The red marked Commando held up his sniper rifle as a means of proving said statement. "And that's Scorch, Sev's life partner. He's our demolitions expert."

"Ok, first of all, it's not my fault Sev here can't live without me." Scorch said in a joking affronted manner. His armor was more akin to his name sake, having several scorch marks here and there though his gauntlets and leg armor had dark yellow accents.

"Come on then, let's not stand around here any longer." Obi-wan cut in through the chatter. "We have a mission to conduct and we need to see to it quickly."

With a collective agreement from the group, many went to enter the ETA-Class Shuttle that had been brought in as their transport for this mission.

Before Steve was able to enter, he felt a soft hand grasp his own making him turn back to see that it was Aayla.

"Steve, a moment if you will?" Aayla said in a soft voice.

Glancing back to the ship, he saw some of Delta squad getting acquainted with Sam a bit better leaving him a bit of time.

Nodding, the two stood a bit away from the ship to have their private conversation.

Aayla started by letting out a sigh. "Steve, I understand your reservations and judgements on how the Jedi Order recruits individuals into its ranks. It's not something many would consider moral."

"There's many other words that one would use to describe such methods of recruitment." Steve said in a sharp tone.

"I understand, Steve, believe me I do." Aayla said. "But I must ask you to understand that there are very good reasons as to why we _have_ to do such a thing to keep our order going. One I would like to personally inform you of. I feel it is my duty to do so."

In a rather uncharacteristic move on her own part, Aayla reached out and took hold of Steve's hand with her own.

"Please Steve, just give me and the Order that chance." Aayla asked with the two locking eyes as there was a silent exchange between the two.

Seeing no deceit or dubious means in her eyes, Steve relented, squeezing Aayla's hand in return.

"Alright, alright." Steve said. "I'll hold you to that."

Aayla smiled brightly up at the old war veteran when she realized she was still grasping his hand. Letting go, she cleared her throat before patting him on his arm.

"Good luck on your mission, Steve."

"Thanks."

"Try not to get roped into my Masters crazy antics."

"Is he really that bad?" Steve was now amused.

"No, it's just he and Obi-wan really." Aayla chuckled. "Master Vos grew up alongside Kenobi and ironically enough I can say the two know each other very well. One of the few Jedi that can get under Master Kenobi's skin quite easily."

"Oh, then this should be interesting."

"It should. Until next time, Steve."

Aayla walked off, Steve gazing at her the entire time until he felt a hand on his shoulder.

"What was that about?" Sam asked.

"Nothing, just… an olive branch so to speak."

"Olive branch?" Sam snorted. "Looked a hell of a lot more than that. You should be lucky Nat ain't here."

"Right. She tell you where she and Hope were off to anyway?"

"Something about helping out Senator Amidala with a mission of her own."

"Ah, politics."

"Yeah, should be a breeze for Natasha."

The two boarded the ETA ship with Obi-wan speaking up now that the entire crew was assembled.

"Let's get down to business." Obi-wan started. "Ziro the Hutt was broken out during a hostage situation."

"Yeah, I heard about that mess."

"I suspect Jabba the Hutt is behind this. Most likely still upset about Ziro kidnapping his son."

Vos nodded before adding in something else. "My information indicates that it's more than that."

"How so?" Sam inquired.

"Ziro has damaging evidence against the Hutt council." Vos revealed. "My guess is that he's currently at the Hutt home planet Nal Hutta as they're interrogating him on its location."

"Then we must locate both Ziro and this evidence and bring them to the courts." Steve stated, which Obi-wan nodded in utmost agreement.

"I trust we can keep eyes forward on this common goal?" Obi-wan asked the dreadlocked Jedi."

"No problem. I'd like to stick one up against the Hutts any day of the week." Rushing towards the dropship, Vos spoke up. "I fly and you are my co-pilot."

Obi-wan rubbed his eyes soon after. "I was afraid he'd say that?"

"What's the problem with his flying?" Sam questioned.

"Vos practically encouraged Anakin more on his flying skills instead of refining them to the standard norm during his days as a padawan."

"Oh… so is it good or bad?"

Obi-wan gave Sam a blank stare, being all the answer the Falcon really needed.

The ETA-Class shuttle soon had its wings fold out into their main positions and the ship was on its way to the space controlled by the Hutt clans.

It's destination; Nal Hutta.

_-Scene Cut-_

On Nal Hutta, Ziro was placed before the heads of the Hutt crime families. He would normally be there freely, but with his past action in wanting to kill Jabba and his son, Ziro was kept at arm's length with several blasters aimed at his person.

Yet this did not deter his mood.

"Gentlemen, gentlemen." Ziro greeted. "I see no need for resentment in light of this joyous occasion of my freedom."

"Right~ after you went into hiding for weeks before coming back here." Spoke one of the Hutt family heads via protocol droid, going by the name of Gardulla.

"I had to go into hiding," Ziro argued, not bothering to ask why the protocol droid was being used. "Needed to have the Republic not know where I went off to instead of coming here right away. But I do appreciate the help in my escape."

"Then you would know why we got you out of prison in the first place." Spoke another head, who went by the name Oruba.

"Oh, I have no illusions about the fact that my escape was a result of the highly sensitive knowledge that I possess." Grabbing a cup of a refreshing liquid, he gulped it all down before continuing. "A holo-diary cataloging the nefarious deeds of this council."

Upon the mention of this blackmail material, said council members voiced their displeasure. Threats were no doubt voiced among other things.

"Kill me and everything I've gathered will show up on the step of the Senate." Ziro revealed, silencing them all. "The cold, hard reality is that as long as I control this highly sensitive material, my memory will only get duller."

After some hushed discussion, the heads called off their guards who lowered their blasters from Ziro's form.

"Good. Now if you'll excuse me, I'd like to return to my quarters." Ziro turned away with a smirk, tossing away the cup he drank from as it rolled off to a corner of the room. "I only hope the accommodations are satisfactory."

In his arrogance, he didn't notice someone else was present in the meeting. And upon his departure from the room, the man came up to the Hutts.

"So he's the guy you all hired me for?"

Jabba and his fellow Hutt council members nodded.

"Good to know. I'll be sure to tail him and bring back this holo-diary of his."

_-Scene Cut-_

Upon arriving at Nal Hutta, the group was bombarded with a heavy rainfall. It if weren't for the bright lights from the complex they were heading off to, they would no doubt be lost.

Once landing, some of the assembled party went down the ramp and were met with several gamorreans, green skinned pig guards who work for the Hutt families. Delta Squad opted to stay behind, watching over the ship in case any scumbag lurking about decided that they felt lucky today.

Being escorted inside, the Jedi and Avengers were brought into a party room with disco and strobe lights going off with music blaring. Yet this all came to an abrupt halt with the DJ ending the music and most of the lights turning off before the standard ones came up.

The Hutt, Gardulla, soon used the protocol droid to speak to them. "How goes the war, gentlemen?"

Obi-wan stepped up and addressed the Hutt crime lord. "Great Gardulla, we bring unfortunate news. Ziro the Hutt had escaped custody with the aid of the bounty hunter Cad Bane."

"The great Gardulla already knows this, Jedi knights." Stated the protocol droid. "Though she's curious as to why you took so long in acting now."

"We have been… preoccupied and been searching for his whereabouts."

"A most likely story."

Vos soon stepped up with a smirk. "I'm beginning to think you folks were the ones who broke him out."

Some of the Hutts looked at each other before Gardulla spoke again which the protocol droid translated. "And why would the great Hutt families do such a thing?"

"That's what I'd like to know."

"Quinlan, the Hutts are our allies." Obi-wan stated.

As the one Hutt crime lord spoke, Vos spotted a cup lying on the ground. The Force nudged him to reach out for it, which he did as he used it to have it slowly roll up to him before floating up into his hand.

The moment it contacted his hand, he was assaulted with small fragments of visions of Ziro's visage and him speaking directly to the Hutt crime lords.

"The mighty Gardulla says you are lucky to be with a Jedi as wise as Kenobi or you might not be allowed to leave here alive."

Breaking out of his trance, Vos placed the cup onto a nearby table. "Then it seems I'll have to come by alone the next time I show up."

Obi-wan sighed a little. "We only came to deliver the message. Which we should be leaving now."

"See that you do, Jedi."

As they departed, the music and lights went back up with the invited attendees went back into their previous activity.

"Ziro was here." Vos revealed to them as they headed back to their ship. "He was holding one of those cups."

"How would you know?" Sam asked.

"I have a particular Force ability that allows me to know."

"...Alrighty then."

"So what now then?" Steve asked.

"There's a likely chance that Ziro might still be here." Kenobi mused.

"Should I call in Delta?" Vos inquired.

"No need for such extreme measures just yet." Kenobi waved down. "Let's make a sweep of the area and see if we could find him ourselves."

"I wouldn't suggest something like that." Sam cut in. "Four of us moving around like this with so many people around right now would just attract unwanted attention."

"Then what do you have in mind?" Vos asked.

Holding up his wrist pad, Sam pressed a red button and from his flight suit out popped a small drone.

"Redwing will handle that." Sam said with a grin, sending out his drone to scope out the area.

After several minutes of having Redwing stick to the shadows, avoiding guards and other unsavory figures he found an empty cell with several dead Gamorreans.

"Got something." Sam said to the others. "Empty holding cell with a lot of pig guards dead."

"Then we better find where Ziro has went off to."

"Not to mention with the dead guards, alarms will go off pretty soon. Something neither of us would want to deal with."

"Agreed."

Back in the one-party room, the hired bounty hunter walked up to the Hutts from behind as he didn't want to bother the rest of the guests.

"Seems I'd like more than what you're paying me." The man stated, drawing in some of the Hutts' attention. "With the Avengers and those Jedi you spoke of being here, I want triple the amount. Do that and I'll take care of them for ya."

The Hutts discussed things in their native tongue before Oruba addressed the bounty hunter via protocol droid.

"The mighty Oruba inquires why you would ask such a thing." The protocol translator droid inquired.

"Listen, I have my own business and vendetta with those guys." The Hunter said with a vague tone. "You want this job done or not? The more time you waste, the more that Ziro fucker gets further away with the wrong set of individuals chasing after him."

It wasn't long before the Hutt heads agreed to the bounty hunter's demands. With it all said and done, he bolted out of the room with a smile on his face.

_-Scene Cut-_

The group of eight men were now traversing the harrowing and swampy fields of Nal Hutta with several of them not exactly enjoying the scenery.

"I could see why those fat slugs chose a place like this to call home." Sam murmured, nose scrunching up at some of the smells in the air.

"Could be worse." Sev stated, walking alongside the Avenger. "You ever been in a Geonosian hive? Rank stench right through our helmet filters."

"Fixer nearly emptied his lunch that day." Scorch said with a chuckle.

"At least I wasn't slathered in that Queens gunk unlike you, Scorch." Fixer shot back.

Sam chuckled at the interaction between these Clones, finding their easy camaraderie endearing and all too familiar for a veteran such as himself.

"So what's it like as a Commando?" Sam asked, obviously curious about the distinct Clone Troopers. "I've been hearing a lot about you guys from some of the other Clone legions and battalions. That you Commandos and ARC troopers are the cream of the crop."

"Well, not to brag or anything." Scorch said with a brag.

"Scorch, if you're gonna brag at least be factual about it." Fixer stated.

"My God, you are no fun sometimes." Sev remarked.

"So what's the difference between you Commandos and most other Clones?" Sam asked. "The Clones always talk about you guys being the same as Jedi with your skills and all."

"That's probably due to who we are based on and those that trained us." Scorch stated. "The progenitor of the clone army was the famed Mandalorian Bounty Hunter Jango Fett. He along with Kal Skirata and the rest of the _Cuy'val Dar_ trained every Clone Commando squad."

"Coy-vee what now?"

"Cuy'val Dar." Sev corrected. "The one hundred bounty hunters Jango Fett called upon in training the Commandos. From them we learned of our lineage so to speak."

"Our connection to the warrior culture of the Mandalorians." Scorch added with pride. "Our main teacher, Kal Skirata taught us everything. The language, the customs, the warrior ways."

"I've heard that word a lot." Sam said with furrowed brows. "Mandalorians. Who are they exactly?"

"You really have not been doing your homework, have you?"

"Apparently not."

"To simply put it, Mandalorians were one of the most well-known warrior cultures in the galaxy." Scorch said. "They're still out there, divided up into clans but there were times where they were the undisputed strongest force in the galaxy. Neither Jedi nor Sith could compare with them.

Sam hummed to himself.

"You said _were_."

"I did."

"So what happened to them? Got broken up or something?"

"In a manner of speaking." Sev stated.

"There was a civil war in the Mandalorian systems a while back. Many perished as most want to stay in their old ways of life while others wanted to change it in a more peaceful approach. Things got complicated from there." Scorch explained

"Current ruler, Duchess Satine Cruz, is more of the pacifist approach as she abhors violence to an utmost degree." Fixer said with a snide undertone.

"What's your deal with her?" Sam asked, bewildered by the venom in the Clones tone.

Fixer let out a sigh, walking on ahead rather than answering.

"Ah, don't mind Fixer too much." Sev waved him off, patting Sam on the shoulder. "He may be always the most by-the-books of us but he has pride in his heritage like all Commandos do."

"Must be some pride." Sam said. "So what else is so unique about the Mandalorians? You got me hooked now."

"Well, if you could believe it our armor was modeled off their own helmets and all." Scorch said, gesturing to the glowing T-visor of his helmet. "Their Beskar armor was considered the best of the best. The Republic wanted to get materials from Mandalore to improve the initial clone armor materials, but Satine Cruz put the ban on that Beskar alloy, so the Republic had to make do with other things."

"So where can they get this Beskar stuff?"

"Where else? The Mandalorian home world, Mandalore." Sev stated.

"Feels like we've been saying Mandalorian and Mandalore a lot now." Sam noted. "Take a shot for every time we say it."

The sudden and random comment caused Scorch to choke on his yawn before laughing with Sev and even Fixer joined in on the laugh.

"Where'd that come from?" Sev guffawed.

"I dunno, felt appropriate." Sam said with a wry grin.

Hearing all this was Vos, who smirked at hearing his squad mates laughing as much as they were. His senses were on alert at the moment yet he still had time for other things.

Such as conversing with Captain Rogers, someone who Aayla clearly has a relationship of some kind with. And call it old habits, protective master vibes but Quinlan was rather curious about the man who was the apparent leader of those Force-shockwave group of individuals known as the Avengers.

"How's Aayla been?" Vos asked Steve abruptly, making the super soldier blink.

"She's been doing alright." Steve answered. "Shared our own scrapes here and there on several missions we worked on."

"Good, good." Vos said absentmindedly. "A Master never stops worrying about his protege."

"Yeah, she mentioned you trained her up to knighthood." Steve recalled. "She thinks very highly of you."

Vos's expression changed slightly. "That's good to know. Glad at least someone believes in me like that."

Steve regarded the Jedi. "How is it like then? Having a student?"

"In a way, I never really saw Aayla as a student. I saw her more like a little sister or daughter."

"And here I thought you Jedi can't form attachments."

"Captain Rogers, do I look like the kind of guy to follow the rules like ol' Obi there?" Quinlan said with a roguish grin going into a calmer smile a moment later. "I know that, but it's actually the challenging aspect in our teachings. It makes it impossible. Every student and teacher cares for the other in some shape and form. More So after spending years being with each other."

"Makes me wonder about the whole no attachment rule." Steve murmured in a low tone.

Quinlan snorted aloud. "Me and several others usually think it's utter poodoo." He cautiously sneaked a glance back to Kenobi who was momentarily conversing with Boss. "And don't let Obi fool you in any way. He's had his own fair share of lovely ladies that wooed him and he in turn."

Steve's eyes widened slightly, looking back to Kenobi without being noticed. "What do you mean?"

"Ah, that's not my place to say." Vos held his hand up. "If he ever wants to tell you about it, you'll know. He and I basically grew up together much as he'd like to deny it."

Steve hummed. "Guess there's a lot I still need to learn about the Jedi order and its tenants."

The tattooed Jedi chuckled. "Now let me ask you this, you ever bother to look into the Jedi code?"

Steve tilted his head in thought. "Yes, Aayla, Kenobi and T'ra Saa told me about it. The one with No chaos and emotion and all."

"And what do you think of it?"

"Well the first line of it 'there is no emotion, there is peace' could probably be an utter lie and everyone turns a blind eye towards."

Vos let out a bitter chuckle. "Yeah, I hear that. If you bluntly told this to one of the old coots of the council, they would consider it heresy. And if you openly stated this and were a member of the Order, consider your membership revoked for good." He then looked back at Steve. "Then tell me, what more do you have to say about it?"

Steve took a moment, trying to formulate the proper words to respond. "More like question it. I mean, how much of it is a lie? Everyone has emotions, civilians, politicians, etc. No one is free from them."

"Yeah, that much is true."

"It's just… the more I think about it, the more it feels like it's incomplete or it's not right." Steve shook his head. "I'm sorry, I don't mean to come across as ignorant or rude."

"Nah, nah, no need for that." Vos said placatingly. "To tell you the truth, the code had been revised… _a lot_."

"Really?" Steve was now even more curious. "How much do you mean by a lot?"

"Well most groups and organizations change over time and the Jedi are no different. So going on with the times, the code gets revised to suit with their current standing or whatever. The Jedi order has been around for thousands of years, going through several revisions that most actually don't know of anymore." Vos said with his arms crossed. "I don't even know where we got our start. That knowledge has been lost to time."

"But why? Why change it?"

"Well everything changes eventually, Cap." Vos said as if it were the most obvious thing. "Took me a while, but old Master Tholme once showed me the original code.

"Emotion, yet peace." Vos began, quickly drawing the super soldier's attention even further. "Ignorance, yet knowledge. Passion, yet serenity. Chaos, yet harmony. Death, yet the Force. It's the old code, before Odan-Urr helped rephrase it in a way that was easier for the Jedi back then to understand."

"Easier? But isn't the point of the Jedi to walk the high road? To do things that are harder than taking the easy way out, unlike others?"

"Perhaps, but that doesn't mean that we are not immune to falling." Vos admitted. "Afterall, there have been countless Jedi throughout our history who've fallen to the dark side. I could tell you many that've stood out the most, both far back to recent decades, but I'd rather sit down and chill before dwelling in all that."

"Everyone is fallible." Steve said, eyes on the ground.

"Sad reality we have to deal with." Vos said, moving ahead to kneel down to a particular spot on the ground.

"What is it?" Steve inquired.

"I got a trace of Ziro. He's been here." Vos scooped up some dirt, sifting it through his hand. "Or _is_ still here."

"I don't doubt your tracking skills Vos, but why wouldn't Ziro leave the planet?" Obi-wan inquired, who soon came up to them. "Why not just fly away?"

"My senses tell me that he's still here."

"It's illogical."

"Something is keeping him here." Was all Vos said as he walked on ahead.

Obi-wan then voiced a little complaint. "Think having a droid around would speed things up."

"Not everything can be easy, Obi-wan."

"With you, I know that all too well."

"I'm hurt, Obi, what happened to the roaring trust the two of us used to share?"

"You know what happened back at brothel that you up and left-"

"INCOMING!" Clone Commando Boss roared aloud, wielding his

Out from the large hills and branches surrounding them came a hodge podge of individuals that appeared to be bounty hunters and pirates with some moving ahead while others ran at them, firing at the group.

Sam immediately went airborne whilst Steve, Kenobi and Vos began deflecting blaster fire with Delta squad shooting back.

"Who the hell are these guys?" Sam asked from above, shooting at the surprise enemies.

"Looks as though we're not the only ones after Ziro." Obi-wan commented, lightsaber ignited in hand.

Vos had reflected back several bolts at one of those closest to him, the bolt returning back to its sender and striking it in his head. The humanoid fell back with the helmet that he wore revealing the species underneath.

"Those are Falleen." Vos noted.

"Black Suns." Scorch growled, firing his custom DC-17M Blaster rifle with grenade launcher attachment. "Those bastards again."

"Who's the black sun?" Steve asked, grunting as he grabbed a bounty hunter by his wrist twisting it before decking him with his shield.

"A criminal organization that has their own operations and sectors of space." Obi-wan stated.

"They must be after Ziro." Fixer surmised.

"You mentioned something about Ziro having incriminating evidence against those oversized slugs." Sam said, flying in low to deliver a powerful boot to a human pirate sending him into the murky swamp.

"Looks like these bastards are after whatever it is Ziro has." Vos guess, force pushing several pirates away. "Anything that they can have over the Hutts is bad news all around, much as I hate to say it."

"Sir, if we stay here taking out these guys, we'll be stuck here all day." Boss said, elbowing a human in the jaw in order to shoot him dead a moment later. "You and General Kenobi need to go on ahead."

"I don't think we'll-"

"They're right, Obi-wan." Steve said, covering for Sev who gave the Captain an appreciative nod. "The two of you need to go on ahead. We won't be far behind."

"Clankers!" Scorch shouted, aiming his rifle at a series of droids that flew overhead and began to bombard the area with blaster bolts that were more explosive then the previous ones they had dealt with.

"Who are these guys supposed to be?" Sam asked, now having to spin and weave to avoid the droids that were harassing him in the air.

"They don't look like any Seppie droids we've taken down." Sev noticed, carefully shooting down one droid after another followed by distracted pirates and hunters who were also engaging with the droids. "Could be Bounty Hunting droids."

"Must be prototype models."

"Yeah and we're the test subjects."

"And they're on no one's side but their own it seems." Steve said, ducking slightly with his shield raised above his head to block the small barrage of explosive bolts.

Several of these new droids landed around the area, proceeding to exterminate the rest of the pirates and bounty hunters before turning their attention to the eight men still standing.

"Alright, that's not startling at all." Kenobi remarked, getting into his usual Soresu stance as they were now surrounded by at least several dozen of these new unique droids.

Steve stood with Vos and Boss, eyes moving back and forth at all the droids around taking note of their formation. While crude, it was strong enough that any blind or weak points would be covered by the droid closest to each other so it looked like they were going to have to fight their way out.

However, there was something… weirdly familiar about how they surrounded him. And it wasn't how they did per say. It was strangely enough their posture.

These droids held a weird posture and pose to them that Steve couldn't quite put his finger on it.

Without being prompted to, the droids descended upon the eight of them with the non-clones providing momentary cover for the Clones as they didn't have their own specific means of defense. While their armor provided a greater set of endurance in tanking blaster bolts, the literal wave of these rather explosive ones would be quick to overwhelm their Katarn armor.

"Droid poppers." Fixer said, tossing one to Sam before he along with Sev and Falcon threw them up into the air.

There were three spheres of miniaturized EMPs that surrounded the group taking out a sizable chunk of the droids.

"Move." Boss barked out with the team going on the offensive, splitting up into pairs of two in order to quickly deal with the remaining droids.

Boss and Quinlan moved up together, the duo in frequent motion as the Kiffar Jedi was constantly maneuvering around the Commando to block constant blaster fire whilst taking out any droid that tried to ram right at them with Boss systematically clipping one after another that he had in his sights.

Sev and Falcon were an odd pairing that clicked rather quickly, Sam having a few pursue after him in the air giving Sev the chance to snipe each droid that pursued the aviator. Sam made sure to fly by Sev several times to destroy any of the droids that tried to get the jump on the sniper.

Steve had flung his shield forward, the shield bouncing around the cluster of droids. Steve's throw had a specific purpose as it had struck several of the droids into closer clusters giving Scorch the chance to take out groups of them at a time with his Grenade launcher.

Obi-wan simply provided cover for Fix who stood behind him as he constantly fired at multiple droids that had attempted to charge the two.

Eventually, the remaining droids retreated back and formed a kind of wall against their foes. The droids held out their arms and small compartments opened up with blaster barrels popping out. They opened fire upon them all.

The Jedi were able to reflect back many of the incoming shots, yet they had to roll, flip and spin out of the way due to how dense the fire was. They were a bit thankful that the surrounding forestation was able to help give them some amounts of cover. When some flew in close, the two Jedi used the Force to help halt their movements for the briefest of moments in order to get chances in decapitating them.

"These are surprisingly more challenging than the previous droids we've dealt with." Kenobi commented.

"No kidding. Much more troublesome than commando droids." Sev noted.

"These aren't made by the Seps." Fixer stated. "Their design and models. I've never seen the like."

Boss had one right on top of him, the Commando grasping its arms and tilting them upward so as to not get blown away by it. With a quick movement, Boss snapped both the droid's arms down to his left side and with all his strength wrenched the arms off before blasting it in the head with his DC-17 rifle.

"Has to be another supplier tossing their hat into the war."

"We can look into this later. For now, survive."

"Done and done."

After another several minutes, the eight-man team had at last taken down the collection of droids taking a moment to catch their breath.

"I don't know about you, but I'd use a break now."

"Hold that till later, we still have a mission to complete."

"Yes, sir."

Obi-wan turned back to see Steve standing over one of the disassembled droids.

"Steve?"

"Hmmm?"

"Are you alright?"

"Sorry… just something about these droids…"

"You recognize them?"

Steve squinted for a second. "No… it's… it's not that."

Shaking his head, he walked up to Kenobi patting him on the shoulder. "We'll talk later, come on let's see this mission through."

Obi-wan glanced over to the droids before turning to run after his companions that had gone ahead of him.

Eventually running into a swampy lake house of some kind, the clone troopers hanged back as the two Jedi and two Avengers went on ahead. The Force users leaped quite a distance and landed not far from the building's entrance. Falcon merely unfurled his metallic wings and gave the Captain a lift over the swampy water.

"We must be cautious." Kenobi advised. "We don't know what may be lurking here."

Before Obi-wan and the two Avengers could plan anything, Vos quickly ignited his lightsaber, slashed through the front entrance and kicked it in.

"Vos!" Kenobi exclaimed. "Somebody lives here!"

It wasn't until stepping foot inside of the building did Vos and the two Avengers rear back their heads and cover their faces.

"Holy hell what is that smell?!" Sam whined out.

"Smells like somebody died here." Vos cried out.

"Smells worse than most parts of Europe back in the war." Steve commented.

When venturing further into the abode, they soon found the source of the… odor.

"Break in my house, will you, smart guy?"

The four men saw a very large and obese Hutt which reached to the top of the ceiling. And by judging some characteristics, they realized this Hutt was a woman. Yet the voice seemed to be like that of a man.

"Thousand pardons, madam." Obi-wan began. "He hasn't mastered the concept of knocking. For that, I apologize."

The female Hutt wasn't in the mood for games. "I got trouble for you too, Mr. Fancy Pants."

Throwing some sort of large insect at them, the four men avoided the projectile.

"There's no need." Steve stated. "We're not here to harm you."

The Hutt woman scoffed. "That'll be a first for tonight."

"Meaning?"

"Meaning… First, my deadbeat son and his limp-lipped girlfriend come in and sponge me out of my starship."

"Wait, deadbeat son?" Sam muttered out. "You mean to tell me that's Ziro's mom?"

"Apparently." Vos responded back.

The newly identified mother of Ziro then continued her rant. "Then some slime sap with a freaky helmet and his posse charge in and force me to give up the skinny on where Ziro's headed. Had something out for blood." She then gave the four men a harsh glare. "You gonna kill my boy too?"

"Oh, no, madam." Obi-wan quickly said. "But if we don't find him before the bounty hunters do your son will not be so lucky."

Ziro's mother considered these words before giving them the location. "Teth. My boy's heading to Teth."

The men nodded with Vos turning to them. "We need to get to that jungle planet, pronto."

As they ran out of the home, they heard one final thing from Ziro's mother.

"Hey! Who's gonna pay for my door!?"

_-Scene Cut-_

Soaring across the jungle planet, the team eventually made their way towards a series of rocky cliffs. Instead of combing through them all, Vos used his tracking Force ability to help slim things down as they went to a small section of the area.

Landing their craft, the Jedi and Avengers leaped out with the two Earther's following Vos' lead. Sam once more helped get Steve further down in the cliffs as Vos and Kenobi jumped down from the high leveled area.

Reaching their destination, they saw a pair of dead bodies. One was apparently mummified in some sort of shrine and rotted away for some time now… and the other was Ziro.

"Who could have done this?"

"Your guess is as good as mine, Obi."

A familiar sound of thrusters sounded through the air, causing the four to quickly get on guard.

"They're back~" Sam said aloud, aiming his blasters at the bounty hunter droids they faced off from back at Nal Hutta.

"And they brought friends."

The Jedi ignited their lightsabers and started reflecting back as many enemy bolts coming their way. As they did so, Sam activated his wings and soared into the air. He returned fire upon them while maneuvering through their volley of blasters.

Flying away from some of them, Falcon made a call towards the nearby clones. "We could use some help, guys."

Didn't take long for Sev to answer. "Are there any problems, Sam?"

"Yeah. Those droids we fought earlier are back."

"Coming out and assisting you right away."

With the call ending, Falcon killed his thrusters in order to have the enemy droids fly past him. He used this opportunity to reactivate his flight capabilities before open firing on their exposed backs. They soon were severely damaged and became no longer operable.

"Some down, more to go." Sam muttered before seeing the clone troopers arriving and giving their Jedi and Avenger allies some needed assistance.

Steve bashed away a droid that flew right at him when abruptly, his lower back lit up with pain with his feet no longer on solid ground. Sailing through the air, he crashed hard a nearby stone wall groaning in pain.

"There you are, you son of a bitch." Rogers heard a venomous tone.

Steve could barely get back to his feet when he felt a metallic jab to his abdomen followed by someone grabbing his neck and smacking him into the stone wall.

Grunting, Steve blearily opened his eyes before he inhaled sharply.

The eyes glaring with rage at him beneath the black helmet with bone white face paint was a visage Steve had seen many times before. There was a time where they were the eyes of a man he once considered an ally.

Now it was nothing but pure, undiluted hatred with a new look that matched the change in appearance and man.

"Rumlow." Steve whispered. "What the hel-"

"Good question, Rogers." Brock Rumlow hissed through his helmet. "I was wondering where you went and dropped off to; but lo and behold, one arms exchange gone wrong and I end up in outer fucking space."

"Arms exchange?" Steve murmured before getting his wits about him and shoving Rumlow back.

"But right now, I'd rather not talk." Rumlow held up his arms and cocked them back with gauntlets. Sparks flew as the HYDRA agent ran forward. "I've been waiting a long time for this!"

Steve had to quickly move out of the way from the incoming jabs. If the sensation he received earlier gave meaning to anything, Rumlow's gauntlets packed some serious damage. And it showed once Rogers rolled out of the way, Crossbones struck a nearby rock wall and it severely cracked before crumbling.

"Come on, Cap." Rumlow taunted, moving after the Avenger with vitriolic zeal. "I know you could do better than that."

Cap grit his teeth, holding up his shield in time to block a punch yet it held some kind of impact amplifier as a small shockwave visible to see came out of the punch with Cap stumbling back. If not for his snap reflexes, Steve would have felt the full force of Rumlow's amplified punch.

Slapping the hand to the side, his shield arm deflected the other punch yet Steve was momentarily stunned by a surprise headbutt from Rumlow.

Rumlow then began to push Steve back into a nearby rock outcrop with the dazed super soldier trying to regain his wits.

As they got in close, a blade popped out one of Rumlow's gauntlets.

"This is for dropping a damn building on my face!"

Steve swerved his head out of the way from the blade. It pierced the wall behind him with more spider web cracks following the blow.

Wanting some space, Steve delivered an elbow strike to his opponent's armored head before kicking his midsection. Rumlow stumbled back before he was sent flying through Roger's roundhouse kicks.

Crossbones stumbled across the rocky floor before using a recovery roll to get back onto his feet. Once regaining his bearings, he saw the airborne Avenger who swooped in close.

"Ah~ good ol' Wilson." Rumlow greeted, adjusting his gauntlets as blaster barrels soon popped out. "Long time."

"Not long enough." Hissed the Falcon. "How the hell are you here right now?"

"He mentioned an Arms Deal going south." Steve said with a slight huff, massaging his abdomen. "Spider-man said that's what he remembers last with that Daredevil and Panther guy before ending up here."

"Oh so you know those assholes then?" Rumlow snarled. "It's because of them that me and several others wound up in this shithole of a galaxy."

"Wait, others?"

"Now let's not go ruining the surprise boys." Rumlow stated.

Raising his arms, Rumlow's gauntlets roared to life, firing a large volley of blaster fire upon them.

"Oh shit." Sam's thrusters sent him upwards while Steve crouched down low to block out the blaster fire.

Being airborne, Sam's head snapped up at the sound of other thrusters in the air looking up in time to duck from a passing droid that made a swipe at him.

"I really have no time for you." Growled out the airborne Avenger.

Back with the Jedi and clone troopers, things weren't fairing all that well. They were barely holding their own this time around. They didn't have Sam and Steve's assistance, so some advantage was lost. The droids were changing tactics, which threw the Republic forces off.

And if that weren't enough, the bounty hunter droids stopped firing their blaster fire and started using other means in attacking them.

"Oh come on! That's not fair!"

Concentrated blasts came out of the droids' palms, surprising them all.

"What the hell is that?" Scorch yelled out, narrowly dodging several beams directed at him.

One had struck Fixer dead in the hip with the Clone flying back.

The impacts didn't really kill the trooper at all, merely sent him flying into nearby rock walls and knocking him.

"Fixer!" Vos yelled out

"It's alright, he's unconscious." Boss assured, having rolled back to his down brother and checking him over.

"Damn bastards!"

Scorch had ran forward, disregarding the calls of his brothers and Jedi while firing a volley of grenades at the droids in front of him.

Several explosions appeared before him which took out some of the droids with Scorch running right through the smoke and tackling a droid down. An elbow to its followed by a blaster bolt to the head took it out. He snapped back up to his feet, firing at every droid he could see when he had to avoid several of those beams again when several shot at him at the same time with one striking his shoulder.

Scorch sailed through the air, landing hard on the ground though he had remained conscious feeling an invisible grasp of some kind pull him away from more fire.

"Try not to do too many crazy stunts like that, Scorch." Vos said with a wry grin.

Scorch only chuckled feebly. "What's the matter, Vos? Don't like being upstaged?"

"Can it you two." Boss barked out, firing at multiple droids before ducking for cover from blaster fire only to still fire up in the air as several of the droids were flying around.

Obi-wan had pulled a droid in with the force, cutting through it having to tilt his body back a second later to dodge another beam sent at him.

Sev was constantly in motion, not allowing any of the droids to get a pin on him.

Vos and Obi-wan stood side by side with Boss and Scorch nearby as they were all fighting back against the droids in a unified front.

"Where the hell did Rogers and Wilson go?" Vos said, swatting a blaster bolt back towards its sender taking it out.

"They're over there." Boss gestured with his hand.

Obi-wan took a momentary glance to where Boss had pointed to with his eyes narrowing at the sight of Steve fighting against a very well equipped and clearly skilled foe.

"Who is that?"

"We can ask him once this crap is taken care-"

"Look out!"

Vos had pushed Obi-wan back when several droids fired consecutive beams and explosive bolts in their direction. The blast sent the two Jedi flying and falling over the edge of the cliffs.

"Crap." Boss said bitterly. "Stand fast."

One of the droids moved forward with its arm trailing on the Clones when it was struck in the head by a blast bolt.

Several more got taken out with Sev looking over to see…

"Fixer!"

"Sorry for taking a nap on you, brothers." Fixer grunted, Sev dashing over to assist him whilst Scorch and Boss used the momentary distraction to send a volley of fire on the uniquely made droids.

Sev hauled Fixer over to the other two with Scorch firing off grenades while Boss tossed out droid poppers.

Delta Squad now stood united, facing the remaining droid of hordes with their weapons trailed on the metal bastards armed and ready.

Despite being outnumbered, they had no intentions of backing down without a fight.

Yet, to their surprise, the droids ceased their assault and flew off to parts unknown.

"Where the hell are they going?"

"Probably back to whoever made or hired them."

"Don't care about that. I'm more worried about the generals."

"Poodoo, I almost forgot about them."

Hanging at the edge of a cliffside, Obi-wan looked over to the man beside him.

"I never did enjoy hanging out with you."

All Vos did was give his old friend a wryly smirk.

Over with Steve, he was starting to get tired from fending off against Rumlow's assault. The constant changing from blaster fire to powered hand to hand combat was starting to get to him. It was no doubt challenging to the super soldier, keeping him on his toes.

And no matter how many times he hit the damn bastard, Rumlow brushed it off. It's like the man didn't feel any pain at all. What happened to him?

Steve was able to get lucky through a rebounded shield throw. It knocked his opponent down and rolled towards the cliffside. Rumlow tried to get back up, but he was punched down by the Avenger.

Brock merely punched the ground, getting back up when he saw that Steve was no longer alone. With him stood his companions, Delta Squad, Obi-wan, Vos and Falcon hovered overhead with all their weapons directed at him.

"It's over, Rumlow. You're done."

Crossbones chuckled in response, subtly pressing a button on his gauntlet. "It will never be over between us. And not _this_ soon."

Soon an engine roar startled the star-spangled Avenger, giving the Hydra agent the chance to run… well more like jumping off the cliff.

Steve ran towards where Rumlow fell and soon had to leap back when a ship's wing almost hit him as it quickly flew up. Looking back, he saw Crossbones standing on the ship's hull, waving at him before hopping through a hole on it's top. Once it closed, Rumlow's ship shot into the sky and disappeared in the clouds.

Landing beside him, Sam scowled on seeing the Hydra agent retreating.

"Wonder when we'll see him again."

"Hopefully not too soon, Sam."

_-Scene Cut-_

Sitting in the pilot's chair, Sy Snootles was chuckling to herself as she made her way to Tatooine with Ziro's holo-diary.

Things were simple for the Pa'lowick singer. She gets to do something she enjoys every day, having people lust after her and her fawning over her boyfriend, Ziro.

Yet things changed when the deadbeat Hutt had abandoned and broken her heart.

At its end, all she wanted was revenge and a better life. So she turned to the Hutt council and sought out a means in doing so.

She was then paid in when Ziro was brought in to play the part of her still loving her ex-boyfriend. Make him lead her to the holo-diary while the other bounty hunters and other forces distracted Ziro long enough from not noticing her deception.

Oh Ziro had wanted them to run away together, profiting off the blackmail and living the life on Solarine for the rest of their days. Too bad he will never see it as she will live there by herself with the amount of funds the Hutt council was paying her.

All she had to do now was deliver the package to Jabba personally and she will be on easy street for the rest of her life.

Coming out of hyperspace, she saw Tatooine was not far away. She was ready to descend towards the planet when her ship was blasted from behind.

"What in the-"

More and more rained upon her vessel before the singer turned bounty hunter was forced to evade the sudden enemy fire. Yet it was too much as her systems were soon shut off.

"Nonononono! This can't be happening!" She screamed. "I was so close!"

The sounds of docking were made onto the ship of Ziro's mother, causing Sy to pull out her blaster. She was gonna do everything she can to survive by any means necessary.

It wasn't long before the docking door opened up and metallic sounds beat against the ship. It then came towards her location with the doors opening up to reveal-

"A droid?" She said. "Y-You don't look like any model I've ever seen."

"Oh, hello there." This Droids voice was rather sinister, menacing and held a face that was far too expressive. "I noticed your ship in the area and couldn't help but admire it. It looked so nice on the outside I just had to see what it looked on the inside."

To say that Sy was terrified would be a severe understatement.

This Droid towered over her, easily being eight feet tall with glowing red eyes that held unnervingly human optics. Its body was humanoid in appearance and held a power to it that was off putting to say the least.

"Wh-Who are you?" Sy asked in a small voice.

The droid blinked, taking a moment to think on her words before releasing a rather menacing chuckle.

"Someone who wants to change the galaxy." Was the droid's only response. "For the betterment of _everything_."

"Wha-What do you want? Why'd you attack my ship?"

"You have something of interest to me." The droid said plainly. "Something I can use for the furtherment of my plans. And I think you know exactly what it is I'm after."

Sy looked to the datapad with the droids eyes going over to it, with him releasing a chuckle.

"Ah, there it is."

In a terrified state, Sy quickly snatched the datapad and held it out for the Droid with it quirking a metallic eyebrow before a malicious grin formed. It freaked the singer to her core at seeing something that is supposed to have no life display such glowing emotions.

"Now that wasn't so hard, was it?" It said in a rhetorical manner, candidly taking the datapad out of Snootles' hand. "See, I wish half of sentient life was as smart as you. If only it wasn't you that had to be in this position."

"Wh-What?"

The palm of its hand started to glow with a sinister red light. And it was the last thing Sy will ever see before her head was burned off with a quick blast.

Seeing the dead body topple to the ground, the droid turned its attention to the holo-diary held in his other hand. Grasping it, the unique looking droid shoved a finger into the side. The screen suddenly lit up with data flowing through it and into the droid. Once done, the diary short circuited before being tossed aside.

"Time to make a call."

Reaching to the ship's console, the droid inserted it's fingers and "dialed" several numbers all at once. And it wasn't long before it saw the holo-projections of the five members of the Hutt council.

"Hello gentlemen and madam." The droid spoke in fluent Huttees. "How is it on this fine day?"

"Who the hell are you?" Oruba inquired.

"I… am no one of importance to your clans, Mr. Oruba." The Droid said with a malevolent tone. "No one that you should be worried about. But what I can tell you is this. I have need of… accommodations within your section of controlled space."

"And just who do you think you are making such a brazen call to us?" Gardulla the Hutt said with a heated glare.

"One that is perfectly aware of your spice markets within Coruscant or your plans in attempting to weasel your way into Alderaan somehow." The Droid said making the Hutts tense up in silent shock. "It's not going to work mind you. Alderaan is so generally peaceful you should quit while you're ahead."

"What are you talking about?" Oruba spoke up frantically.

"Don't play stupid with me." The Droid said in an annoyed manner. "If you're criminal masterminds, live up to that name. I already know _everything_. More so now through the stupid little diary Jabba's uncle kept. And I gotta say, Ziro was quite thorough on the details. Not bad for a deadbeat, washout."

"What do you want?" Gardulla inquired cautiously. "Credits?"

"What? God no… actually, that may be useful but I could get them myself if need be. Finances, so weird."

"Then what?"

"Locations, locations. Prime real estate, really and so much more." Stated the droid. "To put it plainly, don't bother me while I do my work. If you do, well, you should know what to _expect_."

The Hutts shifted about nervously at the implied threat, not liking this in the slightest.

"You shall have your "Real Estate" as you would call it." Jabba stated.

"Good, good. Fantastic business meeting with you all, thank you for your time and investment."

"Before you go, who are you? You are no ordinary droid." Jabba asked.

"Oh, right. You lot would want to properly address me. Silly me~" The droid smiled, unsettling the Hutts greatly. "I am Ultron and we are gonna have quite the _partnership_ for the unforeseeable future."

As he was about to end the call, he recalled one little detail.

"One more thing. If I were to find out you let this little meeting of ours get leaked out somehow then you would all have a very bad day. Much worse than a simple blackmail release to the Senate of all places." Ultron finished in a tone that brokered no arguments.

Before either of the Hutts could argue and question, Ultron disconnected the call. Making his way back towards his ship, he disconnected the connection from the other ship and flew off. At a safe distance the sentient AI blew up the ship in order to cover his tracks.

"Now to start window shopping." Ultron said, pulling up holographic displays of planets the Hutts have full control of. "Oh where~ Oh where~ to begin."

**Alright, woo another one down and it was one I've been waiting to get to for a while now.**

**So yeah, while Peter, Pietro and Rhodey had to deal with Bane and lost kids, Steve and Sam were busy in their own way. This was a breeze, me and Jebest walking right through this chapter in about three- or two-days max. But god damn, has it been crazy out there with the Corona Virus and all essentially putting a stop to regular life.**

**Jebest4781: I agree, and sure most of us are still able to go to work. But I somewhat wish we could've been told to stay at home… and be paid during that time before having to come back. Yet that's not meant to be as things aren't that bad at our respective jobs.**

**FMW: Yeah, we've got our jobs and all still going, the two of us braving the great outdoors and taking on the wind and virus with so few people at work cause well that's just how it is. Even in hardships, duty calls to us all.**

**So, with all that said and done, hope you are all doing the necessary steps in preparation, have all the toilet paper (Like that's gonna make a difference), remain calm, collected, enjoy your time at home and just be patient. Before you blink, this whole thing will be over and done with and life will go on as it usually does. J and I have a lot of cool shit planned out for these stories with many amazing events to come so stay tuned for more my comrades.**

**Rate Read and Review and as Always Have Nice Day.**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Cover Poster for this chapter 
> 
> https://www.deviantart.com/freemanwriter/art/Hunt-For-Ziro-834190450


	30. Senate Spies and Such

**So yeah, Delta Squad have debuted along with Crossbones and Ultron is making his moves. So much to do and set up and it's only in the starting stages. I'm gonna need to read a lot of books and watch a helluva lot more clone wars and other war films and shows. Need to be getting better in detailing battles and such.**

**And quid pro quo as a reminder, this chapter is taking place at the opening stage of Holocron Heist.**

**That's all for now folks. Also, go read a Song of Fire, Ice and Hearts over on Jebest4781's profile for other reads during this lockdown.**

**Rate Read and Review and as Always Have Nice Day.**

Avengers Infinite Wars Chapter 30: Senate Spies and Such

Natasha Romanoff wasn't a simple woman to say the least. Not in the slightest as she was an assassin trained as far as she could remember, her skills being utilized by the KGB, SHIELD and HYDRA until finally she felt as though she had found her place with the superhero team known as the Avengers.

But to be in space in the middle of an intergalactic war between two factions? Concept was familiar but setting? It's gonna take some serious effort in trying to top having her mind blown after this one.

Now here she was with most of her team, together again. In a Galaxy Far, Far Away from home. But now more was at stake in locating the rest of them and then some as of late. And no means of returning home.

So… yeah, usual sort of scenario for the Avengers in terms of space travel. This has been a long journey of firsts for all.

Currently, Hope was dragging her along as they traversed through the Senate Building.

"And why are you bringing me along, Hope?"

"Because, you need to socialize more."

"I do socialize." Nat stated. "I even helped Steve out a multitude of times."

"Not work socializing, actual socializing."

"I'm a spy, remember? I'm trained to be extremely social." Nat said defensively.

"Right~ manipulations and all that jazz."

"You are not gonna drop this are you?"

"Not in the least bit, now come on let's see how you do in this den of manipulation and lying."

"How is this supposed to be helpful? We're dealing with politicians."

"Just trust me on this." Hope said, slightly pleading with Nat letting out a sigh.

They were walking through one of the many corridors with Nat having some familiarity with the place due to her most recent "job" here.

"So what's it been like here?" Nat asked.

"Nothing crazy or mind breaking." Hope remarked. "Aside from the whole… you know."

Natasha could only scowl thinking on the Jedi and their means of recruiting. It was all too familiar to her after all. As much as they do good they say. There's always a darker aspect to it. It just hasn't come out yet.

Entering one specific meeting chamber, Natasha saw a few familiar faces.

"Ah, hello Hope." Padme greeted her with a smile.

"Hey, Padme. Brought a friend."

Padme turned her attention towards the other Avenger in the room and recognized her. "Oh, your… Natasha, right?"

"I am." Nat said with a nod. "And you… look exactly like one of our friends' girlfriend."

Padme blinked, staring in slight bewilderment.

"I beg your pardon?"

"There's someone back home on our planet who, we do not exaggerate when we say this, looks exactly like you." Hope clarified.

"I never knew that."

"Seems no one told you."

"Seems so." Padme muttered out. "Then what was this 'other me' like?"

"Jane Foster is an accomplished astrophysicist." Hope simply said. "Pretty much how she and our Avenger colleague, Thor, met through one of her on the field assignments."

"Field assignments?" Padme repeated. "Is she a soldier of some kind?"

"Scientist actually." Hope said. "She's one of, if not the foremost leader on Astrophysics and astronomy. Thanks to her, a lot more revolutionary knowledge became public to the world."

Padme hummed in great interest, wanting to learn more when she noticed several individuals coming up from behind Hope and Nat with the youngest of them waving at her

"Well I'd love to hear more of my 'other self' at a later time. Let me introduce you to my close friends here at the Senate."

Walking over, one thing quickly crossed Natasha's mind: oh boy.

"Natasha, Hope, I'd like you all to meet Riyo Chuchi, Mon Mothma and Bail Organ-"

"We've met already." Nat cut off.

"Pardon?"

"At the hostage situation here."

"Really? How?"

"Ended up holding you people at gunpoint."

This response did not sit well with the others, causing Hope to facepalm.

Organa squinted at the red head finding her not matching any of the faces of the bounty hunters that held them hostage. Yet her eyes...

"I don't remember seeing you."

Natasha merely pulled out an intricate piece of silver cloth out of her belt and presented it. "This little thing helps disguise most of my facial features." Slipping it over her face, she adjusted it and pressed a small button on the side. Turned over to Padme and gave a good look over, the cloth started shifting and changing to make Natasha's face look exactly like the Naboo senator. "Only thing to really pull things off perfectly is adjusting the voice modulator on this and wearing a wig."

"Incredible." Mothma remarked. "I have seen stealth and form changing tech before but not on such a small scale."

"Wait, were you by any chance that Zabrak that was with us in the atrium?" Organa spoke up.

"Hey, you figured it out." Nat said with a praising tone. "How'd you go and do that?"

"Your eyes." Bail gestured to his own. "A senator needs to be able to distinguish them in our line of work."

"Impressive." Nat nodded. "Yeah, one little detail that sometimes slips by."

"But how could you be able to talk, let alone eat?" Riyo questioned. "I saw no cuts on the cloth along the mouth."

"Meh, not that important right now." Nat waved off, pulling off the mask to reveal her normal face. "Just that it still works is all that matters."

"So Natasha," Padme looked to the assassin. "I have heard from your friend and team leader Captain Rogers that you are one of the original Avengers when the team was first founded."

"Really? Where'd ya hear that?"

"I hosted a kind of appreciation gala where I live here on Coruscant." Padme said. "Got to know your team more before you were found."

"Figured as much."

"But who was that new one." Padme inquired. "During the whole Zillo beast debacle, I noticed a new individual in red and blue that looked like he was using some kind of white rope to move around the large creature."

"Oh, that's our newest recruit on Earth appearing here somehow." Hope said. "Calls himself Spider-man."

"Spider-man?"

"Code name."

Riyo then added in her thoughts. "Ah yes, Pietro mentioned his codename being Quicksilver."

"All of us have our own monikers and names." Nat said. "Back on Earth, I'm Black Widow to the general public. Nat to friends."

Padme hummed to herself in thought. "Then how are you finding Coruscant thus far?"

"It's a damn big city." Nat declared making them chuckle at the rather frank and accurate description. "This whole planet is a city, right?"

"Yes." Mothma said with a nod. "Coruscant is a city planet with layers upon layers and has served as the capital of the Republic for nearly all of recorded history."

"Must wonder where it started before here."

"That has been lost to time unfortunately." Organa stated. "Though I know of a few scholars who believe there may be some planet out there that holds the history of the entire galaxy."

"Well good luck to them I say." Hope said. "Maybe they could succeed."

"Perhaps they will." Organa said with a shrug. "Hopefully after this war is well and done."

At the mention of the war, Nat's eyes narrowed while thinking back on a conversation she had had with Sam not too long ago. A conversation with many questions that had been bugging her mind for quite some time.

"Just wanting to ask this, but what's your take on the war?"

"Pardon?" Mothma said

"Heard from some of the others you and your friends in this room are a part of those against the war."

Padme's eyes steeled for a moment. "It's no surprise to anyone that we aren't for the war in the slightest. This war is tearing up both the Republic, the galaxy and all the innocent people caught in between. This is not why the Republic stands."

"We are aware that there are times where conflict is unavoidable." Organa added. "But this war was one that could have been easily averted. Everything could have been settled if we just had the time."

"True, but most people are just hungry and impatient for profits from what I've heard." Hope said. "That Trade Federation and those banking Clans I've been hearing so much about."

The other senators gave bitter nods.

"They claimed to be neutral." Chuchi scoffed. "But it's beyond obvious whom they support."

"If it weren't for them, this war could've been settled sooner." Mon Mothma stated. "Now all we're having is more days of working overtime with more years seemingly added onto us."

"There is one thing that's been bothering me since I got here." Nat said with a frown. "Could anyone explain to me this whole Clone Army?"

"What do you mean?" Organa asked.

"I mean just where did it come from." Nat stated. "I mean, I don't want to be rude or anything, but a few days after your Chancellor calls for remilitarization this Clone army just up and appears magically all set and ready to go. Doesn't that seem a bit fishy and convenient?"

The senators stared at the spy-trained Avenger with several opening and closing their mouths as they thought about what Natasha had just insinuated.

Now that they genuinely took a moment, just where did this Clone Army truly originate from?

"Well…" Padme crossed her arms. "From what Anakin had told me from his own masters discovery, the Clone Army was commissioned by another Jedi Council member who perished ten years ago. Sifo Dyas."

"Sifo Dyas?" Chuchi murmured. "I had not heard of such a person."

"Any reason why he would do this?"

Padme shook her head. "No one knows for sure. It was big news to even the Jedi council as they were in the dark as anyone else."

"So even the Jedi don't know about this Clone Army?" Hope questioned; her brows furrowed with slight concern. "That… honestly sounds a little disconcerting."

"It does." Organa agreed, a sentiment shared with his senators.

"Has anyone bothered looking into it?"

"No…" Padme let that statement hang silently in the air. "No one has. Nor has anyone had the time."

An unusual sense of foreboding had now hung over the group of heroes and politicians with several feeling rather uncomfortable.

"They came out of nowhere when they were needed most." Mothma surmised. "With the Jedi only learning of it around the same time as we did."

Chuchi grimaced. "I had hoped for a day where I could relax for a brief moment and now this is weighing heavily on my mind."

"You and me both, sister." Hope idly said, thinking on the matter as well.

"Hopefully we can have some breathing time to finally investigate this matter." Padme stated earning nods from those around her when they heard a faint beeping noise coming from Padme. It was her communication device. Excusing herself, she went to the far end of the room in order to answer it.

The holo-projection of Grand Master Yoda soon appeared, making the Naboo senator smile.

"Master Yoda?" Padme said politely. "To what do I owe the pleasure of this call?"

"Excuse me, for my rudeness if you will." Yoda said with a bow of his head. "A moment of your time, if I may. Talk if we can, Senator Amidala."

_-Scene Cut-_

Standing in the Jedi council chamber, Padme stood beside Hope and Natasha as they had accompanied her back to the temple with the trio looking at the sitting Jedi before them.

"What can I do for you, Master Yoda?" Padme inquired.

"A task, I must ask of you." Yoda began. "Dangerous it may be, but necessary."

"Do you understand him?" Nat whispered beneath her breath with Hope nudging her to stay quiet.

"Dangerous?" Padme repeated. "How so?"

Next to Yoda was the holographic projections of Plo Koon and Mace Windu from their ends of the galaxy.

"There has been some intel that has been going about between the separatists and the republic." Koon informed the Naboo Senator. "Someone has been meeting with Separatist leaders. Someone you know.

"We believe Senator Clovis is conspiring with the Separatists. And we need to find out what he's planning." Windu stated.

"Rush?" Padme spoke up in surprise. "How could you believe that? Rush is an old friend. He and I started together at the Senate."

"We understand your misgivings and hesitation on the matter but we wouldn't ask of you if we weren't sure." Plo replied placatingly.

"From our intelligence operatives, found communications he has with the Trade Federation." Yoda added. "Sympathize with the Separatist cause, they do."

"And Clovis's work with the banking clans and trade federation doesn't exactly fill us with hope for a better future." Windu bluntly stated.

"Do you want us to interrogate him?" Nat inquired.

"Not in the slightest. One wrong misstep could cause a major incident." Windu threw that idea out the window.

"Then provoking him will make things harder to find out what he's planning."

"Exactly." Koon said.

"But why are you asking me of all people?" Padme inquired.

"We have known you two have entered the Senate in the same year and served in the same committee."

Padme held her hands and fiddled around with them a little. "We have and were… _good friends_."

Natasha recognized the body language, the slight change in her tone and several other things. "Good friends" was far from the truth on the matter. In fact from what she can already guess, they were in a relationship for a time.

"We know this is a great deal of what we're asking of you." Windu admitted. "But we ask you to do your duty to the Republic as we have ours."

Padme thought this over for several moments, thinking hard on the matter before looking up to the Jedi masters and nodding in confirmation.

"I'll do it."

"Are you sure about this, Padme?" Hope asked. "You don't have to do this, you know."

"Clovis was an old friend." Padme said. "But I just want to make sure. I _need_ to make sure he hasn't betrayed the Republic. It's been so long since I last saw him and… well, I guess your conversation earlier is getting to me." Padme's expression became resolute a moment later. "Someone needs to find the truth. And as an old friend, I should be the one to do so."

"Then do you want me to be an agent for you?" Nat asked.

"What do you mean?"

"We shall leave you to it then." Windu said, his holo-image blinking out along with Koon whilst Yoda bade them farewell, closing his eyes to meditate.

The three ladies exited the Jedi Council chamber, discussing a plan of action.

"Giving you pointers in what to exactly do in this situation."

"I… don't know. Like I said, it's been years since we last spoke." Padme admitted. "It was on even terms, but don't know if we could even pick back up again."

"What's going on now is basically what I normally did back home. You'll do fine with me helping you out in the sidelines."

"And was this all before or after you joined SHIELD?" Hope asked.

Natasha gave Hope a raised eyebrow look which practically said it all.

"Oh right, should've known better."

"Then what's the main plan here?" Nat asked, looking to Padme.

Padme simply stated. "I guess I'll start with making a call."

_-Scene Cut-_

"Still surprised Clovis was able to accept so soon." Hope muttered out as she and Natasha ate at a table some distance away.

"Gee, I can't imagine why." Nat said, side-eyeing Padme who sat alone wearing a rather lavish and exquisite dress. And the Senator's hair was stylized in such a way which hid the transmitter in her ear.

"I can get you something like this if you'd like." Padme said in a low voice to her comm link hooked up beneath her dress.

"No thanks." Hope waved off, with Nat sharing the sentiment. "That headpiece looks heavy and like a helmet that would weigh me down."

"This is my hair."

"Yeah we know."

Padme couldn't contain the puff of her cheeks, feeling insulted at her fashion sense. She'll have the two know that takes great pride in her looks.

"Do you think that style would do well on Earth?" Nat asked Hope.

"I'd say no but considering how weird we can be all things considered, I wouldn't put it past certain cities taking that style." Hope admitted.

"Focus up girls." Padme said through the comms. "Clovis is coming."

"I see him." Hope murmured, taking a sip of her drink to disguise her stare at the senator from Scipio who was approaching Padme's table.

"Padme." Clovis greeted in an overly kind tone. "It has been too long."

"Too long indeed, old friend." Padme said in turn, smiling at him as he seated himself before her.

A waitress droid came on by and served their drinks before walking away.

"It's been good to see you again, Clovis." Padme said with a soft smile. "I didn't realize how lonely I was… until tonight."

"Perhaps I can do more to ease your loneliness." Clovis said with an equal smile. "Once I return from Cato Neimoidia, then my schedule is open for you."

"Wow~ he really hasn't let his feelings for her go." Hope muttered before cutting into her dish.

"Most people have a hard time doing so once encountering someone truly special to them." Nat commented.

"And have you had anyone special?"

"My own story to tell, Hope."

Ignoring the little banter going off in her ear, Padme asked Clovis the obvious question. "Oh, you're taking a pleasure trip?"

"Hardly." He corrected her. "I'm going there to put the fear of Scipio in those overgrown Trade Federation grubs."

"Trade Federation?" Padme hummed. "I've had my own dealing with them in the past."

"So I've remembered." Clovis said knowingly. "You know how they are. They love to borrow money from the Banking Clan, but they hate to pay it back."

Padme chuckled. "Maybe you can say a few words on my behalf." Her mood grew a little serious. "I'm on the Holonet with the Neimoidians every day, asking for trade concessions, but I can't ever seem to make progress."

Clovis hummed a little to himself before looking back at his date for the evening. "I've got an idea. Come with me to Cato Neimoidia. Speak to them in person."

"Are you sure?"

"I have leverage from the Banking Clan. You have diplomatic contacts. We can help each other."

Padme eyed her old flame with a curious expression. "Are you inviting me for political reasons, or… because you want us to be friends again?"

"Both of course." Rush openly admitted. "Though I'm far more interested in your friendship then in politics."

"Dear god, what is this, the start to a softcore Porn?" Nat asked through the comms making Hope nearly choke on her food whilst Padme openly blushed at the comment.

"Padme? Are you alright?" Clovis asked, noting her sudden coloration of her cheeks.

"Sorry, it's nothing. Just a small flash of heat."

Clovis eyed her, shrugging a moment later taking a casual look outside giving Padme the brief chance to shoot an annoyed glare at Natasha who couldn't hide her amusement after seeing such a response from the Naboo Senator.

"Well with your offer… It'll be like old times."

Rush chuckled softly. "On the contrary, I hope it'll be much better than old times."

"And cue the slow burning music." Nat said with a mischievous grin, holding up her glass for Hope who only clinked her own cup with a deadpan stare.

"I swear to God, Nat, I will find a way to get back at you on Padme's behalf and mine. She can still hear you."

"Oh I know." Taking a sip of her drink, Nat's smile grew a little more. "And challenge accepted."

_-Scene Cut-_

The very next day, Natasha found herself standing alongside Padme on a landing platform with several Coruscant guards around them while C-3P0 was loading up supplies and other necessities into the ship that would take them to Cato Neimoidia.

Taking a moment to look around, Natasha spotted the small barely noticeable humanoid flying around her before perching herself on Nat's shoulder.

"Comfy?"

"More or less." Hope said with a shrug.

The tiny Avenger looked around, gazing over to the ship that apparently Nat was going to pilot. "So you know how to fly one of these things?"

"I sure have." Nat said, adjusting herself in the Naboo pilot attire. "Had to run many hours flying a lot of ships when I first came to this galaxy. Not much different from the ones back home. Just some adjustments, that's all."

"If you say so."

Nat adjusted her clothing again. "Padme, how the hell do you wear these clothes half the time? They're like blankets."

"It takes time getting used to them."

"I bet."

"Smarmy man, incoming." Hope spoke up with Nat and Padme looking at Rush who was approaching the latter.

"Senator Clovis." Padme greeted him.

"Padme." Clovis said, coming in a bit close to her. "You look exquisite."

He then proceeded to place a kiss on each cheek in a very clear intimate fashion. One that Padme clearly did not reciprocate from her facial expressions seen by Nat and Hope.

"Gee, that sure wasn't forward at all." Hope commented from Nat's shoulder.

Rush stepped back, looking at Natasha. "And who may I ask is this beautiful lady that stands with you?"

"Oh? Am I not beautiful, Senator Clovis?"

Clovis stammered for a moment when Padme giggled.

"My friend here serves as both my pilot and my maid." Padme introduced Nat. "This is Shataan and she is a very dear friend of mine as well."

"You don't see that every day." Rush said, nodding towards Natasha.

"She's a special friend whom I trust dearly." Padme said.

"Than any friend of Padme's is a friend of mine." Rush said, holding out his hand. "Rush Clovis, milady."

"Of course, sir." She then escorted the two inside of the ship. "Now be sure to be seated as we'll be departing very soon."

"If you get tired, you can rest your head on my shoulder."

"Ho~ Wow, that was so bad." Wasp stated, flying up from Nat and going over to one of the seats

"Some people are desperate." Nat whispered, causing the shrinker to giggle.

"Yeah, well desperation deserves compensation." Wasp said with a mischievous tone. Padme seated herself in one of the seat on the edge of her row when the one next to her short circuited and the safety harness snapped downward and didn't budge.

Clovis held a startled look with Padme blinking until her eyes spotted a small yellow and black figure flying up and away.

Padme could only roll her eyes at the Wasps antics.

"We're ready for takeoff, Shataan." Spoke the Naboo captain as Nat seated herself beside him.

The SHIELD agent nodded towards her co-pilot as they soon adjusted the controls and took off towards Cato Neimoidia.

The ship jolted, lifting up off the platform and then took off into the air.

Shortly after takeoff, Rush seemed to try and get closer to Padme. Wasp was about to do something so he won't get close and possibly spot her when Padme scooted away.

It was throughout the majority of this trip did Hope notice more of Padme's actions. Something that seemed familiar to her.

_-Scene Cut-_

Cato Neimoidia was quite a unique world. One covered in a persistent fog with all of its bridge cities suspended over the acidic oceans below. And the rock arches had a lot of forests and grasslands.

Descending to one particular city, the Naboo ship landed in front of the estate of one Lott Dod, the Neimoidian who has business dealings with Clovis today.

With the ramp lowered, Clovis and Padme and C-3P0 walked down and were greeted by Lott Dod himself with a pair of gold-plated maid droids behind him.

"Ah, Senator Clovis… and Senator Amidala, an unexpected privilege."

"Senator Dod." Padme greeted. "Please forgive me for arriving unannounced."

"Oh, no. Always a pleasure to see you, my dear. I hope you and I can make a fresh start."

"I came here with the very same hope." The Naboo senator turned slightly for her gaze to meet with Clovis'. "I believe in second chances."

"So do I, senator. So do I."

Nat stayed in the background, her eyes managing to catch Wasp flying above them as they entered the large building.

Upon entering, Nat and Wasp saw the many Neimoidians and maid droids walking about with the former discussing business and such whilst Padme's group was guided down a corridor to their place of momentary residency.

"Place looks like an overpriced burlesque house." Wasp commented, flying through the corridors of the establishment they currently stayed at.

"Anything of note?" Nat asked discretely from her end as she followed after Padme and 3P0 while being escorted to the room they would be staying in.

"Just that there are a lot of droids here that legitimately feel like sex-dolls." Wasp stated. "I feel dirty being here."

"Couldn't agree more." Nat said, getting herself situated with Padme. "At least seeing some battle droids here and there _somewhat_ makes me feel better."

Though Padme didn't vocalize it, she too felt a bit 'dirty' as the two put it herself. These droids around her were rather… appealing if one is into that sort of thing.

Wasp whizzed about, flying in between several legs of those that were residing in the building before flying back up in time to spot Dod and Clovis walking away in a rather discrete manner.

"Guys, I've got eyes on Clovis and that Dod Senator." Wasp said.

"I'll go check it out." Padme cut in.

"Padme are you sure?" Nat asked, surprised at the sudden declaration.

"There's something off about this place." Padme said. "I think it's better if Hope takes time to scout out the entire palace. Leave Clovis to me. He's my mission after all."

"If you say so."

"Might as well take the senator's advice." Nat said as she started checking the room for any bugs. "Don't know what is going on and need to find anything of importance. An office could be a good start."

Wasp continued her recon of the building when she spotted a rather unusual figure that had walked across from one room to another. Now granted, Hope wouldn't have made much of this figure had it not been for the fact that whoever it was really stood out with all that black clothing, cape and helmet that seemed to cover their face.

In regard to everyone else she had seen, this person stuck out like a sore thumb.

Eyes narrowed; Hope zipped after the figure who was beginning to descend down into the lower levels of the building.

The figure continued down another set of stairs before standing within a chamber of some kind with a holo-table in the center.

Approaching it, pressed upon one of its controls and waited for a brief moment. Hope flew ahead of the individual and settled herself behind a pillar while looking down at her person of interest.

After several more seconds, the holo-table glowed with a holo-transmission of what appeared to be an elderly gentlemen appearing before the helm being. The front plating of the individual retracted, revealing that it was a young Mirialan female with yellow skin and acidic yellow eyes with red tattoos trailing down her face from the inner corner of both her eyes.

"Master Dooku." The Mirialan spoke in a calm voice, kneeling down to one knee and head bowed.

"Chezo Niva." Dooku said in an equally even tone. "What is the purpose of this call, my acolyte?"

"The Senator from Scipio has arrived as planned." Chezo said, looking up to her master. "He and Dod speak right now on the matters of the droid factory construction."

"Good, very good." Dooku said approvingly. "Though that is not the reason or purpose of your call, is it?"

"There is someone of interest who has come with the Scipio Senator." Chezo said straight away. "One who you have spoken of before. The Naboo Senator, Padme Amidala."

"Senator Amidala is on Cato Neimoidia?" Dooku said in a sharp tone.

"She is Master, she has accompanied the Scipio Senator to this planet." Chezo stated. "What should be done with her, Master Dooku?"

"Keep an eye on her but do not do anything drastic." Dooku said. "The last thing we need is the Republic snooping about here even more so. But if an accident were to happen…"

Dooku's unfinished statement made a sinister grin crawl upon Chezo's face with her yellow eyes burning in understanding.

"Of course Master Dooku." Chezo said with malicious glee.

Wasp all the while glared, quickly hopping off from her pillar and flying out to meet up with Natasha.

"Nat, we have a problem."

With Padme, she walked as slowly and quietly as possible. It took a bit of time to properly track down Senators Rush and Lott. She did find them in a darkened part of the library with something projecting on the holo-table.

"-This investment by the Banking Clan will create unimaginable war profits," Rush stated to the Neimoidian beside him, "the largest droid factory ever built."

Padme's hopes for her old friend died rather quickly. It seems the man she once cared for deeply is amongst enemy ranks now.

"As long as the Republic doesn't find out." Dod grumbled out. "You should never have brought a member of the Senate here."

The Naboo senator then heard a series of agitated clicks coming from that room, making her want to listen in more.

"I agree, Lord Poggle. For all the risks we're taking, _we_ should be getting a greater share of the profits."

'Lord Poggle?' Padme thought. 'Of the Geonosians?'

Rush became quite displeased. "Are you suggesting we change the terms of our agreement?" He eyed both Dod and Poggle with a shake of his head. "A deal is a deal. I'd hate for something to happen to you."

The Neimoidian scoffed. "You forget yourself, Clovis. You cannot threaten me on _my_ own planet."

"This is hardly your planet anymore, not since you signed your holdings over to the Banking Clan, in return for a stake in this new droid factory."

Padme narrowed her glance, knowing she'll need to get whatever's on that holo-table no matter what.

Just as well as before, the Naboo senator quietly made herself scarce and went back to where her assigned quarters resided.

_-Scene Cut-_

"So… another assassination attempt may occur on my life here, eh?" Padme said with a rather bland expression. "What a surprise."

"You don't seem all that shocked given what we told you." Hope stated. "Is this a politician thing or…?"

"Let's just say this isn't the first time someone's wanted to get me out of the picture these past ten years." Padme said with a dry tone. "With how often my life has been targeted throughout my life, I've sadly grown used to it."

"Gotta say, you're earning more respect from me." Natasha sadly chuckled.

"Don't know if that's a good or a bad thing to hear from you."

"So there's one of those Sith guys that the Jedi mentioned and whatever it is smarmy man is planning with those Separatists." Hope stated.

"Looks like we've got our hands full here." Nat noted.

"You mentioned there are plans for a droid factory on Geonosis." Hope said with Padme nodding.

"Would've been difficult to know the exact location if it weren't for them talking to Lord Poggle in person. But we'll need to know the factory's layout so the Republic can properly take it down for good."

"Can't we be able to simply get whatever's on that holo-table in the library and get out of here?" Hope asked.

"Knowing them, whatever's there will be password protected. Accessing the data won't be easy without it."

"It's never that simple, Hope."

"Yeah, figured."

"So what do we do then?"

Padme hummed in thought, thinking over their current predicament.

"Hope, I suggest you stay with me for dinner tonight."

"Uh, Padme, what if someone walks in? You came with Nat, remember?"

"That's what 3P0 is for." Padme said, gesturing to the protocol droid who waved at the two Avengers. "There's a little something called privacy here."

"I don't follow."

"While I dine with the others, you stay close so you may figure out what the password is. If you think you possibly have the right one, you can head straight towards the library and extract the data without anyone knowing until we are off world."

"Sounds like a plan."

"While you two are doing that, I'll keep an eye on this new acolyte."

"You sure about that Nat?" Hope asked in concern.

"Wouldn't come prepared if I wasn't." Nat said, rolling down her sleeves to show off her trademark Widow's Bite around her wrist.

"Alright, just be careful is all." Hope said with Nat nodding.

"Then we have a plan in motion." Padme said. "Let's get started."

It was later in the evening when the dinner commenced with Padme playing along in enemy territory.

Situated inside of C-3P0, Hope was paying close attention to the conversations. Taking note of anything remotely important from some of the more noteworthy individuals on the table, i.e. Senators Clovis and Dod.

Either one of them brought the plans to the library's holo-table. Either one of them had the password needed to access the data they needed.

It was starting to get rather annoying at some point into the meal when Hope decided to test her luck. Carefully getting out of Padme's protocol droid, Hope flew out of the dining hall and made her way towards the library as fast as possible.

Once there, she returned to her normal size and tried accessing the holo-table's contents.

" _Passcode required."_

"Of course." Hope muttered, adopting a thinking posture. "Might as well try Clovis first. Scipio."

" _Denied."_

"Banking Clan."

" _Denied."_

"Baron Rush Clovis."

" _Denied."_

Hope racked her mind from any other possible answers. Yet one seemed to make her pause. Rubbing her eyes, she spoke the last possible password.

"Padme."

" _Granted."_

"Jesus, he really is that desperate." Hope murmured, looking at the holo-display of a large Droid foundry that was well into production.

Before she could start extracting the data, she heard some chatter nearby and looked back.

It was at the worst possible moment that Padme and Clovis abruptly walked in, making Wasp shrink herself down and hide long enough for the two Senators, preferably the Separatist supporter, to leave.

"I'm waiting for my business venture to start." Clovis stated as he escorted Padme into the library. "I'm doing some private investing with guaranteed returns."

Padme nodded before groaning, holding her head as it throbbed before massaging her throat. "Could you bring me something to drink? I'm so thirsty all of a sudden and my head is pounding."

He came up to her out of genuine concern. "Oh you poor thing. It's the climate change. I'm sure of it. I'll be right back."

Acting from his namesake, Rush rushed out of the room, leaving Padme seemingly alone.

Wasp grew back to her full size, startling Padme slightly but she quickly calmed down.

"I've got access to the droid factory data, Padme." Wasp said. "We need to download it, pronto."

"That's exactly what I'm here for." Padme said, holding up a small data chip.

"I think you'll find the passcode rather endearing." Hope stated with a coy grin.

"Which is?"

"You, apparently."

"...How… sweet."

"You're not flattered at all, aren't you?"

"I would, if I hadn't moved on years ago."

"Oh, so there's someone else then?" Hope said with a smirk while Padme accessed the holo-table and downloaded the droid factory plans and schematics.

Just in time as Clovis had returned.

Wasp shrank back down, grabbing the data file from behind Padme's back and sticking to the shadows to avoid detection.

"I'll head back to 3P0 and put the plans in him for safe keeping." Hope spoke into the Naboo Senator's earpiece. "Good luck on your part, Padme."

Back at the dinner earlier this evening, Black Widow was conducting her own part of the mission.

Natasha had opted to stick entirely to the shadows, the night on top of the lighting of the rooms serving her well. She stood round a corner in what was the restaurant of the building. Off on the far end of the room was Padme seated with Clovis, Dod and several other Neimoidians. And on the other side seated by herself in a more elegant black dress was that Sith Mirialan Acolyte Chezo who had her back turned from her target, sipping upon a drink in an elegant manner while lightly eating her meal.

She hadn't made a move much and didn't appear to be in any rush of sorts yet to the trained eye, it was clear for Nat to see that she was dealing with a skilled assassin. Whoever this Chezo was, she was not to be taken lightly.

The dinner between Padme, Clovis and the Neimoidians continued with nothing significant happening save for Padme appearing to be rather tired on a few occasions.

This went on until Chezo tilted her head to the side before casually getting up out of her seat and walking towards one of the exits of the restaurant. The exit she was closest to.

With Chezo momentarily glancing her way.

Widow felt herself stiffen up before crouching down to back away and move silently down the hall she stood in whilst Chezo had turned the corner and stood there.

Her yellow eyes shifted about, face scrunched up in suspicion and concentration.

The hall was relatively empty yet she knew that if anything were to happen here, she would draw unwanted attention.

Beginning to walk down the hall, her footsteps were relatively silent being muffled by the floors being carpeted and all.

Her head however turned sharply to the left; eyes narrowed as she changed her path to where she had now sensed something.

Widow had found a set of stares, traversing downward yet the acolyte appeared not far behind.

Knowing they were alone, Chezo had a smirk on her face as she spoke.

"I know you're out here, somewhere." Chezo said, her tone even but loud enough for Nat to hear. "It was definitely a surprise but when one concentrates well and hard enough, it makes it impossible to miss you."

Nat had remained silent, scaling down the winding staircase as quickly as possible whilst Chezo opted to take her time.

"I still am trying to wrap my head around your existence, you know." Chezo said, making sure her dress wouldn't touch the steps. "How is it possible for individuals like yourselves to exist? Devoid of the Force."

Nat paused, taking a moment to think over what that Sith Acolyte just said.

"I know who you are or more of whom you are associated with, Avenger." Chezo went on, continuing her descent. "Your team made quite the arrival in the galaxy. Every Force-user must have felt your grand appearance. I know I did, as did my master and fellow acolytes."

Widow now found herself entering a darkened room with many pillars and one holo-table in the center. She then heard the sound of heels echoing against hard granite and knelt behind a pillar where the shadows hid her best.

"It was strange when I felt an unusual turbulence in the Force when that Senator arrived earlier today but when I focused, I sensed you immediately." Chezo said, now standing in the center of the large chamber where she contacted Count Dooku. "My sensory capabilities are second to none amongst my peers. A blank void like yourself in the Force was not difficult to locate."

A blank void in the Force? That was certainly a new one to hear.

"It's like a living… scar? No, something else." Chezo muttered, though her voice was still heard. "You truly are an unusual element. How is it possible to exist without the Force? What are you really I wonder. Yet for some reason the Force permeates around you. Did you know that?"

Nat held up her wrists, Widows Bite powering up.

Chezo stopped, reaching out with the Force. Her yellow eyes burned with intent and purpose as the Force fed her information on her surroundings. While it is difficult to sense one that is deafened or exempt from the Force, Chezo figured perhaps there are other means in detecting those void of her power. After all, when appearing like that to that capacity it leaves quite a mark in the Force.

Igniting her crimson lightsaber, Niva flung it at the pillar Widow was hiding behind with the red blade slicing right through the sediment.

Widow had rolled out of the way, revealing herself to Chezo.

"Ah, there you are."

Natasha rolled her eyes when the humming of a lightsaber forced her to duck down as the blade returned to Chezo's hand.

The Sith Acolyte grinned maliciously, holding out her free hand as if she were attempting to grab something out of the air. Nat quirked a brow at her behavior when she felt a strange feeling at the back of her throat before she cleared it. The feeling went away.

Chezo blinked, seeing nothing happen before trying whatever it was she was doing again.

This time it felt as though Natasha had something lodged in her throat and she didn't swallow whatever she was eating properly. She squirmed this time, letting out several coughs when once again the strange feeling subsided.

"What is going on?" Chezo asked herself.

"The hell?" Nat was incredulous. "That was you?!"

Not waiting for a response, Natasha instantly pulls out one of her pistols and fires several bullets at the Mirialan.

Sneering at the slug-throwers sent her away, Chezo casually spun her lightsaber about to deflect all the bullets aside. Only they weren't deflected. The humming blade melted the bullets into liquid metal which splattered around and on Chezo's body.

The acolyte's eyes widened, hissing with great pain as she felt the molten liquid burn her skin with the metal solidifying moments later. Chezo cried out aloud, gripping her fist and lightsaber with her free hand puncturing her palm.

Chezo's head snapped up in time as she heard footsteps running at her Black Widow jumping to deliver a striking knee.

She leaned her head back in time yet her chest still got the brunt of the damage with the Acolyte flying back.

Niva tumbled back with her lightsaber deactivated, propping herself on one knee to see Black Widow reaching for her pistol once more. She wasn't going to let that happen again.

Instinctually, Chezo shot up both her hands and Nat felt her eyes widen while she was lifted up off the ground by an invisible force. She was flung down to the ground, let out a moan of discomfort getting back up to her feet as did Chezo who was glaring hatefully at her.

"You bitch!" Chezo charged forward, making Nat get onto the defensive.

Spinning on the ground, Widow whirled away from the acolyte's coming strike. Once back onto her feet, she threw a series of punches and kicks as the two started blocking and parrying each other's attacks.

Black Widow had to make sure to take great care with the Lightsaber that Chezo had re-ignited, attempting to literally kill her. She raised her arm in time, holding Niva at the wrist, making sure the saber was pointed away from her body.

"I wanted to take you prisoner for my Master." Chezo said with a furious snarl. "But I'll settle for your head instead."

"Generic." Nat said, clenching her fists as her Widow's Bite sent out an electric jolt that caused Chezo to flinch. "Couldn't you have tried coming up something a bit more original. It's gone stale after so long."

The Mirialan fought back against the jolt. What she currently felt was nothing compared to the Force Lightning she endured from in her past training sessions.

With a roar, Chezo thrusted the Force to knock the Widow away.

Once again, Nat found herself being thrown through the air courtesy of the Force with her landing on the ground. Her head whipped up in time to see Chezo in the air with her lightsaber overhead. Nat shoved herself out of the way with a red blade striking the spot she laid at.

Getting up onto a knee, she held up her wrist and aimed at Niva. She fired an electric taser disk yet Chezo was prepared, swatting the disk away.

"Such a pretty face." Chezo said condescendingly. "Such a shame I have to cut it up."

"My God, was there a three for one bargain sale on villainy monologues?"

Chezo rushed forward, lightsaber at her side with Nat beginning to run back.

Before causing any further harm on Nat, Chezo felt something brush past her face. She thought it was nothing until something struck her head not long after from behind.

The Mirialan acolyte tumbled and collided against the wall. Shaking her head a little, she saw someone else had come and joined in on the little dance number of theirs.

"Sorry I'm late." Wasp said.

Nat shook her head. "No, you're right on time."

Chezo shook her head, clutching it with her free hand when she looked up to see Widow standing with another woman. One that she detected straight away as being another of these Avengers.

Black Widow and Wasp stood side by side, readying themselves to fight Chezo with the former wielding two electrified batons that popped out from her wrists.

Chezo snarled with a malicious smirk growing on her face. "Oh what fun this will be."

"So she's one of those Sith guys the Jedi talked about?" Hope asked in a low voice.

"Yeah, so far, not gonna lie." Nat eyed the Mirialan. "She's a bit of a bitch."

"Not hard to see why."

With no further words needed, the three women lunged forward, Wasp shrinking down and Nat having to duck down low as Chezo swung her lightsaber horizontally at them.

Rolling forward, Nat sprung up, catching Chezo's wrist as she in mid-swing again. This motion gave Wasp the chance to deliver a quick series of strikes to Chezo's gut followed by her chin.

Chezo stumbled before getting hit back hard from a spinning kick from Widow.

She retaliated, spinning her lightsaber at Wasp. Much to her frustration, the attack missed as Hope shrunk down. She wondered where she was before the Mirialan was suddenly flipped over. Widow used this opportunity to kick the acolyte's exposed side before delivering a downward elbow strike.

On the ground once more, Chezo was seething with unadulterated rage at being beaten back with such ease. Clenching her teeth, Chezo unleashed a powerful force push again with Black Widow flying back and the shrunken down Wasp being flung around in the air.

Widow's back and head hit a pillar, the impact knocking the wind out of her with her head pounding. Eyesight blurry, Widow glanced up to see Chezo in the air with her lightsaber up to her shoulder level reared back and ready to impale her.

Thankfully, Wasp was still airborne with the shrunken Avenger flying at full speed at Chezo.

Just as Chezo was about to stab Widow right through the heart, the Sith Acolyte felt a powerful strike to her jaw which caused her to crash land right next to Nat.

However, Wasp was slightly late in her timing with the crimson blade managing to cut through Widow's suit and burning the side of her waist.

Nat's eyes momentarily bulged out, with the former spy clutching her side while gasping in pain.

"Nat." Hope grew back to full size, at her friends' side helping her stay up.

"Ah, she got me good there." Nat cringed, wincing at the pain coursing through her body.

Furrowing her brows, seeing her comrades injury merely fueled Hope's drive in taking the Mirialan acolyte down.

Chezo was dazed from her earlier hit, stumbling slightly as the acolyte returned to her feet.

Sizing back up to normal size at the last possible second, her foot collided against Chezo's head. As their opponent started falling down, Hope spun once more and delivered a powered dropkick right onto the acolyte's face.

Bouncing off the floor, Chezo became unresponsive with Hope breathing hard to catch her breath.

"I think you got her." Nat said whimsically, holding her side while wincing with pain.

Going back over to Nat, Wasp pulled out a small cylindrical canister of some kind before making Nat move her hand. The burn was deep and nasty and would undoubtedly leave a scar.

"You gonna be alright?" Hope used the canister to spray a whitish-blue liquid of some kind on the injury.

"Had worse." Nat muttered, glancing down at her injury. "What's that?"

"Bacta spray, gotta love it."

Nat let out a mild hiss before releasing a small, eased hum. "Oh, that could have helped back then."

"Figured." Hope helped Nat move along as they walked down the corridor. "We need to check back on Padme. Don't know if our fight brought in unwanted attention or not."

_-Scene Cut-_

After their scuffle with the Sith Acolyte, Hope and Natasha made their way back to the guest room where Padme resided. They needed to get off the planet immediately as the Neimoidians would be onto them very soon.

Once arriving, they saw Rush Clovis was hovering over Padme's prone form, which lay on the bed.

"What are you doing?" Natasha said, startling the male Senator.

"P-Padme's ill." He said. "She's burning up."

Natasha came up to the Naboo senator and saw she was indeed having quite the fever. Yet this was quite out of nowhere. To confirm her suspicions, she briefly opened the senator's eyes and saw some slight discoloration with the pupils dilated.

"Senator Clovis, please get a medical droid." Natasha ordered. "If it won't help her, then we need to go to a hospital or go off world for proper medical treatment."

Rush stammered and nodded. "Right, of course. I'll be right back."

With the Scipio senator out of the room, Hope spoke up while on Natasha's shoulder.

"There's more to it, isn't there?"

"Padme's been poisoned." Said the SHIELD agent.

"Clovis." Padme said in a low voice. "I hoped… he wasn't involved with them… We need to get back to the Republic and show them what we have found."

"First we gotta take care of you." Nat said.

"Oh really?" Padme may be feeling the poison but she couldn't deny her wits. Trying to get back up, she noticed part of the redhead's current state. "How'd you get that injury there, Nat?"

"Not important right now, Padme." Nat argued back even though she kept a hand pressed to her waste. "Hope, you try to find where the antidote is at and bring it to the ship ASAP."

"You got it."

Zooming out of the room and around the medical droid, the Wasp soon made her way towards where Clovis was having a heated discussion with the Neimoidian senator. Rush then ran off elsewhere as she saw Lott Dod have a sinister smirk on his face.

Narrowing her eyes, she flew towards him and followed as he walked down the corridor. Eventually coming to what appeared to be the man's office, the Wasp saw him discussing something with one of his attendants.

It didn't take long for her to spot something out of place on the man's desk. Coming close, she saw it was an injector with some sort of liquid.

Waiting for the Neimoidians leaving the office; Hope went back to normal size, grabbed the antidote and shrunk back down. She soon flew out of the nearby window and headed straight towards the Naboo ship where Padme was being loaded onto.

"I wish I could let me come with, Padme."

"I didn't want to put you through so much trouble." She weakly argued. "You still have a task to do here and I have mine."

Clovis tightened his fist before releasing the pressure. "If you say. Just get well."

With the ramp closed up, Hope regrew to normal size and quickly injected the antidote into the Naboo senator.

"You rest now, Padme." Hope said softly. "You did a good job."

"I hope it was all worth it."

"It will be." Nat said before she and the Naboo captain got the ship airborne and coordinated their flight back to Coruscant.

_-Scene Cut-_

"What do you mean there were copied data files?" Dod asked in confusion towards a Commando droid. "You said that the data file was stolen."

"It was, but our scanners indicate a copy of the foundry was made earlier." The Commando droid spoke.

"Curse you Clovis." Dod reared his glare at the Scipio Senator. "Thanks to your pathetic weakness, now there are two copies of the foundry the Republic have their hands on."

"The copy of the droid foundry occurred the day before Senator Clovis's arrival." Said a calm, feminine voice.

Both men turned to see Chezo walking around the holo-table that once held their plans for the droid factory on Geonosis.

"What do you mean?" Clovis inquired.

"The day before your arrival, someone else had accessed these plans and had made a copy of it." Niva said with a tone that held suspicion though not at either of the two. "I had accessed the data logs and found this anomaly though I had nearly missed it. It was so discreet, I needed to check twice that it wasn't a glitch of some kind."

"I don't understand, this happened the day before Clovis's arrival?" Lott Dod asked for clarification.

"Indeed." Chezo confirmed. "Someone else was here right under our noses and whoever it was, got away with their own copy of the Droid factory."

"But who could it have been then?" Dod asked a question everyone in the room shared. "If not Senator Amidala and her associates, then who?"

Outside, a set of Commando droids walked through the corridors on patrol passing by the room that held the Acolyte and two Separatist "sympathizers".

Both droids momentarily had their eyes flicker red for a few brief moments before they continued walking with a low metallic chuckle emanating from one of them.

**So yeah, that was a breeze with only a literal day needed to write the whole thing out.**

**J and I have been on a role and my god we hope it doesn't end. Bouncing back and forth between this story and A Song of Fire, Ice and Hearts has been a real help in stimulating our creativity and writing process.**

**Keep staying safe everyone, Covid is still in affect and is still a monumental fucking asshole of a plan and life canceller. Like seriously, fuck off already with that.**

**Other than that, see ya next time.**

**Rate Read and Review and As Always Have Nice Day.**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Cover poster for this chapter here. 
> 
> https://www.deviantart.com/freemanwriter/art/Senate-Spy-834933521


	31. Devil of the Holy City

**Rate Read and Review and As Always Have Nice Day.**

Avengers Infinite Wars Chapter 31: Devil of the Holy City.

Matt Murdock was a man of many trials and talents.

Losing his vision at a young age followed by his father had hardened his heart with many years of tribulation as he tried to make his way in this new world that's constantly burning around him.

From a mentor who had taught him to hone his senses and fighting capabilities to getting abandoned by said mentor and at long last achieving what his father had always wanted for him. A better life, a better way of applying himself and giving back to the world.

Of course, life wouldn't ever be that lenient.

After all, like he had heard the saying many times. Watch out for those Murdock boys, they've got the Devil in 'em.

So here he was, many years later, garbed in a brand-new advanced suit gifted to him by one Tony Stark AKA Iron Man that gave off the vibe of the "Devil of Hell's Kitchen.".

While it did not deviate all that much from his friend Melvin's second iteration of his suit, the blind vigilante knew how improved the suit was with it having many voice and motion activated commands that he was still adjusting to.

His old Billy club had a total overhaul with a litany of modes to be used and mastered, right now opting for the grappling hook fashion as he swung down to the alleyway where one friendly neighborhood Spider-man currently resided.

The web-head had a web hammock made that hung in between the buildings with the young hero casually perusing about on his phone.

"I hope you managed to finish your homework assignment from school today." Daredevil remarked casually, gaining Spidey's attention.

Spider-man looked down to see Daredevil looking up at him with a patient look. Flipping around and hanging from his hammock with his feet, Peter casually threw his arms behind his back.

"Oh yeah." Spidey said pridefully. "Chemistry is my forte. How else would I make my webs?"

Matt smirked slightly, head tilting to the side as he heard something behind him yet it was just a rat scurrying about.

"Huh, thought most of those guys would be under by now." Peter noted, eyes on the rat scurrying about.

"December has only just begun." Matt said. "There's still time before the blizzards begin to hit."

"Yeah." Peter said absentmindedly. "Oh, did Mr. Stark install internal heating in your suit too? It's been working perfectly since the colds been coming in."

"He did indeed." Matt nodded. "I'll have to give him my thanks next time I see him."

"Right." Peter nodded. "So, any word from his royal Catness?"

"Nothing yet." Daredevil said. "But he did give me his address and time of meeting later today. Apparently, there's some international diplomatic meetings he has to attend to with his father."

"Cool…" Peter said, still hanging upside down. "I still can't believe we met the Royal family of Wakanda."

"I still can't believe they'd come all this way here to track and capture this arms dealer, Klaue." Matt muttered. "They haven't told us everything yet."

"Think they'll talk?"

"They'll have to if they want to work with us and here in our city." Murdock said sternly. "I don't care about diplomatic immunity or that nonsense. They came here on our turf so they'll have to play nice and tell us their intentions."

"Jeez." Peter chortled, amused and slightly anxious. "Bit territorial there."

"Manhattan, Bronx, Queens, doesn't matter. This is our home." Matt said emphatically. "Prince Kit Cat will play by our rules."

Peter regarded the blind lawyer for a moment, snorting a moment later then puffing his chest out with pride.

"Yeah, you're right." Spidey declared. "This is our town and no royalty dressed as Cats is gonna walk all over us like that."

Daredevil couldn't contain the small chuckle that he got from the kid's voice. He had personality, that's for sure.

"What, too much?" Spidey asked, swing round to seat himself back on his hammock.

Daredevil merely waved him down.

"We've got some time until we meet with the Prince." Matt said.

"So~ Patrol then?" Peter said with anticipation.

"Patrol then."

"Sweet."

The vigilante duo began to go about from roof to roof, alleyway to alleyway and street to street. Sticking to high altitudes and dark shadows, they kept vigilant eyes on the citizens of the Great Apple with many simply going about their business all the while unaware of their protectors.

Some had spotted Spider-man swinging above along with Daredevil scaling around the building with his athletic ability but were only able to get a brief glimpse of them.

Over the course of the next several hours, Daredevil and Spider-man had stopped several crimes here and there some together, some alone as they had split up several times to cover more ground though always reconvening not too long after.

This went on until at last, the scheduled meeting had at last arrived.

Peter and Matt arrived as promised upon the roof of the hotel where the Wakandan Royal Family resided for their stay in New York.

The Prince of Wakanda was already there, awaiting their arrival being flanked by Okoye and Ayo along with a clearly excited princess Shuri.

T'challa stood with his Panther suit on though his helmet was off yet it was not seen on his person like under his arm or held by the guards.

Spider-man and Daredevil landed before the prince.

"Prince T'challa." Matt Murdock greeted formally.

"The Devil of Hell's Kitchen." T'challa said in turn. "The Spider of Forest Hills."

"They call me that?" Peter said in bewilderment, mask up to his nose as he was munching on a hotdog. "I haven't seen that nickname anywhere."

"Oh, that was mine." Shuri said proudly. "It seemed to fit since you work in Queens so often."

"Well there goes your dirty water dog I was gonna offer ya." Spider-man said in false-indignation. "I brought some for everyone but you'll have to miss yours."

Peter held up his other hand that held nearly six wrapped hot dogs with Okoye catching a whiff of the scent blown her way due to the Fall winds.

"How can you eat those?" Okoye asked with her face scrunched up in slight disgust. "They smell abhorrent."

"Yeah, the smell isn't for everyone but it still tastes damn good." Peter said. "Wanna try? A good hero knows that a full stomach is a healthy stomach."

Okoye opened her mouth to reject it only for Shuri and of all people, Ayo, snatch a hotdog for themselves.

"Ayo?" Okoye said, flabbergasted that her Dora Milaje sister would eat one of these greased foods so easily.

Ayo merely shrugged. "They're not half bad really. Decently good kick to them."

Okoye gaped a bit as an amused T'challa took his own hotdog with an appreciative nod to Peter before giving his faithful guard and friend an expectant look. She soon realized that everyone was now staring at her, with Peter still holding one spare dirty water dog for her to take.

Feeling outnumbered and rather judged unceremoniously, she made a face that could only be described as a defeated pout of sorts as she took the hotdog.

"Now that pleasantries have been made." Daredevil said conversationally. "It's time we got down to business. Ulysses Klaue. What do you know about him?"

T'challa let out a tired sigh, thinking of the arms dealer that had left such an impact on his father and nation as a whole. Klaue was a man that proved how Wakanda was not as impenetrable or invincible as it had seemed and liked to be.

"He is a man from our past that had stolen something valuable from our nation with a great loss to our people." T'challa solemnly with Okoye's expression becomes one of melancholy.

"What'd he do?" Peter asked softly.

"Something that has made us leave our kingdom in search of him." Okoye said with a stern tone.

"General." T'challa said calmly.

Okoye simply bowed her head, reigning in her personal feelings on the matter. Peter quirked a brow beneath his mask whilst Daredevil had picked up on the brief spike of the guards heart rate.

"Alright, so there's a personal history." Daredevil stated. "But you're not telling us the full story here. Ulysses Klaue is one of the most well-known arms dealers in the criminal underworld. He deals in weapons and other illegal materials. What does Klaue have that _demands_ you all being here in Manhattan?"

Okoye and Ayo had their eyes narrowed at the man without fear while Shuri gained a more anxious expression, gazing back and forth between Matt and her brother.

"Guys." Peter spoke up, a bit nervous. "Come on. We're all on the same side here. Stop that perm-haired weirdo from causing any more harm then he's already done."

Shuri found herself snorting aloud with T'challa's lip twitching upwards before he nodded.

"Agreed." The Prince said. "What have you found out about Klaue since you were already ahead of us."

"He's been meeting with several individuals of interest." Daredevil said straight away. "I had met with one of my "informants" and he last spoke of a meeting occurring within the next few days where the Yakuza once operated in this city."

Peter snorted, knowing full well how that meeting with said "informant" went. Now that he thought about it, could he communicate with Spiders? That'd be a pretty neat power all things considered.

"The Yakuza." T'challa mused. "I was unaware that they are operating within Manhattan."

"Were." Daredevil stated. "Wasn't too long ago they had their own organization here. Taking them down… it wasn't easy."

T'challa only hummed in thought. "So you know where we can find them."

"Once we get there, yes." Daredevil said. "It's a rather large area, but my senses could pick up on their movements and such."

"Your Senses?" Ayo questioned in confusion.

"Let's just say I can hear better than most." Daredevil said enigmatically.

"That wasn't cryptic at all." Shuri said with a wry tone. "But, if we are working together, I can help out as well."

"How?" Spidey asked.

"If Ulysses Klaue has kept what he has stolen from us on him at all times, there are means and methods in which to track them."

"Like what exactly?"

"When one works with the metal they stole, you know it's ins and outs like the back of your hand." Shuri said with a boastful smirk.

As she walked away, Spidey and Daredevil shared a look before turning T'challa

"And that means…?"

T'challa only rolled his eyes in slight annoyance. "It means she's going to want to show off."

"What's she looking for then?" Spider-man asked.

"The strongest metal in the world." T'challa said, walking to follow after his sister. "Vibranium."

_-Scene Cut-_

It was the night of the exchange and the three men were prepped and ready.

For backup, T'challa's people were on standby in case anything goes further south than planned. Especially when everything is settled in the end, the Wakandans will want to properly apprehend those involved in the deal. A compromise for their help, if you will.

Neither of the New York natives argued on that end of the bargain. Vibranium was their property, not of the world… for the time being.

It was still surprising to believe that Captain America's signature shield came from that corner of the world and there was more of it.

The two heroes asked how Howard Stark came across the amount he found back in WW2. The Wakandan royal siblings surmised the Stark founder merely came across shards of Vibranium weapons scattered about Africa and melted them all down to form the infamous shield.

It was any guess as any for them, leaving the matter dropped.

Currently, the trio of enhanced individuals were situated upon separate warehouse rooftops each covering a section in order to spot what they were looking for.

It was a bit of a stakeout job with one taking it a bit… comedically.

"The Hard-boiled detective known as Spider-cop surveys the grounds below him, taking in the salted crime ridden air of the city docks." He inhaled sharply. "A hive of scum and villainy, Spider-cop made an oath long ago to stomp out these goons that would disturb the peaceful lives of the people of New York. Even if I had to do it alone."

"Spidey…." Came the deadpanned tone of one Matt Murdock. "What the hell are you talking about?"

"Spider-cop's old partner Devil-officer stands above most officers of the law; one he takes into his own hands." Peter went on in his deep dramatic voice. "What he doesn't realize is deep inside, he craves a means to find happiness at the end of it all, return to his friends and have a nice beer."

"...You are reading too much into this, are you?" T'Challa questioned from beside them.

"You get used to it… overtime."

"Spider-cops newest ally, Meow-Mix is a long-exiled prince seeking redemption for a long-lost artifact stolen from his people."

"Meow-Mix?" T'challa couldn't hide his affronted tone at being called such a term. "Black Panther, thank you."

Over the coms, Shuri snorted. _"I think it's cute, if he wasn't actually intending our culture."_

"Just get moving, Spider-man." Daredevil said from his warehouse, head tilted to the left. "I'm picking up movement."

"Spider-cop is on the job." Spider-man said in an over-dramatic gruff tone. "Part man, part Spider, All Cop."

" _And with his trusted comrade Kitty-Com on surveillance, no second-rate criminal would get the jump on Spider-cop and his squad."_

"For the love of Bast, stop." Groaned the prince before glaring at Spider-man. "I think I regret doing this with you."

" _Oh come on, brother, it's cute and funny."_

"Keep telling yourself that." T'challa began sprinting forth and jumped from one warehouse to another with Spider-man joining him as the two joined Daredevil who was crouching down at the edge of the rooftop.

"What have you found?" T'challa inquired.

"Down there." Daredevil pointed at a small office-trailer where two thugs had exited the trailer to greet a gaggle of men that were all rather well armed.

"Looks like the meeting is starting then." T'challa said with his eyes narrowed.

"Meow-Mix's senses are above those of a regular cop." Peter began once more. "He sees things that can't be seen and has a specific set of skills that gives nightmares to those he pursues."

"I swear if you keep doing that Spider-cop bit, I will claw out your throat." T'challa said in complete seriousness. "I'll show you a nightmare."

" _Don't worry Spider-cop, Kitty-com will cover for you."_ Shuri said in her own deep dramatic voice making T'challa hang his head in defeat.

"You have no idea what you've done to me for the foreseeable future." T'challa said, knowing how his sister isn't one to drop something that genuinely annoys him.

Peter chortled to himself. "Thanks Kitty-Com, Spider-cop out."

Of course after their first meeting, T'challa noticed how much she talked about the masked spider hero. From what the prince can tell, Shuri seemed to be having a little crush on him, given how well his scientific mind is for these past days till tonight.

He dreaded to think what their possible children will be like if they were ever to procreate, let alone having a courtship.

The three enhanced began moving after the assortment of thugs and criminals began walking away from the trailer and closer over to the edge of the docks.

"Hey, who's that?" Spider-man asked, making Daredevil and T'challa look over to someone who definitely stood out from all the other thugs.

Where most were wearing basic clothing or some level of tactical gear, this particular individual had an overhaul of armor with hydraulic gauntlets on both arms, a black vest with a spray-painted white X and a helmet with a crudely painted white skulled helm.

"No clue." Said the Daredevil.

"Could be a middle-man or an enforcer if things go south." Spidey commented.

"No…" T'challa's eyes narrowed beneath his mask. "He doesn't seem to be. Those weapons and equipment are far too advanced for these individuals."

" _He's right."_ Kitty-Com said over the line. _"By my readings, they seem to be far different from the standard tech."_

"You think he's a buyer then?" Daredevil inquired.

" _Possibly."_ Shuri muttered when she inhaled sharply. _"Boys, I'm picking up an unusual energy fluctuation coming in hot from the other side of the docks."_

"What is it?" T'challa asked.

"What is that?" Daredevil whispered, his hyper-advanced senses picking up on an unusual whirring sound that reminded him of jet thrusters and a smell of metal that he could yet couldn't recognize.

" _You three need to go over there. Inspect the area for anyone else."_

"You heard, Kitty-Com. Let's check it."

The Panther groaned a little as he followed after the two red-themed heroes of New York.

Flying in from the sky was a man in an aviation suit and oxygen mask with a set of metallic wings which had thrusters and advanced fans built into them on his back. His green lenses scanned the immediate area for any outside sources and tracked the respective buyer parties for this evening.

Everything needed to be simple and easy. For Adrian Toomes was a simple man. A family man.

A family man who felt as though he was screwed years ago by the Chitauri invasion that basically changed the whole world. Those superheroes that "saved the world" left a hell of a mess to clean up. And while at first, he was excited. The payment he was to receive was gargantuan in size and had he done his job, he may as well have had to take one to two jobs a year max to keep his family life steady and happy.

But… that was not to be.

The men and women who caused all that madness in 2012 were the same ones who stole his opportunity in making that money. He never truly cared for the money, they stole a better future for his wife and daughter.

If it wasn't for Stark screwing him and all of his fellow employees and co-workers, then this will never happen.

If Stark merely consulted in partnering with him and every other clean-up crew back then, then this would never have happened.

So now, here he was. In an advanced suit that his friend Phineas had designed and built for him out of the alien technology that had been left over from the invasion. Called it the Vulture suit.

Apt name really considering his new job involved him quite literally looking for scraps of technology be they alien or some other hyper-advanced tech that was made on Earth.

The jobs were challenging, yet fun for the family man. Kept him oddly anticipating for each tech run to pull.

Yet Adrian never had to wear his suit when it came to these black-market dealings, until tonight.

"Herman, you got everything ready?" Adrian asked through his personal comms.

" _Yeah, me and Brice are all set up here boss."_ Herman Schultz stated. _"We're just waiting on that Claw guy."_

When hearing the name Ulysses Klaue come across their system, Adrian had to change his dealing tactics. The man was very high up in the black market. And any dealing with him had to be kept on high alert.

Rumor had it, ever since some deranged robot ripped off his arm prior to Sokovia being wrecked to all hell; the dealer became more dangerous than ever.

Better be safe than sorry for tonight. He did want to get back home to his wife and daughter in one piece.

"And you are?" Adrian regarded the strangely armored man.

"None of your damn business."

So he's one of those guys. "Oh? You do realize we're in a warehouse filled with people who have all sorts of weapons that isn't exactly available for the general market."

The helmeted man turned to the Queens native with a glare that did little in attempting to intimidate the man.

"So let's not be too rude here, huh?" Adrian said amicably, though the underlying threat was not lost on the helmeted man.

"Rumlow." He said in a low voice. "I know about you, Toomes."

Adrian blinked, his expression changing sharply. "And how the hell do you know about that?"

Brock Rumlow let out a dark chuckle. "I have my ways."

That didn't settle his nerves in the slightest.

He wanted to get more answers right about now yet that would have to wait. He had other more pressing matters to attend to.

"Boys!" A gleeful voice echoed around the interior warehouse with all heads turning to see the man of the hour being accompanied by a young man with dreads and glasses who looked bored being here.

"So glad of you all to get my invitation and show up." Ulysses Klaue said in an eccentric grin

"Hard to turn down the dealings of the infamous Klaue when he wants to barter." Adrian stated.

"Oh you make my heart burst with joy at such a statement, Toomes."

"Can we get this meeting over with or not?" Rumlow groaned out.

The German/South African dealer chuckled, ushering the two men to follow where their barter will be better suited.

Far above them all in the rafters were the trio of heroes that had been watching the meeting take place.

"Jeez, what is this, the Legion of Doom?" Spidey asked, hanging upside down. "Looks like they're all gearing up for the bad guy Olympics."

"I didn't think Klaue would gather so many people here." T'challa noted, crouched down on a metal beam with his black costume making him practically invisible in the shadows.

Daredevil had extended his Billy club into a tight-rope wire with it being attached on opposite ends of the ceiling and support beams with him standing atop it.

"There's a lot of guys down there." Peter said warily. "How many?"

"A couple dozen. Perhaps more." T'challa said, leaning his head out to get a gauge of the numbers.

"And they look like they're packing some mean equipment. 'Specially that Falcon rip-off."

"They don't seem to be on high alert." T'challa noted.

"That may seem that way." Daredevil said with his nose picking up on every gun being loaded and ready.

"So what's the plan?" Peter asked.

"Split up, most likely, to try and box them in. When we see the respective goods being bartered, we go in and take them out." Murdock stated. "Easier said than done, but best we can do."

"I can work with that."

The trio of enhanced had broken off as quietly as possible.

Spider-man opted to crawl along the ceiling and walls with him taking extra care to avoid the lighting dangling from the ceiling.

Black Panther was aware his suit reduced noise output in movement but chose to stick to the rafters, lowering himself bit by bit until he was directly over the center of the gathering.

Daredevil had managed to lower himself unseen and unheard to the floor, sticking to the shadows as he drew in closer. Normally he would take out the guards and other thugs as a means of reducing their numbers but with so many being in close proximity to one another it was too big of a risk.

The assembled men were gathered around Klaue who stood at the center of them all, arms outstretched in a grandiose fashion as he loved presentation above all else. He was a showman at heart.

"Right, gentlemen." Klaue began. "So glad of you to take time out of your extra-curricular activities to speak with little old me."

"What is this about Klaue?" Rumlow rumbled.

"So glad you asked, Crossbones." Klaue cheekily said, earning an eyeroll out of the ex-SHIELD operative.

The Arms dealer began to display a variety of arms and equipment that were simple guns to clearly enhanced and retrofitted technology that looked as though it was capable of eradicating anything in its path. Hell, one was some kind of weird robot head with glowing red eyes turned on for show.

This went on for nearly an hour, after which point Peter was growing a bit anxious after seeing so many weapons.

"Can we go in now?" Peter asked. "I'm getting antsy here."

" _I agree with Spider-man."_ Kitty-Com said over the line. _"I've got enough footage and data for our people to press charges and hold these people accountable."_

T'challa was about to signal his two partners when he saw the German/South African dealer heading towards something not far away. A large cloth covered some sort of object with the man seemingly excited to show it off.

"Hold a little longer." Commanded the prince.

"To close off this little meeting of ours, I'd like to give to you an interesting item." Ulysses said, grabbing the cloth with both hands. "The piece de resistance to what I have to potentially offer."

With a mighty heave, Klaue unveiled a large circular structure of some sort with it having some sparks appear around the frame until the center empty hole lit up with a glowing blue swirl of unidentifiable energy.

Something that certainly enraptured the attention of all in the warehouse.

"Why do I get the Stargate feeling here?"

"How so?" Matt inquired as he can't _see_ the object in question.

"Because I'm literally seeing something inspired by that film and TV series, that's why." Peter stated. "Crude in the framing but looks vaguely similar."

Down below, several of the potential buyers rose a brow at what Klaue recently presented to them.

"The fuck is that supposed to do?" Rumlow asked.

"This my friends is a revolutionary new way of getting our product across the world without having to cross anymore borders." Klaue said excitedly. "A little something HYDRA whipped up not too long ago and I happened to be its first buyer."

"A teleporter?" Adrian said with a brow raised. "And a prototype? How in the hell do we know that this would even work?"

"Trust me, we tested it several times with recent success."

"Recent?"

"Past testing was done with all sorts of random shit we had on hand." Said Klaue's spectacled assistant. "Trash, basketballs, bowling balls, random homeless people, you name it. And when everything actually worked on final versions, we had to clean up the blueprints and equations to make it all happen for what you're seeing now."

"But how would it react to what I sell." Adrian stated. "I don't think I need to tell you that the stuff my people make ain't exactly… human."

"You're in luck then, Mr. Toomes." Klaue said, grinning madly. "This here is retrofitted from alien tech that HYDRA had acquired decades ago."

"Excuse me?"

Rumlow noticed the next part being pulled out, a canister with blue glowing energy inside.

"Tesseract energy." Crossbones revealed.

"That cube thingy?" Klaue said. "Yeah, left over residue recreated and reformed the cube SHIELD and HYDRA had for so long. Helped fill out the energy reserve needed to keep these portals running."

"Little amount goes a long way." Said the dreadlock assistant.

From their spots, the three costumed men looked at each other as they didn't like where this was going.

If this portal tech was able to fall onto the wrong hands, then things would be impossible to halt transfers.

Hell, the Wakandans already dreaded to know how much more Vibranium has been or will be taken without them knowing if that portal was used by Klaue.

"Get ready." Daredevil said, with his Billy Club shifting into an electrified nun-chaku's.

Black Panther pressed the center of his chest with his suit and began to glow a purple aura. His new suit had been retrofitted by his sister to be able to take in and absorb impact in the heat of battle which he could dish back out in turn. A feature of his own that he added was the ability to absorb and store energy for later use, something he was glad worked quite well right about now.

Spider-man had loaded his web-shooters with full cartridges and was poised and ready to strike.

Silence fell heavy between the three before Matt spoke.

"Go."

Black Panther merely stepped off his metal beam and dropped down to the ground.

His surprise was barely registered properly because as soon as he landed, he slammed his fist down to ground and unleashed his stored up kinetic energy.

A dome of purple energy flew out and sent all those closest flying through the air.

It was pandemonium as many of the criminals and mercenaries that were unaffected by the energy wave were now being assaulted by two other vigilantes.

Daredevil came in swinging with his electrified Billy club, smacking against all that were within range and knocking out every individual he got near.

Spider-man swung overhead snagging up criminals left and right.

All the while, one man saw Black Panther with his eyes becoming murderous as he pulled out his own rifle that was slung on his back and loaded a grenade into his grenade launcher.

Firing off the grenade, Panther barely looked up in time to see the explosive until it struck him dead on.

His suit absorbed the entirety of the explosion, with his suit radiating with kinetic energy.

"Vibranium must be damn useful, huh?!" The young man barked with a seething rage.

Looking over, T'challa saw it was Klaue's assistant as he fired a few more grenades at his direction, which exploded each time. With each proving ineffective, the dreadlock man swung the weapon as a blunt object. The Panther grasped and pried the weapon away before kicking the assistant away before going after the other people here.

What nobody had noticed was the strange portal that had remained untouched in the whole skirmish beginning to spark. Earlier, when Panther had made his entrance some of the kinetic energy he let off had managed to wash over the portal. And it was now starting to let off a few sparks here and there.

All the while, Spider-man was taking out goons with ease having them either webbed up and fell to the ground or trap them to the floor, support beams, crates and walls.

Klaue had taken cover behind one of the large crates stored in the warehouse and readied his primary weapon.

Holding up his left arm, parts of it soon separated to reveal metallic parts underneath. Energy currents sparked to life between the gaps. When it became too much, they fired and blew a bunch of objects out of the way as the attack missed the Wall Crawler.

"Holy Mother-Hubbard!"

Klaue fired off more blasts from his arm at Spider-man, forcing him to quickly avoid them. Flipping over, sliding under or throwing random objects in front so he won't get hit in the end. Unfortunately one of them was able to reach him, sending him flying into a nearby wall and leaving a man-sized indent.

"Ow~"

One of the objects Parker threw and was redirected during this bit of confrontation collided against the portal machine's console. It further sparked the device as energy started to appear within the portal.

"Spider-man!" Daredevil yelled out, his hearing picking up on something flying straight at the wall-crawler.

Peter whirled round in time to get snagged by a set of sharp claws that clamped down on him tightly. Letting out a cry of pain, Spider-man was slammed into a wall with the young teen facing a set of glowing green eyes.

"And who are you supposed to be?" The man in the mask and wingsuit said leaning his head right into Peter's face.

"Oh you know, grizzled old veteran with a chip on his shoulder." Spider-man said with a strained voice as he ripped free from the clawed legs holding him down. "Spider-Cop!"

Not wanting to lose track of his new opponent, Parker fired a web-line at the Vulture's leg and was brought into quite the ride of his life.

Adrian soared high into the sky, performing loop de loops and aerial drops in order to nauseate the Wall Crawler. Even purposefully crashing him into nearby walls for additional damage.

"I swear," Peter groaned, "I would throw up right now if I didn't have this mask on." He was then smacked into a nearby pillar but held on. "Would've enjoyed being in an airplane over than this." He was then brought down to the displays, tables and people below and crashed into the few. "At least I would've had something to stay sturdy on."

The Vulture suddenly rocketed up high, yanking Spiderman in the process before spinning all over the place at fast speeds.

"AAAHHH! I'm gonna diiiiieeeee! I'm gonna diiiiieeeee! I'm gonna throw up! And then I'm gonna diiiiieeeee!" Peter screamed out with him not enjoying all of the forced spinning and twirls any longer. "MAAA MAAA!"

"Oh will you shut up already!?"

"MAAAAKE MEEEEEE!"

Having enough, Adrian suddenly stopped flying and let the web line come in front of him. Using his wings, he sliced through the webbing and disconnected him from the Wall Crawler.

With himself free, Peter had to quickly maneuver from hitting a wall at the trajectory he was on. Landing on the surface, he bounced back and went back after Toomes; where the two clashed in the air above the chaos below.

Daredevil wanted to find a way to help the young teen but he had his hands full with this strange Rumlow fellow.

"And who the fuck are you?" Brock sneered, cocking his hydraulic gauntlets. "You know you missed Halloween last month."

"You're one to talk." Daredevil muttered, shifting his weapon into one of a bo staff.

Crossbones only got into a stance as the two circled one another until one of Rumlow's men attempted to pounce on Daredevil from behind. Matt sensed this of course and with a pivot his foot to a twirl of his bo staff, he bashed the grunt in the gut before spinning round to smack him in the jaw.

Rumlow took the distraction, running right up at Daredevil with his arm reared back for a powerful punch.

Daredevil heard him running at him as well as the moving gears of the man's gauntlets. Judging by the sounds and how he seemed dead set on hitting him with those armaments, Matt figured that even with his new enhanced suit that those punches would hurt.

Ducking out of the way, Crossbones punch sailed over head with Daredevil swinging his bo staff up and striking him right in the chin.

Brock's head snapped back for a moment when he proceeded to headbutt Daredevil right in the noggin.

Greatly disoriented by such a hit, Daredevil could barely register the metal knife that burst out from Rumlow's gauntlet.

He clumsily held up his bo staff and managed to deflect the blade yet it nicked his cheek. The cutting pain managed to clear up some of his disorientation, making Matt grit his teeth and proceed to jump and roundhouse kick Rumlow in the chest.

Stumbling back, Crossbones saw the edge of Daredevil's staff electrify and he got hit right in the face then his shoulder, hip side and leg. Daredevil adjusted his grip which in turn had his bo staff shrink until he separated it into two separate rods.

Before he could get a strike in, Rumlow surprised Daredevil with a powerful punch right to his chest. Daredevil was sent careening back with him landing right next to Black Panther who had just kicked away another thug.

'Daredevil." Panther said aloud, helping his ally up. "Are you alright?"

"Got a bit of a heartache." Daredevil muttered, rubbing his chest.

Black Panther abruptly pushed Matt away and held up his arms defensively to hold back the dual punch that Crossbones attempted to hit Daredevil with. The two hydraulic powered punches gave a lot of kinetic energy for Panther's suit to take in yet it still sent the prince flying.

And he flew right into the portal that had been showing signs of malfunctions since the fight began. Panther crashed right into it with the kinetic energy bursting out and washing over the portal.

That was the last straw.

" _Brother."_ The worried voice of his sister came in through his ear. _"I'm detecting some unusual spikes of energy coming out through that weird device."_

Chaotic blue, white and purple energy began to burst out from the portal with many within the warehouse feeling some weird tugging sensation.

"We gotta get outta here." The assistant in dreads yelled out to all those present.

"Ah, shit what happened?!" Klaue roared out.

Without warning, the portal unleashed an energy wave of its own which then receded back into the swirling mass.

Suddenly, air began to get sucked into the portals center with a rather powerful pull that made many begin to panic.

" _Brother! Spiderman! Daredevil! You need to get outta there!"_ Shuri yelled over the coms.

"You don't have to tell us twice!" Peter cried out.

Spider-man was ready to leave yet out of the corner of his eyes he saw Panther and Daredevil were still pretty close to the portal. Adjusting in the air, Peter swung down, fired two web lines at them and snagged them both.

"Hold on guys, we're getting out of here." Spidey began to pull when he felt a strange feeling in the back of his head. Looking back, his eyes widened at the bird-based enemy flying straight for him.

He didn't react in time as he felt two hard boots connect to his back.

"Peter!" Daredevil had yelled out as the young teen crashed before him.

"We're not done yet you son of a bitch." Crossbones yelled out, making a beeline from Spider-man for Daredevil.

"No! Stop, you could make things worse!" Klaue had shouted in vain as the energy began to become even more chaotic and unpredictable.

Black Panther whirled round in time to see the portal send out a massive dome of blue energy that eventually encapsulated the five men closest to them.

And they knew no more.

An explosion went off in the area as several onlookers witnessed the aftermath.

From the sky above, Toomes calmed his beating heart as he saw the wrecked area from down below. Wanting to take a closer look, he dived down and landed at the ruined space.

"Damn." Adrian muttered. "Glad I wasn't pulled in Klaue's portal."

" _You can say that again."_ Herman said over the line. _"You're lucky you were out of its reach and sucking you in."_

"Right."

The Vulture looked at the spread of tech around him and from the other end, Herman had the same idea his boss was having now.

" _Take what you can and bolt outta there."_ Herman stated. _"Don't know how long the police will show up from that explosion. But you're on the clock now."_

"Will do."

By the time Adrian got everything he needed, he flew out of the ruined battleground and flew back to base. Both he and his boys somewhat made out what they originally came here for and then some. And they will be able to profit it all in the end once everything blows over.

It was some minutes later when a good dozen Wakandans appeared on the scene and scanned the area for any sign of their prince, his two costumed allies and any other survivors.

" _Do you have anything?"_ Shuri asked over their coms.

"Hardly anything, princess." Okoye said.

Ayo then spoke after her Dora Milaje sister. "There's no sign of Klaue or anyone else."

" _What of my brother? Or Daredevil? Or Spider-man?"_

"Nothing." Okoye gritted out.

" _...Mother and father are not going to like this."_ Shuri said with her voice breaking. _"I… I don't know how much this will hurt them."_

If any of the Wakandan officials were able to pay closer attention, they would've seen Klaue's assistant running away from the scene.

Things were not supposed to go this way so soon. He was already biding his time for the inevitable when the Wakandan king kicked the bucket for him to finally act. Only then will he have his revenge for what happened to his father and help his people.

Now things have changed. And it can be debated if it was for better or worse in his case.

Now he will need to readjust his timetable and act soon. The Wakandan prince was gone, whether to parts unknown or probably dead. And now only the princess and the heads of the other Wakandan clans are the only ones left going after the throne.

With them out of the way, then no one will stand in his way in uplifting his people across the globe.

Erik Stevens, the Killmonger, will make sure of it.

_-Scene Cut-_

The next thing Matt did when he regained consciousness, he gasped for breath in rapid succession. His heart was beating miles per minute and threatening to burst out of his chest. Taking off his cowl-like helmet, the blind lawyer ran his gloved hands through his sweating face and hair.

He had to take a few moments to steady his breathing as he felt his entire body went haywire. Patting himself in the chest, the blind lawyer began to calm his heartbeat and allow his heightened senses to relax.

Matt then wondered where he was as something seemed quite out of the ordinary.

First was the unusual cold hitting him.

Last he knew, it was a decently cold day in New York and… wherever he was at now was warmer to some degree. Instead of the dead of winter, it felt like the early fall season.

The surrounding sounds indicated he was that of a typical city, but as to where he did not know.

There was this smell wafting in his nose that felt alien to him, something which didn't seem to fit with the Hell's Kitchen native.

Next was the touch, the feel.

When Matt felt the earth once taking off his gloves, he felt a grainy, sandy texture like if he was at either a beach or a desert. It seemed to be a mixture of both.

And finally, he was alone. No Parker. No Wakandan prince. No black-market dealers. No one.

Trying to regain his bearings, Matt needed help right now.

Pulling out the newly created Avengers ID card, he pressed a small button on it and spoke. "This is Matt Murdock, I need assistance. Over."

There was nothing but static.

"This is Matt, Daredevil. Can anyone read me?"

Once again, static filled his ears.

"Parker? Stark? Anyone?"

Hearing nothing but static one last time, the lawyer gritted his teeth and placed the ID back into his belt for safe keeping.

Something wasn't right with this. Stark's Avenger IDs were supposed to piggyback to any and all satellites on Earth and make the call reach any Avenger with active cards. So either he was in a place where he was in a literal dead zone, where no phone signal can reach, or he was being blocked… somehow.

What Matt needed to do now was to find out where he was at now.

If he did, then he could find the means to get back home. He can pay for a trip or have a means of reaching out to someone he was familiar with. He did carry some emergency money on him to pay for a taxi to even use a payphone, even with how rare those were these days. And he can ask nicely for someone to lend their phone to him for a brief time to at least make a small call or voice message.

After all, it's hard to turn down a lost blind man. Then again with the world he lived in, there are some who wouldn't give a rat's ass in helping a cripple like himself.

Before anything, Matt needed to possibly find some clothes to change out of or at least something practical to cover up his Daredevil attire in order to not draw him too much attention.

While his helmet and certain parts of his new suit could retract he still preferred other means of clothing.

He was in an alleyway of sorts with nobody on either side yet the bolstering sound of people were well and near.

Cautiously, Matt approached the exit of the alley and felt himself freeze up.

What… What were these people? He felt his senses being overwhelmed with all sorts of sounds and scents that he did not recognize.

Everything around him felt completely and utterly… alien.

"What the fuck?" Was the rather appropriate response from the blind hero.

And speaking of blind…

A man of Asian descent gave a smile to a weary traveler who had come to him for aid when he inhaled sharply. His walking stick next to him clattered to the floor as he rose to his feet only to stumble slightly.

"Chirrut!"

He felt the familiar arms of his best friend keep him from falling.

"Thank you Baze." Chirrut Imwe said as Baze lowered him to sit and catch his breath.

"What's wrong?" Baze asked, grabbing Chirruts walking stick and holding it out for him to take.

"Sorry, Baze. Just felt an aftershock, that's all."

"It must have been quite an aftershock." Baze muttered. "You looked as though you were about to pass out.

"Just the second one in quite a while." Chirrut responded. "Now let's find the source of this aftershock."

Having his walking stick out, he started his search for what needed to be done now.

"What?" Baze was completely confused. "What are you talking about? Does this have to do with the Force?"

"I am One with The Force." Chirrut said plainly, a vague smile finding its way onto his face. "And the Force is with me. Come my friend. There is something in Jedha that has just arrived in a spectacular fashion."

Baze could only stare with his mouth slightly gaping before groaning to himself, running a hand down his face.

"Wish I had the bloody Force right about now." Baze grumbled to himself, grabbing his primary weapon and moving to follow after Chirrut.

_-Scene Cut-_

Matt was having a bit of a hard time to say the least. And by that, he was feeling a complete overload of information on all sides that made it impossible to fight against the growing headache.

Nothing was making any sense. Many of the languages spoken were not known to Murdock at all. And only the basic English language did and when hearing from it, nothing he heard made heads or tails.

He did not know where this Jedha was located. There was no payphone for him to use, only something called a holo-net. Whatever the hell that was. And what money he had on him wouldn't cut it.

So in essence, he was in a bit of a _pickle_. A really problematic, no means of figuring out on how to get out of this _pickle_.

Now, being a man of faith he'd think of having a prayer right about now or go to any church that he could find but seeing as how he was in a city that had things that he could only describe as aliens, options were rather next to none right about now.

Which to put it plainly, kinda sucked right about now.

"I really wish this was a very bad dream." Murdock muttered. "Only then can I feel at peace once waking back up."

Thinking about his situation now, he had to wonder just what these other humanoids and non-humanoids around him were.

Some of them honestly "looked" as though they were human with unusual headpieces. Yet with the use of his senses, it was clear to Matt that they were actually a part of the head as a whole.

So he had either discovered that this was a new set of humans or….

"Am I on an alien world?" Daredevil muttered to himself. "Did I seriously get sucked into something out of Star Trek?"

Now, though he was blind, that didn't mean Matt was unable to have an active enough imagination to know alien descriptions and such when reading books or listening to audio renditions of old space series on the radio and television.

He was a bit of a Trekky like his fellow vigilante from Queens.

"But Picard and Kirk can't exactly help me right about now." Matt muttered to himself as he had remained mostly out of sight by sticking to the back alleys of this alien city.

Some that had seen him could only stare in slight bewilderment of his horned helm and red and black get up but left him unbothered.

Just as Matt was about to round about a corner he stopped when he felt someone stop behind him, facing directly at him.

"You seem troubled."

Matt whirled round to face this man and he wasn't alone. There was another man standing next to the one that spoke first.

"This the guy, Chirrut?" the companion of the identified Chirrut asked curiously. "Strange outfit."

"Maybe." Chirrut said in a humored tone. "If only I could see what he looks like, Baze."

Matt took a moment to regard the two men, senses on high alert.

They didn't appear to be a threat yet that could change in an instant. There was something else about the two. The one with the stick in particular. Or really, his walking stick as a whole.

He couldn't properly describe it but there was a bit of a strange hum of some kind coming from the metallic edge of the walking stick.

"Who are you?" Matt asked warily.

"Ah, very rude of us. My name is Chirrut Imwe." The fellow blind man said cheerfully.

"Baze Malbus." His friend said a moment later. "I keep this one here out of trouble."

Chirrut snorted from the comment before approaching the city's newcomer.

"I sense that you are… lost my friend." Chirrut began slowly making Matt scoff to himself.

"That's putting it mildly."

"Don't worry, we don't mean any harm." Chirrut said calmly.

"Unless you try to make it."

"Baze." Chirrut said with an annoyed look.

"I'm just being forthright." Baze said. "You know how the galaxy is right now."

Chirrut let out a tired sigh, knowing his friend's words to be true.

"I can be on my way, if you want." Matt said, trying to walk away from the new arrivals.

Yet Chirrut placed a hand on the man's shoulder in order to stop him.

Still weary of what happened, Matt went into action, spinning around and threw a fist at the blind man beside him.

Chirrut avoided the blow before grasping Murdock's arm and throwing him to the ground. Matt instinctively kicked back up and attempted to beat him back but he felt a bit off. This lapse in sluggishness resulted in Chirrut landing a punch right across his face, which resulted in the Daredevil to fall onto the ground once more.

Baze cringed at the sound of fist meeting the other blind man's cheek and Chirrut himself realized he put a bit too much strength into that punch.

"We do not mean you any harm." Chirrut said calmly.

"Really? That fist to my jaw could have fooled me." Matt shot back.

"You threw the first punch while I merely wanted to help."

Matt opened his mouth to argue only to close it, retracting any argument he planned.

"I'm sorry." Matt said earnestly.

"There's nothing to be sorry for. All is forgiven." Chirrut said with an offered hand.

The lawyer grasped the offered appendage and was hoisted back up onto his feet.

Matt sighed as he patted himself down, getting sand off of him.

"Sorry if we came across a bit aggressive." Chirrut said when Baze coughed a bit too dramatically into his hand.

"Ok, I came a bit aggressively." Chirrut admitted, garnering a slight smirk from Murdock.

"All is forgiven."

The marksman chuckled at this.

"Come." Chirrut gestured for the lawyer to follow. "As Guardians of the Whills, it is our duty to show hospitality to those lost and in need of guidance."

Though he didn't say anything, Baze only nodded in agreement already turning to walk back to where they lived.

Seeing as they were going to be hospitable to him, Matt might as well follow after them.

_-Scene Cut-_

If you told him weeks ago that he would wind up in an alien galaxy shortly after becoming an Avenger, Matt Murdock would be laughing and scoffing at your face.

That would not be the current case.

He was currently in a place called Jedha, an odd sandstone desert moon orbiting a planet called NiJedha where instead of a blazing desert climate, it was the polar opposite. It's not all that bad in terms of climate as it was like if the Grand Canyon in the middle of the day was suddenly hit with a permanent fall climate being very comfortable to traverse through; given if you wore a light sweater or something thicker on most days.

He would've been utterly lost and probably dead if it weren't for his two new friends.

Chirrut Imwe was a man just like him. Outside of being blind, he was truly sensitive to his senses and more in tune with them. Yet it seemed much more than that in Matt's perspective given this Force ability he seemed to possess.

Asides from that, Chirrut was a good man as he taught him a lot during the three weeks since living with him and his old childhood friend.

Honestly, his fellow blind man was clearly a step up from the cranky, stubborn asshole Stick by a large margin.

And Baze Malbus was a decent man. Wasn't much of a talker as he let his blasters do it for him. In the order both he and Chirrut were a part of, the Guardians of the Whills, he was considered to be like a part time security guard for the Kyber Temple nearby.

He was a bit of a drunkard at times, but he knew when to do such activities or not.

Matt learned a lot about the current galaxy he was in. From the Republic, the Separatists, the Clone War happening now, the Force, alien species… even if that last one will be difficult to some extent with him lacking normal sight.

There were times his inner Trekkie from his childhood would be happy to bask in such sci-fi fantasy. Yet now he had to survive in this new environment, even if it's for the rest of his life.

Yet one thing seemed to remain the same: laws and politics were always a hassle.

More so now more than ever.

In his time with the two Guardian members, Matt had to make himself useful or else he'd be stir crazy. He wanted to keep up his law practices and keep himself at tip top shape for any fights that may come his way.

Chirrut said he can help on the latter, but the former will come at a later time.

Matt didn't know why his fellow blind man said this, only stating the Force merely told him his time will come.

Murdock was able to train with Imwe almost daily as they kept up with their hand to hand fighting. Other days they shared quite the amount of philosophical discussions which lasted for hours.

Baze helped out every now and then, out of request or sheer boredom. But not as much as the blind monk.

Matt didn't mind that at all.

Thinking back on an earlier thought, it was strange how Matt was starting to find himself with more and more individuals with abilities that were far above the norm. Getting recruited into the Avengers and befriending Spider-man was one thing.

But now he was in an alien world speaking with one who is also blind who uses his own enhanced senses and whatever this "Force" was to fight.

Chirrut said everyone had the Force flowing through them, all except him apparently. Something about a void of some kind.

Whatever that meant.

Currently, Matt stood outside the temple of the Whills where he had been residing in courtesy of Chirrut and Baze. The place wasn't much but a roof over his head was better than no roof at all.

He was a bit restless right now.

There were no means of communicating with the Avengers… or anyone from Earth for that matter.

He was stuck on a planet that's probably billions if not trillions of light years away. When he was growing up in Hell's Kitchen, space wasn't exactly in the cards for a simple lawyer of Manhattan.

Certainly not one where he was in a temple where followers of a strange omni-present "Force", one of which was blind like him and was now a sort of pseudo-teacher for him.

Strange all things considered.

"Out here once more?"

Matt glanced back to see Chirrut approaching him, walking stick in hand.

"Needed some air." Matt said. "Possibly stare up at the night sky, contemplate my place in the universe."

"And what is it that you see?"

"Nothing."

Chirrut chortled with Matt as the two fell into a comfortable silence.

It was strange for a man like Matt to have found several new friends in such a short amount of time. He had found Peter Parker to be an endearing, optimistic individual who truly wanted to do what was right and Chirrut was a man of faith in his own way. Something he could very much relate to.

"You seem troubled, Matt." Chirrut said, breaking the silence. "Your emotions… I sense a great deal of turmoil within you."

"I thought you said that the Force doesn't exist around or in me?"

"Be that as it may, it does not mean you are exempt from it in a manner of speaking." Chirrut elaborated. "You would be difficult to detect in a sense. Your arrival being perhaps the only time most would be capable of sensing you. Yet your emotions. They radiate from you like a burning star. Not hard for one who wields the Force to sense them."

"Am I that easy to read?"

"To me? Unfortunately, yes." Chirrut said in a bland voice yet Matt easily picked up on the underlying joking tone.

"What's it like?" Matt inquired. "I keep hearing you talk about this Force thingy and to be honest, it sounds almost like a religion to you guys."

"In a manner of speaking, it is to some." Chirrut said. "There are many organizations that follow the Force with their own set of tenets and teachings."

"Yeah, you mentioned something about them." Matt recalled. "Those Jedi and Sith you spoke about."

Chirrut nodded. "They only follow two aspects of the Force, limiting their view. The Force is nothing and everything. To follow the will of the Force is to follow the will of life, death and the duty that comes with it. All is as the Force wills it."

"You said that before." Matt pointed out. "What does that even mean? The Force has a will of its own?"

"Indeed it does, Matt." Chirrut confirmed. "It has a plan for us all."

Matt hummed in thought, though he frowned a moment later. "Kinda feels like free will doesn't exist within the Force then. Like nothing you do matters if this all knowing and all present Force exists to dictate your destiny."

Chirrut inclined his head down.

"Some may believe so." Chirrut admitted. "And perhaps, you may be right. But in the end, I also believe in your own choice. There are those that have rejected the will of the Force and carved out their own path."

"Hmmm." Daredevil was thinking about all of this. In all honesty, it really felt only surface level with what he had learned thus far. There was undoubtedly more to it than just what he had heard. There always was.

"Reminds of some of the religions I have back on my Earth." Matt said with a reminiscent tone. "Does this galaxy know anything about Gods?"

"Gods?" Chirrut said the word that almost seemed alien to him. "There have been many deities of old worshipped in bygone eras but most are not as prevalent as they once were."

"Well on my world, they are still present." Daredevil said thoughtfully. "Religions following one God or many."

"Are you a follower of a faith?"

"Catholicism." Matt said with an unusual tone that Chirrut couldn't quite identify. It sounded as though there were many emotions wrapped into one with the way he said it.

"And what is this Catholicism like?"

"Complicated." Daredevil said blandly making Chirrut snort.

"So not as simple as you'd like, I take it."

"In a manner of speaking." Matt admitted. "I… never really saw it as a means of doing what I do. Just that it's an aspect of my life is all. It's something I use in a time of crisis or when I need guidance."

Murdock ran his hand through his hair as he looked up into the sky above. "There were so many religions branching off from the original, which Catholicism is a part of. And the practitioners fight over which one is right or wrong over their sibling/cousin religion."

"Sounds violent."

"Most everything usually is." Matt admitted. "We're talking about ideologies here and beliefs. Unfortunately human and clearly sentient nature in general is not one of peaceful coexistence. Not to mention the 'main' one considered others outside of the 'family' as paganism, nothing real at all. Yet they are in fact real with their gods actually existing." Matt let out a tired sigh. "So much violence born from people not accepting the fact others want free will in what they want to believe in."

Chirrut had regarded Matt with silence, allowing the man to let out all that currently plagued his mind.

"You carry a greater burden than I had first assumed, Murdock." Chirrut said sympathetically. "I sense you carry a cage within you wherever you go."

Matt let out a mirthful chuckle. "Watch out for them Murdock boys. They've got the Devil in them."

"What is this?"

"Something that has been told of my family from my father… to myself."

Chirrut thought these words over. "Sounds appropriate, I believe."

"Yeah. We have all this… this uncontrollable rage and sadness bottled up inside us. We have our ways to release it. For my father, he was a fighter in the ring."

"And for you?"

Matt didn't answer, his ears starting to ring with memories of beatings and beatdowns he delivered. When his "inner Devil" took over and he unleashed everything onto whatever poor victim just so happened to be the target of his rage.

Chirrut patted his shoulder after a moment, seating himself down into a cross-legged position while removing the metal hilt of his walking stick.

Placing it down before him, he inhaled and began meditating.

Matt opted to simply sit down beside the blind-monk, simply closing his eyes and allowing his senses to wander about.

The rest of the evening was in silence between the two men. Sitting in peace and reflecting on their own lives. And reflecting on possible outcomes.

_-Scene Cut-_

"Are you sure this is edible?" Matt asked Baze, holding up a leg of a creature that he did not know of. It certainly wasn't chicken.

"Not without the right amount of salt, it's not."

"Right… Salt." Matt then paid the vendor the amount of credits it was worth and walked off with Baze.

Matt took a small bite from the offered meat. Taking some time chewing, he cringed a little given his enhanced sense of taste.

"Don't like it?"

"A bit too much for my taste."

"Right, super-tongue."

"You could say that."

The duo walked through the crowded streets of Jedha, with many merchants and vendors all advertising their wares and foods at prices that constantly battled with others.

Reminded him of New York on certain holidays.

"It can be pretty crowded here sometimes." Baze said

"I can only imagine." Not hard for him really. Manhattan native after all.

As they went on, Matt's ears picked up on some unusual chatter with his smell and taste catching whiff of some… what was it that Chirrut and Baze described their weapons as? Blasters? Yes, blasters. With the set he caught having a rather potent feel to them.

"Any idea who those people are?"

Baze looked back in confusion at Matt who gestured his head over to a group of men standing before a structure with some serious military grade equipment.

It was sometimes odd for the guardsman for Chirrut and Matt to notice something off before he even had the chance to look. It annoyed him at times, but it was something he grew used to over the years.

Baze narrowed his eyes in suspicion. "We've seen those men around here several times these past few weeks. They're not from around here, I can tell you that much."

"Any idea who they are?"

"No, that's what worries me." Baze said, continuing to walk away with Matt right by him. "Chirrut and I along with the other Guardians are aware of every mercenary, pirate crew, gang, guild and bounty hunters that operate in and around Jedha. They tend not to do much considering the importance of this city."

"Which is?"

"What we watch over." Baze said enigmatically.

'Ah yes, the Kyber Crystals.' Matt thought with a visible nod.

For common knowledge, Kyber Crystals were the main power source of the lightsaber weapons. Yet they can be much more than that. Outside of lightsabers, they can be used for so much more, depending on the size and density each crystal had.

"In the wrong hands." Baze's visage was grim. "It could unleash devastating destruction."

"Like what?"

"I am not sure." Baze said truthfully. "To me, Kyber is energy solidified. I don't know much about its make up but I know it can be dangerous. I saw someone let off a blaster by accident. It struck a Kyber crystal which supercharged it and sent a bunch more bolts in retaliation."

"Sounded like a hectic day."

"It took us several weeks to patch up the holes it made."

All the while, back within the building with the armed guards sat an individual man with a slightly elaborate uniform reminiscent to that of a Republic security officer yet it was more custom made to reflect the desert environment of Jedha.

Middle-aged with sandy-brown hair and blue eyes with light skin, leaned back in his chair as he spoke with a very important figure within the Galactic stage via holo-communication.

"Things are progressing at a decent pace, Chancellor."

Palpatine nodded. _"Any complications?"_

"None so far."

" _Good. Keep it that way."_

"Sir, there is one thing that has caught my attention."

" _Hmmm? What might that be, Lieutenant-Commander Krennic?"_

"There… is an organization here that sits above the main Stache of Kyber on the entire planet." Krennic said slowly. "They don't seem keen on allowing just anyone within their temple and it's like they act as if they are Jedi."

" _Ah, are you referring to those calling themselves the Guardians of the Whills?"_ The Chancellor said, making Krennic blink.

"I was unaware that you knew to whom I was referring to."

" _When working with the Jedi, it is important in my job that I learn as much as I can so we are able to conduct our business as smoothly and peacefully as possible."_ Palpatine stated. _"That includes knowing of those that follow their tenants and where they operate."_

Krennic was still rather confused as to why the Chancellor knew such a thing, feeling it to be miniscule at best but brushed it off for the time being.

"What should I do about them, Chancellor?" Krennic inquired.

" _Be cautious around them. We don't want any of their members to catch onto our operation."_

"I won't fail you." Krennic assured.

" _I hope you won't."_

Orson Callan Krennic ended the call with a tired sigh before resuming his task given to him by the Chancellor personally.

He was a really good engineer and architect, designing many things for the Republic once he went through the academy.

Yet this mission given onto him was something not of his specialty.

His task: retrieve Kyber Crystals for study.

At first glance, this mission on Jedha was very unordinary for him as it was hard for Krennic to understand. Yet the Chancellor had given him the bigger picture on what's to be done with the Kyber Crystals in the end, making the engineer more willing to go along with this mission.

If he succeeded in acquiring the amount needed for testing and study, Krennic will be given a huge promotion. A station to oversee works for the Republic for years to come. Something he longed to have since partway through his academy days.

If he failed, he would be discredited and blacklisted with no one _ever_ believing a word coming out of his mouth.

He worked too hard, too deep to stop and fail now. He needed to succeed.

"Jairen." Krennic called out with a human male entering his office. "How much Kyber do we have?"

"A few crates." Jairen answered. "About six or seven."

Krennic bit the inside of his cheek. That wasn't enough. Not nearly as he had hoped. The Chancellor was expecting the amount close to fill a small freighter or even cruiser.

Honestly, had it not been for the fact that this world once had Jedi on it which was now occupied by those meddlesome "Guardians"; Krennic would have been well on his way back to Coruscant by now. Quite frankly, he has had enough being on this backwater planet for so long and wished to return back to more civilized space.

"Seems we might have to go through a more direct approach." Krennic said aloud. "Jairen, prepare the men. I have played courteous enough with the rabble. It's time we get what we came here for and depart."

Jairen only nodded, leaving his office and beginning to bark out orders to the men to mobilize.

Back at the temple, Matt was training with Chirrut as per usual.

"Lighter on your feet, Matt." Chirrut said. "You favor your right too much."

"And you favor your left." Matt grunted; his kick being met with Chirruts own as the two moved back for distance.

Briefly overseeing the training, Baze moved on as he went on patrol with his fellow guardsmen.

After the sighting at the marketplace earlier, Baze felt they needed to tighten up their security. Something big was going to happen and he didn't want to be caught off guard.

Baze's attention returned back to the sparring session between Murdock and Chirrut with the latter getting his left leg hooked by the former's shifting weapon and his friend was flat on his back.

However, Matt was unable to savor the victory as then he was tripped up by Chirruts own weapon with both men now being flat on their backs.

"Draw." They both declared, laughing a moment later.

Sitting up first, Matt rose to his feet and held out his hand for Chirrut to take which he did with an appreciative nod.

Both walked over to Baze and his group of guards...

Chirrut paused his movements before tilting his head ever so slightly.

"Matt…"

"Yeah, I hear it too."

"What is it?" Baze asked, tense now.

"You better get back to your quarters and get ready." Chirrut advised Matt. "Baze, come on. Get the others. We're about to have some unsavory company."

The lawyer nodded before quickly walking towards his living arrangements to get suited up.

Entering his room given to him by the Guardians, Matt went to the chest lying next to his bed and opened it up to reveal his Daredevil attire.

Placing on his vest, gauntlets, belt and greaves his upgraded suit rapidly formed around him with the final touch being his helmet clamping around his head and his iconic horns jutting out.

Chirrut and Baze all the while had gathered around two dozen men and women with them, standing at the entrance of the temple of Kyber.

The air was tense and silent until all began to hear the telltale signs of trouble coming their way. All were tense and ready with many gripping their weapons tightly, some being blasters while others were melee weapons.

Baze soon spotted a man leading a large group that may as well be considered a battalion marching straight towards them.

They eventually reached the front, standing no less than several yards away from the temple.

"Greetings to you." Chirrut said in a cordial manner. "What can we do for you today?"

Krennic stepped forward. "Well my good sir, to put it plainly you have something we desperately need."

"And what would that be?" Baze asked in a rhetorical manner, holding up his primary custom made MWC-35c "Staccato Lightning" Repeating Cannon.

"I think you all know what it is." Krennic said plainly.

"Yes but we're not exactly keen on giving it out so freely." Baze stated.

"Especially to one who comes to our home with an army to his back." Chirrut said aloud, blind eyes surveying the large force at Krennic's beck.

"Must we end in violence?" Krennic asked condescendingly. "I believe the galaxy has seen enough of such a thing with the war raging on."

"That is entirely up to you." Chirrut said, slamming his staff down emphatically. "We have been charged to safeguard what is stored here until the Jedi return. Pass in peace."

Krennic wasn't in the mood truthfully so he mustered up a flat look before sighing, with a wave of his hand.

It wasn't long before blaster fire went off in the immediate area with a firefight now commencing.

The Guardians all went for cover and began to fire back.

Baze peaked over from his cover and saw some of the opposition. A few he vaguely recognized as pirates or bounty hunters.

The rest was from what he saw back in the marketplace earlier with familiar equipment. The armor was different with no markers to indicate who they aligned with. But the weapons were a dead giveaway.

Chirrut avoided the incoming blaster fire, weaving through them in order to take out the opposition. Coming in close, he swung his bo-staff in order to knock their weapons out of their grasps before swinging his weapon at varying places to properly dispose of them.

A pair of the offending party was coming in close in hopes of disposing of the blind-monk, not noticing a man peering down at them.

Falling from up above, the Daredevil came crashing down onto the pair of enemy fighters. His batons made several dents into the armor before electrocuting them into unconsciousness. With them out of the way, he rushed towards others and made the effort to repeat the same process again and again.

Baze took careful aim as he fired upon the temple invaders. He did not want to end up hitting one of his allies, especially with the blind duo. Yet it was rather hard with how fast they were moving and ending up almost getting hit by him.

He knew he wasn't going to hear the end of it from either of them, but it was their fault in getting in his way.

Daredevil had thrusted his Billy Club forward, one half shooting out straight in the head of an unfortunate pirate who flipped through the air and fell into unconsciousness.

Chirrut had spun his staff, building up momentum before whacking it in the back of the head of a passing merc that was too close to the blind monk.

Matt detected several were coming right for him and Chirrut and that they were next to a rocky wall. Wordlessly, he reached behind him and grabbed onto Chirrut with the blind man reading the lawyer's intention.

Daredevil heaved with Imwe running around him on the wall. Spinning round Chirrut smacked the group of mercs and pirates running at them, finishing off the last one with a spinning kick to the chest.

Back with the gunner of the Guardians, Baze let out a growl as he placed a mournful hand on the chest of a fallen brother glaring at the mercs and pirates that were attacking his home.

Cocking his weapon once more, Baze began to walk forward and let out a long series of blaster bolts at the invading army taking down many in a quick flurry.

Krennic all the while was rather starting to panic.

He had no idea that these peasants and rabble were so well trained and well-armed. He had figured they would at least be partially armed with primarily worthless weapons like that staff the blind monk was using.

Yet for some inexplicable reason, he along with that red armored horned freak were proving to be the deadliest of all those gathered. Tearing a swatch through his hired ranks, Krennic realized now he shouldn't have gone in in such a gung-ho manner for he was paying dearly for it now.

Cursing himself for his impatience, Krennic quickly fled the scene back to his main operating base. He sent out a message to the guards he had stationed there to ready the crystals they do have and get their ships warmed up for takeoff.

His mission here has failed but will _not_ end here of all places.

_Clean up_ lasted for a few more minutes with the last of the opposition either going down for the count or fleeing back to whence they came. And with the commotion happening outside of the temple, whoever had fled will get lost in the crowd for the Guardians to properly follow.

Daredevil let out a quick jab to the face of the last standing merc, with the man falling over in defeat signifying the end of this battle.

"Come. We must find where these men came from and find out who ordered them to attack the temple." Chirrut said, getting nods from Matt and Baze.

Once ordering the majority of his fellow guardsmen to secure the perimeter, Baze and a small contingent went out to find the enemy base in the city.

It took some digging and tracking to find their base and it wasn't easy as whoever they were wanted to cover their tracks.

Getting inside was a bit easy, given Chirrut used his lightsaber to cut through some of the defenses. Yet once searching the place earned some mixed feelings.

"Whoever was here wrecked all of their equipment." One of the temple guards stated.

"And there seems to be some items missing." Said another. "Crates and consoles, I wager."

"Some men must've stayed behind and done what was ordered in case their assault failed." Matt theorized. "No doubt hiding any connections as to who they were working for." He looked over to his two companions and explained further. "Someone went through a lot of trouble in wanting the Kyber Crystals."

"Could be anyone these days." Baze grunted out. "With the war going on, it could be whoever wants to gain an advantage in this."

"A likely guess if there were any." Matt said. "I have little hope the mercenaries and pirates will give us any clues in who hired them as the dead won't be exactly saying anything at all."

"There's nothing here unfortunately." Baze grunted. "That man that led them to our temple. He must have been the one that was in charge of this little operation to gain the Kyber crystals on this planet."

"Who was he?" Matt inquired.

"Unknown." Chirrut said. "Though his intentions… the Force spoke of him in a dark manner. I sensed a grave eventuality if that man continues to live."

Matt grimaced. "What do you mean?"

He was more used to having cold hard evidence to properly find one being guilty or innocent. Despite him learning little by little about the Force, Matt couldn't really trust it when it came to his legal profession.

The grim expression and tone didn't exactly help. "I… I heard millions of voices. All screaming out only to be silenced suddenly. This… this is a future I wish to prevent."

"Then how do we do such a thing?" Matthew asked, not liking this concept of millions dying for nothing.

"Find him, that's what." Baze said bluntly.

"How?" Matt asked.

"Only time will tell us." Chirrut said sagely. "I know it may be difficult for you, Matt. But trust in the Force. It will provide the answer in time."

Both Baze and Matt merely groaned at the usual response the monk gave them.

Chirrut gave them both an amused smile. "Yes, I know it can be like that at times."

"Forget it." Baze waved down. "Come on, there's still injured back at the temple and we must prepare our respects for those who have fallen."

"Yes we must." Chirrut agreed solemnly, walking out with Matt standing there in silence.

How in god's name had this happened to him in such a short amount of time? Wasn't he dealing with court cases a month ago with Foggy and Karen?

How did he wind up in a Galaxy Far Far Away without knowing if Spider-man or Black Panther were alright? His life wasn't really meant to go in such a route.

"Matt." Baze called out to him. "Come on, let's not keep the others waiting."

Matt nodded, walking out from the office and back to the Kyber Temple. Back to his new crazy space adventuring life.

It wouldn't be days later when Matt's life would change even further. Reunions with a familiar voice and familiar names with their allies in the galaxy he currently resided in.

At least he wasn't as alone as he thought he'd be.

**Alright, that makes another one said and done.**

**I think I need to clarify once more and really just want to let you guys know the whole thing here on these past five chapters. From chapters 26 to this chapter, 31, there has been four ongoing concurrent story arcs all at the same time with Chapter 28 where Nat's story and Daredevils story all converge together.**

**Jebest4781: The last of the branching arcs have come to a close and now we get into the good stuff now. I can't wait to get started on them as it'll be so much fun.**

**FMW: Big time with Geonosis, Mandalore, Ultron's plans and so, SO MUCH MORE to come, J and I are just getting warmed up. We've had crazy crap happening here and in our other story A Song of Fire, Ice and Hearts it's astonishing we can keep ourselves focused with one story at a time.**

**So, everyone has been chomping at the bit and waiting patiently so we all know the arc to come next. And let's just say we're not holding anything back at all. Going full blown into it like no tomorrow so fasten your seatbelts ladies and gentlemen cause we're going to Geonosis.**

**Until then…**

**Rate Read and Review and as Always Have Nice Day.**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Cover poster for this chapter link here
> 
> https://www.deviantart.com/freemanwriter/art/Daredevil-on-Jedha-835720886


	32. D-Day

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The cover to both this chapter and the arc down in the link below
> 
> https://www.deviantart.com/freemanwriter/art/Battle-Of-Geonosis-838458025

**Rate Read and Review and as Always Have Nice Day.**

Avengers Infinite Wars Chapter 32: D-Day

Natasha Romanoff stared long and hard at the little baby in her lap that stared right back at the Avenger with curious eyes.

"You know, if you keep looking at her like that you may burn a hold through her."

Rhodey was very much amused at watching the two, especially Nat being put in a situation clearly alien to her. Much more alien than being on a literal alien planet.

Natasha only hummed in response, her lip twitching upward as the baby girl held out her hands to reach for her hair.

"Not for playing." Nat deadpanned, gently taking Mara Jade's hand with the baby instinctively grabbing her hand with a delighted laugh.

"If that's not adorable, I don't know what is." Sam wryly stated with a smirk.

"You almost look natural like that, Nat." Steve commented, smiling slightly at her position.

Nat wanted to rebuff in some way shape or form yet couldn't as Mara's laughter made her smile herself, bouncing the babe slightly in her lap.

"So, we're babysitting these little ones now then?" Scott stated, staring at the little green baby that comes from the species that Yoda originates from with its wide eyes gazing about the Avengers with curiosity and wonder.

"They said that they were Force-Sensitive." Pietro said, crouching down to the baby-Yoda and gently lifting him up.

"Pietro, that's not how you hold a baby." Hope said with a twitch of her brow.

"And how would you know?" Pietro challenged.

"Call it a woman's intuition." Hope dryly said. "And Scott's talked about it when his daughter was a baby."

Pietro regarded her, then Scott then the Babe in his arms that was staring blankly at him.

"Then what's the right way?"

"Give him here." Scott gestured to him to come over. Carefully, Pietro approached Scott and handed the baby into his hands with Scott feeling a sense of familiarity as he made sure to hold the child properly.

"There, like that." Scott said, pointing to his arm that supported the entirety of the baby-Yoda's body. "Nice and comfortable for the little guy."

"This is just weird." Peter Parker said, hanging upside down as he gazed at the babies.

"You're telling me." Matt Murdock stated. "I was supposed to be filing the forms for my next court cases. And now, I'm here."

"We all are." Steve said, sighing aloud. "And we're still missing Wanda and Viz and this prince you two mentioned."

"T'challa, yeah." Peter said, letting go of his web line and landing on his feet. "He was with us when we popped up here in this galaxy."

"Meaning he's somewhere out there just like Ms. Maximoff and Mr.…. Vision." Matt said.

"We've gotten lucky so far." Sam stated. "Every single one of us either found their way back to the group or we just stumbled into a situation where one of us was there."

"So… what?" Rhodey said. "We just keep hoping that we get lucky? I'd rather not leave it to luck."

"Specially with what you four told us." Nat said, looking to the three New Yorkers and bird-based Avenger. "There's the chance that there are other enemies that have arrived in this galaxy."

"Also leading to possibly more coming in." Pietro said with a grave tone.

"Well~" Scott let out a sigh. "Doesn't exactly fill me with confidence."

"Preaching to the choir." Sam said. "So then, what's our play Cap? We've helped out with the Jedi and the Republic with these past few weeks. They've provided us a place to stay but honestly, not really keen on staying here much longer."

"Agreed." Pietro said, playing a little with the baby-Yoda in his arms. "I'm fine with staying at the temple and all but would like my own place at some point."

"What about the kids?" Peter asked, now walking over to Nat with Mara Jade who gazed up at Peter curiously. "Can we take them? Are we even allowed to? Qualified even?"

"Aside from Scott and Hope, not so much." Sam admitted.

"And what's that supposed to mean?"

"Dude, you're a dad."

"No, not that part." Scott waved off. "The other. What do you mean we can't take them?

"In case you forgot, these little tykes are Force sensitive and need to be put under protection of the Jedi order." Rhodey pointed out.

"And make them into emotionless drones for the Republic that's clearly a lot more corrupt then they let on?" Nat said dryly, holding Mara closer to her. "Yeah, thanks but no thanks, had enough of that back on Earth thank you."

Some of the Avengers shifted about uncomfortably with Matt in particular tightening his hold on his walking stick rather tightly.

"From what I looked up, the earliest the kids can be drafted are a few years from now when they can properly walk and talk." Steve said

"And what about this little guy?" Pietro gestured to the baby-Yoda.

"...He is up to debate." Rhodey said plainly.

"Why?" Hope asked.

"Apparently, since he comes from Yoda's species they age rather differently compared to all of us." Rhodey explained.

"Yoda said he was near 900 years old." Steve recalled. "And this little one is only thirty."

"So… What? We gotta wait a hundred years for him to hit puberty?" Sam asked rhetorically.

"Cap, not try to say anything here but I'm pretty sure the only one of us who might make it past those hundred years is you." Scott said sheepishly.

"And that means?"

"Your stubbornness will outlive us all." Nat dryly said, making Steve snort.

"Thanks for the vote of confidence."

"Think we should give this little guy a name?" Scott asked, holding the Baby-Yoda up slightly. "Gonna get tired of calling him 'The child' or 'baby-Yoda' all the time."

Some of the Avengers looked at the baby-Yoda with the child staring back at them with its large black innocent eyes.

"How 'bout Kevin?" Peter asked.

Nat said with a dry look. "Kevin?"

"Why Kevin?" Sam asked in bewilderment.

"I don't know, just throwing ideas out there." Peter said plainly.

"We can put a tab on that later. Probably give us some time in making a list of names appropriate; that are not like 'Kevin'." Sam stated.

Peter merely rolled his eyes with a small pout. "At least I thought of a name."

"Comrades!"

Tap's sudden statement for their attention made several jump with Mara Jade beginning to cry, Nat trying to calm her down.

"Tap, give us a better warning next time." Rhodey said with a frown.

"Apologies." The AI said earnestly. "But I have news! Gather around my comrades and behold."

"This better be worth it." Nat grumbled. "It took forever last time to calm Mara down."

From the workstation, out popped seven rectangular cards.

"Thanks to comrades Matthew and Peter's timely arrival, I have at long last completed the completion of Mr. Stark's Secondary project for new Avengers team!" Tap said happily. "Your Avengers ID cards, my Comrades."

The Avengers save for Scott and Nat, each came up to take their new ID cards with Steve handing Nat hers and Hope for Scott.

"So how do these work exactly?" Steve inquired.

"Retrofitted with best Communications capabilities." Tap boasted proudly. "Difficult to jam, able to interface with any comms channels."

"How's the distance between them?" Scott questioned. "Since there are no satellites to originally work off with, what is the reach?"

"With the network processing needed within this galaxy, several systems over." Tap said. "I've had to utilize and optimize the use of the Republic communications systems across their controlled space."

"Wait, so we can communicate with one another on separate planets?" Pietro asked excitedly.

"Should probably test them out in the field at some point just to be sure." Rhodey said with many nodding in agreement.

All the while, the Jedi Council with several other members were conducting a meeting of their own. The majority of the council was present with a select other Jedi members; Jedi being those that have worked constantly or at one point with the Avengers.

"Geonosis has been retaken by the Separatists." Windu said in grim countenance as the assembled Jedi stood around the projected planet of interest. "And their factories have been started back up, including-" A section of the planet was highlighted with a separate display of a particularly large set of stone structures. "-the largest known droid factory to date."

"From the data file that Senator Amidala has retrieved for us from Cato Neimoidia, this droid factory is not only one that produces battle droids but a new kind of tank that may prove to be devastating to our war efforts overall." Kenobi added.

"What is to be done then?" Ki Adi Mundi inquired.

"Attacking the main factory will accomplish nothing." Anakin stated, stepping forward. "This factory has been heavily reinforced with multiple Anti-aircraft and vehicle guns as well as a personalized ray shield from the inside."

"It means we are looking at a more brutal, ground based assault." Aayla added. "We will need to secure landing zones if we are to take out this factory and retake Geonosis."

"And it's not gonna be easy." Anakin said, moving the map over to another portion of the Geonosis a distance away from the main factory. "After consulting with Admiral Yularen and several other officers, we've all agreed that these trio of factories and bases to be our best bet for gaining a foothold and staging area on re-taking Geonosis."

"They appear to be the least defended of the factories on Geonosis though that's not saying much." Kenobi said with a frown.

"We're gonna be in for a fight, no matter how many different ways we look at it." Anakin said grimly.

"What of these Sith Acolytes that some of us have been encountering these past few weeks?" Jedi Master Ima-Gun Di asked aloud. "I have noticed that several of us have been encountering a disturbingly high number of these acolytes of Dooku."

"Couldn't help but agree with you on that." Anakin grumbled, thinking back to Mustafar.

"A greater disturbance, there is." Yoda spoke up for the first time since calling for this meeting. "Learned of a greater betrayal, unfortunately I have."

Walking slowly forward, the Geonosis layout was shrunken down to be replaced by security footage of the Jedi Temple holding cells.

"Tampered with, this was." Yoda said, giving clarification as to why he was showing this. "But after extensive reconstruction, answers to forgotten questions we have."

The holo-video displayed a Jedi in a holding cell. A Jedi master by the name of Prosset Dibs. with him being released by one…

"Master Bulq?" Windu spoke up in both surprise but also… disappointment and even slight heartbreak.

"Another master it seems, fallen to the sway of the dark side, has Master Sora Bulq." Yoda said with a grim tone that made Windu lower his head.

"This war is proving to be more disastrous than it first started." Kenobi said soberly at the loss of yet another Jedi. enough were dying as is but more and more it seems were turning on the order, on the Force itself.

"As much as I understand this matter to be grave," Plo Koon spoke up now, briefly glancing over to a stoic Windu. "There is still the matter at hand with Geonosis."

"Mast Plo is right." Windu stated, gazing back up with a dark glint in his eye. "We will handle Sora Bulq when the time comes. Right now, our efforts on retaking Geonosis is paramount."

"How many Jedi are we talking about then?" Aayla asked. "How many companies? Divisions? It took the entire Clone army introduction just to win the first time."

"We need to tread more cautiously." Mundi said. "Throwing Clones recklessly into the frontlines like that would be the death of us all."

"We can't send everyone, though." Kenobi pointed out. "Too much of a force would leave us more stretched thin then we already are."

"Too little and we would be kicked off before we could even get our fighters out." Windu added. "We need an ace in the hole to level the playing field."

"Should we ask for the Avengers' help in retaking Geonosis then?" Ahsoka Tano, who had been respectfully silent during the meeting, perked up at the idea of an 'Ace in the Hole'.

Several of the present Jedi conversed with themselves with this present question.

Anakin, however, didn't hesitate in stating the obvious. "Why shouldn't we ask for their help." He rhetorically said. "They're friends and have helped us out since arriving here. They would not hesitate in accepting our request."

"You are not thinking rationally, young Skywalker." Windu sternly.

"What's that supposed to mean? With the growing threat, we need all the help we can get." Anakin pointed out. "And they've been with us with every step of the way since they got here."

"Most of that was circumstantial, Anakin."

"Obi-wan, how could you even believe that?" Anakin called his master out on his own statement which he knew his former master barely believed. "The Avengers helped us in saving those children and in getting back our Holocron."

"They've also saved our lives and our troopers on numerous occasions." Aayla compounded on Skywalker's statement. "We cannot so light discard this idea."

Anakin moved his hand over to the Twi'lek Jedi and made a face that screamed "see!".

"There is truth to this." Plo agreed, crossing his arms in thought.

"We should at the very least approach them cautiously." Obi-wan said. "I've managed to at least build a solid rapport with them, same as several of us here. Our best bet is several of us that they trust."

It was rather humorous at how many of the Jedi looked at Anakin and Ahsoka so blatantly.

"What?"

_-Scene Cut-_

Natasha was smiling, finding herself greatly amused at the waving arms of a happy Mara Jade who she was holding high in the air.

"You're not as fat as Clint's little newcomer, thankfully." Natasha said teasingly, lowering the baby and tapped her on the nose.

"Good thing she can't understand those words just yet." Hope said, smiling at the laughing baby.

Currently, Pietro, Scott, Sam and Rhodey were getting rather hungry with the group going out to eat. Steve and Matt were getting better acquainted with one another whilst Peter kept himself busy by trying to figure out how his suit functioned completely. There were so many damn programs and attachments to his suit, he had a feeling Mr. Stark had rather over done it. Right next to the Web-head was the Baby-Yoda swinging around in a small web-swing Peter made for him to keep him entertained.

"This is interesting." Tap spoke up from Rhodey's armor set, transferring over to one of the computers that Scott and Hope had set up. "I found something Comrades. Something of interest."

"Whaddya got." Steve asked, making the other Avengers look to Tap's holographic display of radio waves.

"I was utilizing the Republics intergalactic comms channel and I found some kind of match, so to speak."

"What?" Peter's head perked up. "A match? A match of what?"

"A match of an Earth based Communication-wave." Tap revealed, gaining the undivided attention of all the present Avengers.

"Are you serious, Tap?" Hope asked, wondering the odds of such a thing. "How, when… where?"

"A place that you and Comrade Natasha have recently learned of that the Senator Padme brought back." Tap stated plainly.

"Geonosis?"

"Yes Comrades."

"Geonosis." Steve mused to himself. "Anakin and Obi-wan told me that that was the planet where the war began. And you two with Senator Amidala talked about a droid factory being built there, right?"

"Yeah." Nat murmured, eyes on Mara who had successfully snagged a piece of her red locks in her chubby hand. "So… there's a chance that one of our friends or an enemy could be on Geonosis."

"Wait, how do we know that it's one of ours?" Hope asked. "Or even if it is recent? This could be weeks old for all we know…. Is it?"

"It is very recent, Comrade Hope." Tap stated. "Measuring how long the message was sent out and received into the Republic communications system, the communication relay is only a week old."

"Well that solves everything." Matt said sarcastically. "What do we do then?"

Peter hummed aloud. "Well… aside from that Rumlow guy who was with us in that warehouse when we got sent here, the only other guy that was there was Klaue aside from the Prince of Wakanda. And there's still Ms. Maximoff and Mr. Vision out there."

"So a 1 out of 4 chance of finding a pain in the ass-" Hope held out one hand with her index finger up. "-and a 3 out of 4 chance of finding one of our lost heroes." She held out her other hand with three fingers up.

"25 percent is still a big chance out of four." Nat murmured.

"What do you think, Captain?" Matt asked respectfully.

Steve regarded the blind lawyer with a bemused smile, expression changing a moment after into deep contemplation.

"Before I try to make any final decisions, we do need to talk with the Jedi."

"Why?"

"Need to be sure we could try and get over there. From what Nat and Hope discovered, it's a Separatist territory once more and that means we could be walking into a trap."

As if by chance or fate itself, the door to their room opened and in walked Ahsoka, Anakin and Obi-wan Kenobi.

"Speak of the devil." Peter said, shooting Matt a knowing look which he knew the blind lawyer could detect with his other senses. Matt only deadpanned at the young teen.

"Anakin." Steve greeted. "Obi-wan, Ahsoka, what can we do for you guys?"

"Is it too much to just check up on friends?" Ahsoka said cheekily, looking on in amusement at the Baby-Yoda still swinging on his web swing happily.

"If only it would be such an occasion." Obi-wan bluntly said. "I'm afraid we come here with a very serious request."

"Which is?"

"Geonosis."

The Avengers looked at each other for the briefest of moments with varying expressions crossing their faces.

"Uh… Nice timing I guess." Peter said, rubbing the back of his head.

Ahsoka quirked a brow. "What's that mean?"

"Let's just say we've discovered something recently from our helper, Tap, that correlates with your request about said planet." Matt stated vaguely.

"Something that may involve one of our lost comrades." Hope said. "Or… an enemy."

Now it was the Jedi that exchanged looks with one another.

"Perhaps we should discuss things with the others."

_-Scene Cut-_

Captain Steve Rogers stood with Colonel James Rhodes, Lieutenant Sam Wilson and Special Agent Natasha Romanoff around a holo-table within the flagship of Anakin Skywalker's fleet, _The Resolute_. Spider-man hung upside down, gazing at the bridge they all resided in.

Around the table was Anakin, Aayla and Ahsoka in person with Captain Rex and Commander Bly. There was also the holo-transmissions of Jedi's Obi-wan, Mundi, Luminara, Barriss, Ima-Gun Di, Windu and Yoda. their respective commanders and captains were with their assigned Jedi generals. Cody, Gree, Bacara, Jet, Keeli, Ponds and Thire. And last but not least was Chancellor Palpatine who was a part of this large assemblage of individuals.

The Avengers were also present upon separate ships throughout this conference call, all linked from the massive fleet that had been brought together and was nearing the planet of its destination.

Geonosis.

"This is it everyone." Anakin said aloud with a gleam in his eyes. "Let's go over Cap's plan carefully now."

After meeting with the Avengers back on Coruscant with the matter of Geonosis as well as the situation they are facing, Sam Wilson and James Rhodes immediately made a joke of some kind. They said something about D-day with Steve holding an intense look in his eyes at the mention of this "D-Day".

Steve was given an overview of the layout of the targeted factories, their defenses and after careful deliberation formulated a plan of action.

And now was the time to put said plan into motion.

"To think we would be back here again." Mundi muttered as they gazed out onto the barren world where the war had started.

"What I worry about is the way this war seems to be drawing out with no end in sight." Commented Kenobi, earning stern nods from the others.

"Which is why our invasion on Geonosis meets with success."

"Agreed."

"Our ships are in position, and we are ready to begin our campaign against the Geonosians."

"And what about Poggle?" Windu inquired. "Any report on his location?"

Obi-wan had a display ready for them with the droid factory schematics Senator Amidala retrieved for them prior to this invasion.

"It seems he's holed up at the primary droid foundry here. It's protected by a shield generator. And it's heavily protected." Some displays appeared with a coordinated strategy highlighted. "Teams with the following: Anakin and Aayla, Ki-Adi and Ima-Gun Di, and Luminara and I shall attempt a three-pronged attack through their defense lines to a staging area just short of the shields. Once we have landed, we shall knock out the shield generator, which is our primary target."

"Isn't it risky committing six Jedi generals to one area of the attack?" Palpatine questioned. "If something went wrong, we could be dealt a serious blow."

"To prevent the rise of the Geonosians, Capture Poggle we must." Yoda stated.

"Hmmm, be that as it may, Master Yoda." Palpatine said with a concerned frown. "This does not assuage my worries."

"That's what we're here for, Chancellor." Rhodey stated confidently. "Us and the clones will make sure the Jedi get out of this mess in one piece."

Some of the commanding Clones managed to reign in their snorts and snickers with some of their Jedi counterparts giving them amused expressions.

Several holograms appeared before Steve displaying Gunships carrying troops and tanks along with multiple Y-wing and Arc-wings.

"Alright, in part of Obi-wan's plans; this is a multi-pronged assault here." Steve said. "From what we've got on the defenses, the key here is keeping those anti-aircraft guns off the gunships. We can't risk the Venators and Acclamators and orbital bombardment is practically null and void thanks to some of the droid factories being underground. Which is why bombers and fighters will be _extremely_ important here. We're gonna need three sets of fighter formations. An advanced bombing run to begin their first attack, getting into those ray shields around the factories and softening up some of the enemy forces. They'll be on alert and will counter heavily. That's when wave two and three from all ships come in.

While wave one of the fighters circle round to prepare another bombing run and keep off whatever planet side air support the Seps may have, Wave two will provide another bombing run as well as a defensive offense that can keep the guns off our troop transports long enough to land us on the ground. Each set of transports will have a fighter escort of no more than three Y-wing bombers and three Arc-wing fighters. We need to make sure that we keep the fighters rotating to keep the Geonosians and Droids disorganized and from being able to hit the gunships. The more gunships get taken down, the lower of a chance we have in securing Bravo, Point Rain and No Man's Land."

As Steve described the plan, the holographic displays of the bombers, fighters and gunships showed Cap's plan in motion with the area "Point Rain" being a red circled area in the center front of the three factories they would be attacking.

"Landing the artillery within the ray shielding of each factory is paramount." Rhodes stated. "Having those guns can speed up the battle, with us gaining our foothold sooner than later."

"Let's not forget that the droid factories we're targeting will undoubtedly be sending out droids of their own to fight back against our forces." Commander Cody pointed out.

"There's also the Geonosians." Captain Rex added, recalling all too well at how deadly they can be. "This is _their_ planet and _their_ turf. If anyone would know how to fight us on this planet, it'd be them."

"Landing our troops in defensive formations before the bulk of our forces could be added is the most critical detail it seems." Aayla Secura stated. "We can't just rush recklessly in like last time."

"We won't." Mundi assured.

"This is a well and good plan, my friends." Palpatine spoke up in his calm manner. "Still, I advise you to exercise caution as foolish as a statement that may be in a time of war. I'd rather not lose 6 generals, two up and coming Padawans, the Avengers and our best troopers all in one fell swoop."

When he put it like that...

"Don't worry, Chancellor." Anakin said with pure determination. "We've got one another and the Force for this battle. We _will not lose."_

Looking at Anakin, Chancellor let out a sigh before giving the group an encouraging smile.

"I'm sure you won't."

With that, the Chancellor signed off the holo-coms.

The fleet drew closer and closer to Geonosis, the Republic and Clone officers all directing their soldiers to their ships and transports.

"We know our mission." Windu said aloud. "You all have your assigned targets and your teammates. Good luck to you all. May the Force be with you."

With that, Windu signed off.

"You heard 'em." Steve said. "Let's get to it."

The transmissions between the ships cut off with the groups of Clones, Jedi and Avengers all moving to their hangar bays in preparation for the upcoming battle.

_-Scene Cut-_

Aboard the Resolute, Falcon and War Machine headed off to their Starfighters and squadrons who were going over the recent mission details that they had received from Steve's overall plan.

Captain Rogers and Black Widow walked alongside Anakin, Aayla, Rex and Bly.

"Is every trooper prepped for the assault, Commander?" Aayla asked Bly who was right by her side.

"Every soldier is prepped and ready." Bly said assuredly. "Cameron, Flash and Lucky have reported all platoons and divisions are just about loaded to their gunships and tanks."

"Good to hear."

"Rex?" Anakin said expectantly.

"Same on the 501st sir." Rex stated. "Echo and Hevy told me the boys are rarin' to go."

Anakin smirked, looking ahead to see his Padawan standing amongst some of the 501st with Peter sitting beside her on a crate, his suit on save for his mask grasped in his hands. The young teen was a bit nervous, boring holes into his white lenses.

"You sure it's a good idea to be bringing along Parker?" Anakin inquired, turning to Steve who was also coincidentally gazing at the young boy.

Steve immediately shook his head. "Not in the slightest."

"Then why bring him along, sir?" Captain Rex asked respectfully, sending a glance over at the topic of discussion. "Not that he's unskilled, he helped keep a lot of the boys alive during the mission to retrieve the Holocron. But this is an active battlefield."

"A kid like him would have snuck aboard." Steve said with a knowing look. "Someone like Peter, if he sees a situation pointed south and he has the power to do something about it, he will not hesitate in running in."

"So he's basically a fusion of you and Tony into one then?" Nat asked with a knowing grin which Steve snorted at.

Anakin remained silent, thinking on Steve's words. It was rather strange at how easy it was for him to relate to such a notion.

"Kinda like you and me." Steve said, nudging the Jedi out of his thoughts.

"What? I'm not reckless." Anakin said in faux offense.

Steve gave him a look making Anakin chortle with Aayla sniggering to herself.

"He has a point, Anakin." Aayla said with a light tone.

"Er, not to disrespect you General." Bly said with a knowing tone. "But I believe I could list down at least a dozen instances of your own recklessness."

Aayla turned to her first-in-command with her mouth agape in betrayal.

"And I was there for every one of those times." Bly added on making the normally calm and composed Twi'lek Jedi Knight puff her cheeks out with the rest of the group chuckling at her reaction.

Looking back over to Parker, Steve finished what he had originally wanted to say.

"Parker has a mindset to help even if he doesn't know what he's doing half the time. He just needs a few pointers here and there and the rest will come naturally to him." Steve stated. "Besides, he was doing the whole helping people gig well before Stark met him and before he wound up here."

As Steve stated this matter, Anakin looked over to Ahsoka who was conversing with several of the Clone Troopers one of them being Fives with the group sharing a laugh. Though she managed it well enough, he could sense the trepidation coming off from his Padawan. He couldn't really blame her really. This was rather different from Ryloth and some of the other battles they had conducted earlier this year. This was a full-on invasion with the amount of Jedi and Clone Troopers mounted for it on top of _the entire_ team of the Avengers being present for it.

Speaking of Ahsoka…

"Not sure Commander." Fives said knowingly. "Even though you two are Jedi, how will you be able to keep track of the droids you scrap today?"

"Yeah, pretty sure even Hevy will lose count here." Cutup remarked nudging his fellow Clone brother who only smirked in response.

"Just sounds all the more challenging." Hevy remarked proudly, hefting up his Z-6 Rotary Gun. "Me and Hardcase have been meaning to test out who'd get the most in one battle."

Ahsoka shook her head with a small smile, listening in amusement at her Legion banter back and forth in preparation for the battle.

She glanced over at Parker and found herself frowning at the rather intense look he held as he gazed at his mask grasped tightly in his hands.

Going over to him, she placed a hand on his shoulder with the teen glancing at her from the side before returning his gaze back to his mask.

"Nervous?"

Peter didn't bother with denial. "Yeah, kinda am really."

"It's alright to be nervous." Ahsoka assured. Her words were heard by some of the Clones she was talking with earlier. "I know I was for my first few missions."

"What do you got to worry about, kid?" Hevy spoke up, walking up to stand in front of Peter. "Domino Squad here knows how good you are after our run in with that freakshow Durge."

"Yeah, you can handle yourself Peter." Ahsoka said brightly.

He gave them a weak smile. "That was one instance. In an enclosed space where there's a lot more control. _This_ is an open battlefield."

"Well we've got faith in ya, kid." Cutup said aloud, lightly patting the web-head on the back. "With you, the Jedi, and the rest of the Avengers we've got this battle in the bag."

Peter found himself staring a bit in surprise at the confidence the Clone seemed to have for him, a sentiment shared with the other members of Domino squad as well as the Clones present for the Holocron retrieval mission.

"Besides, you already saved my life once with Bane when you first appeared on Coruscant and then went and chased after the Zillo Beast." Ahsoka tacked on, making other Clones catch wind of this.

"Wait, you tried taking on the Zillo Beast?!" A random Clone walked up to the Web-head.

"Uh~ Yeah, kinda." Peter said abashedly.

"Kinda is sort of underselling it." Ahsoka said with a coy smirk. "You literally jumped headfirst off our ship and swung right for it, chasing it to the Senate Building."

"Wait, was that you that was swinging around from the Holo-news?" Another Clone asked.

"They caught that?" Peter asked in bewilderment.

"Well, it's good to see everyone is in high spirits."

Everyone turned to see Anakin at the head of the group composed of the two Clone officers, Aayla, Steve and Nat.

"Everyone set to go?" Steve asked.

"Yes Captain Rogers." The Clones around them answered with sharp salutes.

"Then you know what you all must do." Aayla said stoically. "Remember the plan, your training and stick close together. We will be landing in heavy blaster fire."

"We're more than ready, General Secura." Hevy said confidently.

Without needing anymore words to be said, the Clones, Jedi and Avengers all began to make their way over to their assigned gunships.

Before that…

"Peter." Steve caught the young teens attention. "A moment."

Peter stared at the super-soldier, briefly glancing at Ahsoka who merely shrugged.

Going over to stand behind the LAAT they were to use in this battle, Steve placed a steady hand upon the young heroes shoulder.

"Are you ready, Queens?"

"..."

It was a bit astonishing how the mention of home was all Peter needed to hear to feel everything really hit him now. Here he was, out in a galactic conflict about to step forth on a real battlefield for the first time in his life.

He was not ready.

Peter only sighed, slipping on his mask.

"Ready as I'll ever be, Cap." Peter said warily.

Steve only gave him a hard stare, letting out his own tired sigh.

"I know that if I tried to keep you chained down on Coruscant, you'd have snuck on board or stirred up your own trouble back at the temple." Steve said, making Peter's head shift downward.

"Yeah, I would." Peter admitted.

"Least you're honest about it." Steve said, a hint of approval in his tone. "Which is why I wanted you to come with me specifically. Don't go rushing off doing anything to daring and crazy. Watch out for the Clones, keep them and yourself safe. Watch our backs as well."

"Will do Cap." Peter put on a more determined expression under his mask, with Steve patting him approvingly on the shoulder one more time before the two entered their gunship. The side doors sealed shut before them and they felt the motion of the gunship raising itself up off the ground and flew out into the skies of Geonosis.

Meanwhile, another Avenger was preparing himself for ground combat along with him catching up with several new friends he had made since coming to this galaxy.

"It is good to see you are doing well, Pietro." Jedi Master Ima-Gun Di said with a friendly smile directed at the Avengers' Speedster.

"Well I'm just glad you and the rest of the 71st are doing so well now." Pietro remarked, throwing his arms around both Di and Captain Keeli that was on Pietro's other side. "It'll be just like Ryloth 'cept we'll be kicking twice as much metal ass then last time."

"Just try to make sure you leave some for the rest of us, Maximoff." Keeli said in faux seriousness. "Otherwise all that target practice would be for nothing."

"I could hold up a few droid heads if that'll make ya feel any better." Pietro suggested with a grin making Keeli buck his arm off with his own smirk.

"You would do that."

"Master Di."

The three friends turned to see Ki-Adi Mundi being accompanied by two Clone Commanders.

"Mundi." Di greeted his fellow Jedi. "Are all troopers prepped and ready?"

"Commander's Bacara and Jet made sure of it." Mundi assured, gesturing his head to both Commanders by his sides.

"Two Commanders, eh?" Pietro looked at the two of them curiously. "I always figured each legion has one overall Commander or Captain."

"We are a special case." Clone Commander Jet stated. "21st Nova Corps, otherwise known as the Galactic Marines."

"We specialize in sieging and invading enemy planets." Clone Commander Bacara stated in a gruff tone.

"Commander Bacara is one of the best Clone Officers in the entirety of the Grand Army of the Republic." Mundi said. "And Commander Jet here has been on the frontlines with me and Bacara since the start of the war. They are two men I trust with my life."

"Pleasure to meet you both." Di said cordially to the two Commanders.

"Sirs." Keeli saluted them both, very much aware of Bacara and Jet's reputation, especially of the former.

Bacara is renowned as one of the most efficient and ruthless Clone Commanders within the entire Clone Army and is considered by many who had undergone the ARC training regimen to be one of the most prized students. One did not lead a force as large as the Galactic Marines without having the reputation and the skills to back it up.

"Come on, we've got a long day ahead of us." Bacara said with a no-nonsense tone making several of the group stare as he walked off.

Mundi sighed a moment later. "Apologies for his attitude. He means well it's just how he conducts himself that sometimes leaves a lot left to be desired."

"That's what I'm here for, General." Commander Jet said, placing a hand on Mundi's shoulder with the Jedi giving him an appreciative smile.

"Of which I am thankful for." Mundi said.

"It is time." Gun Di stated. "May the Force be with us all."

As Di and Mundi with their troops were boarding their Gunships, aboard Kenobi's ship, three other Avengers were making their own preparations with the Clones and Jedi.

"How is it that you are able to shrink the tanks down to such a degree?" Barriss Offee inquired with open wonder as she held up a small shrunken down AT-TE with several Clones gathered around her.

"We have our ways." Hope said with a mischievous wink, taking out several more AT-TE's. "Here Commander Gree, hand these out amongst the Clones."

"Appreciated ma'am." Gree said with a nod, going over to several Clones and handing them out.

"So, how exactly does it work?" A random Clone asked.

"Real simple."

Everyone turned to see Scott walking over, holding up his arm.

"Hope and I got the controls registered onto our wrist pads here." Scott explained. "Once on the ground, just place them down and fall back to give us the signal. They'll expand in an instant."

"Will it work?" A skeptical clone inquired.

"Sure will." Another Clone Spoke up, this one being a member of the 212th battalion with his armor being a complete overhaul with it being ARF variant armor with a more dirt texture on the armor overall. One distinguishing trait that stood out from the color scheme and armor was the small familiar Twi'lek plastered on the right side above the visor of this clone's helmet.

"Waxer." Hope said with a smile. "It's good to see you again."

"Good to see you too ma'am." Waxer said, taking off his helmet giving her a friendly grin.

"Where's Boil?" Hope asked, looking around.

"He's prepping with Commander Cody." Waxer said, thumbing behind him. "By the way, been meaning to ask."

"What is it?" Hope said.

"Is that guy with the horned helmet another of you Avengers?"

"Matt?" Scott said. "Yeah, he's one of our newer members from back home that wound up here somehow. So we've got another boost in numbers."

"How many of you Avengers are there?" Another Clone asked.

Scott hummed in thought. "Right now, with us on hand we have nine. But there's still three others out there lost in the galaxy, two back home on Earth and two more… Well God knows where those two guys are."

The Clones stared blankly with Barriss Offee frowning momentarily in thought as she did the math in her head.

"So there's seventeen of you in total." Barriss stated.

"For now." Scott said with a shrug. "When it's needed, there's always more we can recruit."

"We're not all that picky really." Hope said.

"Yeah, if a guy like me could get in, I'd say anyone is eligible." Scott added.

"A guy like you, sir?" A clone said questioningly.

Hope shot her boyfriend a look with an expectant brow raised with Scott slightly cringing in self-deprecation.

"Er… yeah, you see…"

"Alright boys!" Commander Gree stepped in, helmet on. "It's go time, all troops head to your gunships and prep for launch. We're going in heavy with a storm of blaster fire as our greeting cards."

"Story for another time boys." Scott remarked, helmet snapping shut around his head with Hope doing the same. "Let's get to it."

"Ah I wish our helmets could do that."

Whilst the 41st began boarding their gunships, most of the 212th was all set and ready with Obi-wan and Commander Cody being the last of their battalion to board their gunships.

"No sir, I wasn't involved in the first invasion of Geonosis." Cody informed his general as they walked towards Kenobi's gunship.

"Well, you didn't miss much." Kenobi said whimsically. "Last time I was here, I was chained to a giant pole and was attacked by several huge monsters."

"That sounds…" Cody wasn't exactly sure on how to answer that one. "Entertaining."

"Oh it was." Kenobi said knowingly. "For the Geonosians."

"Hey, Obi."

Both Clone and Jedi turned to see Scott jogging over to join Obi-wan in his gunship.

"Ah, Scott, I take it Hope and you have prepared the troops?" Kenobi inquired.

"Yeah, she's all set with Luminara and Barriss." Scott said. "I'm riding with ya."

"Appreciate the company." Obi-wan said, looking to Cody a moment later. "I'll see you down there, Commander."

Cody only nodded.

Kenobi's gunship closed with Cody going over to his own. And waiting for him there was one of the newest enhanced beings that had been found and working with the republic for this attack.

Matt Murdock was silent as he sat within the gunship he was to fly in on and was trying to make heads or tails of his current predicament.

When his old mentor Stick spoke about war and such, the blind lawyer was pretty sure this was _not_ what he had in mind.

Billions of light years away, participating in a war out of sci-fi novel along with being a member of Earth's Mightiest Heroes.

If he were to have added any of that onto his resume underneath being a lawyer, at the very least the clientele may turn out to be quite interesting.

"Sir."

Matt "looked" up with that Clone Commander that he was assigned to standing before him.

"We're prepped and ready for launch." The Clone said respectfully.

"No need for that, Commander… Cody, correct?" The Clone nodded. "I'm an Avenger, not a soldier. I'll be following your lead and orders and help out when I can the way I know how. This is your battle."

"Understood sir." Cody nodded.

Daredevil sighed to himself, holding up his greatly upgraded Billy club. Clenching it tightly, it expanded out into its bo staff mode with it crackling with electricity before he changed the mode up to wield to electrified Nun-chaku before magnetically attaching them to the sides of his thighs. Breathing to keep himself calm, Matt felt the gunship he stood within lurch forward up out of the hangar bay and down into battle.

_-Scene Cut-_

From practically all Venators, Y-wings and Arc-wings quickly flew out from the hangars of their ships and flew forward at full speeds down to the ground of Geonosis below.

Sam and Rhodey lead from their own loaned out Jedi Starfighters.

"This is Falcon." Sam spoke up. "All birds and squadrons call in."

"This is Broadside, Shadow-1 ready for first run."

"This is Tag. Shadow-2"

"Matchstick, Shadow-3 reporting in."

"Shadow-4 ready."

"Shadow-5, all set."

"Kickback, Blue-2, set and ready."

"Swoop, Blue-3 ready for action."

"Slammer here. Blue-4"

"Tucker, Blue-5 wings in the air."

"You ready, Rhodey?" Sam asked his fellow pilot and Avenger.

"All set and good to go." Rhodey declared. "Red Squadron, Green Squadron, report in."

"Ripper, Hunter-1 all set to go Colonel."

"Hunter-2, Keg, set."

"Goji, Red-1 here."

"Engle, Red-2."

"Rod, Red-3."

Once the 4 squadrons and fighters all reported in, Falcon and War Machine pivoted their fighters down towards the surface.

"Alright boys, keep formations loose but stay in line." Rhodey ordered. "Seppies will be looking to split us up at every chance we get. Remember formations we've shown you and keep in pairs of up to 2 or 3. Watch each other's Six, it's about to get real crowded up here."

"YES SIR!" Was the collective response of all Clone Pilots.

"Here we go boys." Falcon said aloud, pivoting his ship down into a steep angle headed straight for the surface below with nearly 40 other ships following in his wake.

They were immediately met with a hail of blaster fire from both Separatist Droids and the Geonosians.

"Watch that flak!" Sam ordered as his fighter swooped in low, barely a few yards over the ground with him firing repeatedly, Rhodey following up on the rear.

On their way down, they lost several bombers from the constant fire they were flying straight into. It was a miracle that it was a literal count on one hand amount that they lost as they began their bombing run.

The duo unleashed a hailstorm of blaster fire with the bombers flying in overhead to deliver their payload.

"This is colonel Rhodes. First wave effective and begin our next attack sequence. Wave two, Wave three, you guys are up."

"Copy that Colonel." A Clone Pilot said. "Alright here we go boys. This is Hawk, Torrent-1 all fighters form up behind me."

"This is Sideswipe, Silver-1, all fighters ready to go."

Two dozen more Y-wing bombers flew down and right behind them were the multitude of Gunships and tank carriers that had their sets of Arc-wings and Z-95 Starfighters escorts.

The second wave of fighters flew ahead with them now being bombarded by Anti-Aircraft shells and Geonosian Sonic Cannons. They also were now engaging enemy starfighters, specifically the Geonosian Nantex-class Territorial Defense Starfighters.

"Enemy bogeys incoming." Hawk said aloud.

"Keep on your trajection, Hawk." Rhodey chimed in. "We're coming back around."

No sooner had Rhodey said this, several dozen Y-wings and Arc-wings swooped by right in front of Hawk's group of starfighters.

It was a pincer maneuver led by Sam and Rhodey on separate sides with the two blasting away at the Geonosian Starfighters, their own squadrons following suit. A dogfight erupted with the second and third wave slipping through.

"This is Lieutenant Hawk, prepping bombing run." The Clone LT said.

"Cap do you read me?" Sam called in.

With Anakin and Aayla's gunships, Steve stood with the two generals, Ahsoka, Spider-man, Bly, Rex, Domino and Beta squad.

"I read you Sam, how's the situation in the air?"

"Got a bit of resistance but Blue Squadron can take care of it for the time being." Sam said with a grunt, an explosion going off beside him. "Shadow Squadron and I are gonna form up, add some extra protection. Your ground target area is clear but not for long. If you guys wanna get that factory and bring it down, you're gonna need to hit hard and fast."

"Copy that, Sam." Anakin said, grateful for Sam's added squadrons. "Thanks for the assist."

The skies of Geonosis were filled with explosive airborne shells, bombarding the oncoming wave of Republic starfighters and gunships with some getting shot down.

Yet the Republic pressed on with their attack.

Down below, standing before the factory that was to be the 501st and 327th target stood a single individual in pitch black robes surrounded by several Geonosians and Droids.

This individual was thin in build yet one who held a very athletic body.

A contrast to the bulky and stockier robe figure that joined her upon the plains of the arid planet.

"Tol." The smaller of the two regarded her larger companion.

"Sey." The larger force-user responded in kind.

"It appears our fellow Acolyte's warnings were apt." Kadrian Sey said with anticipation as her eyes drifted up to the oncoming swarm of Republic gunships.

"Yes, our master was wise in having us stationed here." Tol Skorr said, glaring at the army he once served under for a brief time. "We shall not allow Geonosis to fall to those Jedi scum."

"Indeed." Kadrian agreed with a sinister glint in her eyes. "TD-749, Concentrate all fire on sector 2. Focus on the gunships."

"Yes, mistress." The Tactical Droid that stood beside her nodded, walking off to begin giving off instructions.

Geonosian Cannons with J-1 Semi-Autonomous Proton Spider Cannon droids all adjusted their aim and fired upon their new designated targets.

Within the interior of one gunship, Steve, Anakin, Ahsoka and Peter stood with Captain Rex and most of Torrent ground company with Domino squad.

The gunship began shaking about violently, the sounds of artillery fire going off all around them.

"Here we go boys." Anakin shouted out, everyone tightening their hands on their weapons and hanging grips for them to hold onto as their gunship shook about.

"Hold tight, Cap." Sam chimed in on comms. "Beginning our next bombing run. Shadow form up behind me, Beta stay in formation around the Gunships. We need to keep the flak off 'em."

Sam got multiple 'Yes Sirs' from the clones as he accelerated forward with about a dozen Y-wings on his tail. They were met with heavy fire, with one getting shot down yet they pressed forward with the gunners of the bombers firing at the Seppie Cannons ahead.

Falcon's goggles suddenly zoomed in on two figures ahead that were both standing tall before a large battalion of Geonosians and Droids...

With ignited Red Lightsabers.

"Ah shit." Sam grunted. "Hey Anakin, Aayla. We've got a couple of those Acolytes you mentioned on the ground."

"Are you certain?" Aayla inquired in complete seriousness.

"Oh yeah, they got 'em on the ground." Sam said as his squadron was only a few yards out. "Pull up and drop the payload boys."

The Y-wings and lone Jedi Starfighter all angled upwards with the bombers dropping proton bombs.

Tol Skorr and Kadrian Sey held up their hands together, knowing that while they couldn't get them all the least they could do is utilize the force to urge the Proton bombs away from their trajectory.

The rest of the bombs _bombarded_ the area around them with smoke kicking up into the air.

Back with the 501st and 327th…

"Alright, that's our cue." Anakin said, holding up his wrist comm. "Aayla, begin the landing sequence. Get the troops and tanks groundside."

As soon as Anakin finished conveying his order, their gunship got one of its wings clipped and immediately began sailing downward.

"Anakin, do you copy?" Aayla's voice was heard through the comms.

"We've been hit, Aayla." Steve managed to call out. "Going down."

"Get the troops and tanks on the ground _now."_ Anakin stated.

"Brace for impact." Captain Rex called out.

The gunship violently crashed down to desert plains of Geonosis.

Captain Rogers groaned, with him using his shield in his own unique way of weathering the landing better than most.

"Everyone alright?" Cap called out with multiple groans and moans of rattled Jedi, Clones and one New Yorker for confirmation of being painfully alive.

"Come on." Anakin said aloud, force pushing their gunship doors open. "Get up! We stay here, we're Bantha fodder for the droids."

Lightsaber ignited; Anakin jumped out with Steve right by him as the two surveyed the area whilst the rest of the gunships occupants piled out of their crashed ship.

A few miles ahead, they saw their targeted droid factory with the other Gunships dropping off the rest of their troops with the tanks falling in to back them up.

"There they are." Ahsoka came up to Anakin's side, pointing off into the distance with the faint figure of Aayla Secura with Black Widow moving to engage the Geonosians and droids.

"We've got some ground to cover boys." Anakin said aloud.

"And bugs to shoot." Fives yelled out, holding his rifle up into the sky and firing at a swarm of incoming Geonosians.

"Wah!" Spider-man cried out, instinctively throwing up his hands and firing his webbing rapidly ensnaring multiple Geonosians who fell to the ground.

"Whoa! Nice one kid." Hevy said approvingly, with a nudge to the young hero.

Steve threw his shield out, the Vibranium disk bashing aside a cluster of Geonosians before returning to his hand in time for him to spin round and decked a Geonosian in its neck that landed too close to him.

"Where the hell are all these bugs coming from?!" Echo called out, firing in every direction as the Geonosians fired their own specialized weapons while some just went and tried grabbing at them.

"This entire planet has hives of Geonosians all over the place." Anakin stated, slicing through one. "We could be standing above a nest for all we know."

"We can't stay here then." Rex said, DC-17 pistols in hand as he blasted away at the flying bugs. "We're easy pickings for these bugs."

"Yeah, come on, let's go." Ahsoka yelled out.

"Alright men, we're moving." Anakin said, beginning to sprint forward with the rest of the group quickly following after him. "We make for the front line, link up with Secura and the rest of our men."

Ahead at said frontline, Aayla Secura wielded her blue lightsaber at the front of an AT-TE tank that trekked its way forward.

In between the legs was Commander Bly Lightning squad (Cameron, Flash, Lucky and two other Clones).

Most of the tanks managed to get to their landing zone, designated "No Man's Land". This was the factory with the most open and flattest terrain and fewest possible means of cover, meaning that dropping off the tanks was the most important first step in their attack.

The two Acolytes were marching forward, lightsabers deflecting Republic fire as they marched forward.

Droids and Geonosians were running straight for them with AAT and Spider-walkers in tow.

"Looks like we're in for a fight." Black Widow commented from beside the Twi'lek Jedi, DC-17 blaster pistols in hands as she blasted away at the oncoming swarm of droids and bugs.

"Let us hope we will still be here when Anakin and Steve arrive." Aayla said, swatting a bolt back towards the droid that shot it at her.

By now, nearly two dozen tanks had been deployed around them with one already being destroyed from a set of missiles from a droid tank.

"Hailfire tanks!" Commander Bly Shouted. "Concentrate Projectile Cannons of those wheelers."

A set of AT-TE gunners began aiming at the Hailfire tanks rolling, firing repeatedly, taking out the rolling tanks in rapid succession.

"Push forward!" Aayla shouted, beginning to run forward with the 327th and 501st following right after her.

"Sergeant Appo." Nat called out to a blue tinted Clone. "Get those AT-RT's out now!"

"Copy that, Ma'am." Appo nodded, hand up to his helmet earpiece. "We need walkers out here now, get to the front and back up the charge."

From the backs of all the standing AT-TE's, multiple platforms opened up to reveal sets of three AT-RT's being manned by ARF troopers.

Rising up to their full heights, the ARF troopers directed their walkers towards their brothers running forwards to meet the droids and Geonosians head on.

They sprinted at full speed and in a matter of seconds were running past their boots on the ground brothers, firing at every droid and bug in their sights.

The clones all cheered at their momentary reprieve, giving them a moment to better reform into a tighter wall as they continued firing at the Seps.

Yet right behind this wave of droids that were taken out, it was soon to be replaced with another battalion that was being deployed from the base the 501st and 327th were meant to destroy.

"We can get all the help that we can, but if we don't secure that factory and bring it down…" Nat wasn't able to finish her statement as she ducked under several blaster bolts directed at her.

But her unfinished statement was all that was needed to be said by those nearby, making them increase in their pace as they met the next set of droids and Geonosians head on.

All the while...

Rhodey flew ahead of Kenobi and Luminara's set of gunships, finding it more difficult than he had initially anticipated in terms of anti-aircraft fire from the Geonosians.

Turns out the designated landing zone of the 212th and 41st wasn't called "Point Rain" for nothing. It is a literal rainstorm of blaster fire with half a dozen gunships already getting taken down.

"Kenobi, Luminara, come in." Rhodey called through the comms, wincing as he flew through an explosion that went off in front of his ship. "You guys need to start your landing sequences _now._ The flak up here is too heavy."

"The landing Zone isn't any better, Colonel." Obi-wan said warily, though he couldn't deny the aviators words.

"Be that as it may, I have to agree with Colonel Rhodes." Luminara said. "Commander Gree, begin **-ZHZH.** "

"General?" Rhodey called out in worry. "Luminara? Barriss?"

"Their gunship went down." Obi-wan said.

"Hope? Hope?" Rhodey frantically called out whilst performing a set of aerial rolls around a set of Geonosian defense fighters.

He heard a haggard coughing from the comms. "I'm here Rhodey. Luminara is alright, so is Barriss and some of the clones. Don't know who else survived so far."

"This resistance is beyond what we were expecting." Kenobi noted.

"And more coordinated than anticipated." Cody said with a frown under his helmet.

"What's that mean?" Scott asked.

"Clankers aren't all that smart, even their tactical droids are overrated." Cody quickly explained as the Gunship began going down to the ground. "Even Geonosians aren't all that clever with how they fight. Meaning…"

"Someone else is coordinating this defensive fire." Kenobi muttered in a low tone.

True to Kenobi and Cody's assumptions, there was indeed one who dictated the battle.

Either it was a tactical droid, a really good one at that… or perhaps the Acolytes.

Down on the ground, two Sith acolytes were directing droids and Geonosians to their positions with multiple Hailfire tanks rolling out.

Sith Acolyte Chezo Niva stared ahead at several Gunships that had been shot down in the distance whilst her fellow dark sider continued giving out orders.

And she was certainly a unique Dark Side user among Dooku's Acolytes. Deep blue skin with pupiless blood red eyes, Sev'rance Tann was certainly a unique individual that Chezo had been paired up with in the defense of Geonosis.

Sev'rance Tann was a rare species in public galactic space. She was what her species was called a Chiss from parts that the Acolyte wouldn't discern.

Chezo stood along with Tann, watching multiple AT-TE tanks get deployed in a square like formation in order to establish a landing zone for the troops.

Then came the truly jarring and slightly shocking turn of events.

AT-TE tanks _literally_ appeared from nowhere, as if sprouting from the ground itself.

"What in the Force's name was that?!" Chezo asked in astonishment.

Sev'rance narrowed her eyes.

"If I were to hazard a guess, the Republic's newest allies." Tann stated.

"The Avengers." Chezo said with a spiteful glare.

"Concentrate all fire and forces at the northwest sector of the area." Tann ordered a nearby Geonosian who nodded.

Far behind the established perimeter of Point Rain, Hope was helping Luminara to her feet with Barriss doing what she could with the wounded Clone Troopers. She had meditated a great deal prior to the battle for the use of Force Healing but she knew that there was so much that she could do.

"Commander Gree, what's the status of our position?" Luminara questioned through a strained breath.

"Not far General." Gree said, pointing ahead. "I guess you could say we're lucky to have crashed only several hundred yards away from Point Rain."

"Barriss, Are you well?" Luminara called out to her Padawan who was busy applying a stim to the neck of a Trooper.

"I can move just fine Master."

The Mirialan master turned to Hope.

"Good to go here." The Avengers answered the unspoken question.

"Then let us make for the perimeter." Luminara said, holding up her wrist comms. "Commander Cody, Master Kenobi, can you hear me?"

"Luminara, are you alright?" Kenobi inquired.

"We're still standing." Luminara said, getting a steadier breath. "We've lost half our men from the gunship but the rest are landing at Point Rain."

"We'll send out some reinforcements to help escort you into the perimeter general." Cody assured. "We're facing some heavy fire around here and the zone is hot."

Suddenly, a loud explosion was heard from Obi-wan's end on the comms.

"We're hit!" Kenobi yelled out. "We're going down."

"Scott!" Hope cried out.

Far ahead in the sky, the group saw Obi-wan and Scott's gunship crash down ahead of the perimeter of AT-TE's and Gunships.

"We need to get up there to help now." Barriss said, supporting a clone over her shoulder.

"Come, we must move quickly."

_-Scene Cut-_

General Mundi grasped onto his harness as the gunships were buffeted with anti-aircraft shells.

Commanders Bacara and Jet stood with him along with a dozen other clones as they made their way to landing site bravo. This was in front of the largest of the three targeted Droid factories/bases with the largest force assembled.

The Galactic marines led by Mundi, Jet and Bacara were made for this specialty with Di, the 71st and Quicksilver being added on for a sense of overwhelming the droids.

They were met with heavy artillery as they began their descent, having Falcon and Hawk lead in their starfighter and Y-wing squadrons to help soften up the landing zone.

"We stay in the air sir; we'll be picked off one by one." Commander Jet advised.

"But we're not even close to the landing zone." Mundi argued back.

"Right now, the only thing we can do is land in force and double time it. AT-RT's move ahead first with us right behind them." Bacara said gruffly.

"I could help with that." Quicksilver chimed in from his Gunship with Di, Captain Keeli and Sergeant Grit. "Let's get down there now otherwise we'll all just get blown out of the sky."

"We will get better footing on the ground, Mundi." Di added making the Cerean Jedi Knight acquiesce, calling for the start of the landing sequence.

Soon, nearly several dozen Gunships touched down onto the Geonosis surface with hundreds of Clones exiting along with AT-RT's from the back as well as AT-TE's being dropped off.

Bacara began divvying up the 21st with 71st along with Keeli whilst Di, Commander Jet and Mundi met together to overlook their targeted base.

"The Geonosians set up fortifications here and here." Jet pointed to several ridges which had hollowed out caves with the target factory just beyond the two rock formations in the center. "We can go in between the ridges but they'll undoubtedly have a bunch of bugs swarming at us."

"My Legion and I will handle those ridges." Di stated. "Master Mundi, you and the 21st will take care of the main assault upon the factory.

"Agreed, let's get moving."

While the 21st and 71st began their march towards their intended droid factory, Anakin, Steve, Ahsoka and Peter were running across the barren wasteland of Geonosis being constantly harassed by the Geonosians. They were around a more hill-like area with deep craters the Clones used as cover.

"We're trying here, Bly." Rex said through his comms. "Damn bugs are all over us and they keep blocking our path."

"Rex! What's the word? Can Aayla send support to get us out of here or not?" Anakin called out to him, deflecting bolts left and right

"I don't think so, sir. Bly says they're fully engaging the enemy with the AT-RT units leading the assault." Rex informed regretfully.

"Great. Looks like we're gonna need to play catch up the hard way." Steve grunted, grabbing a Geonosian by its leg before throwing it full force into another flying bug in the sky.

Peter was using the flying bugs as his means of swinging around though at minimal success as he had to make sure he was secure to swing around the battlefield.

"This is getting ridiculous." Ahsoka grunted, blocking more blaster fire. "At this rate, we'll never catch up to Aayla and the rest of the boys."

"No time for that kind of talk. Rex, Steve we need to mobilize. Now. Get the men together. We're gonna rush the turret set up and make a break for the frontline."

"Yes, sir."

"Right. Peter, Ahsoka stick behind us and help keep the boys safe. We don't wanna lose anyone out here when making that run."

"You go it Cap." Peter said determinedly. He looked over to Ahsoka who gave him her own look of determination with the two nodding at each other.

"Troops are ready, sirs." Rex called out.

"Now! Go, go, go!"

Anakin and Steve sprinted forward, Cap first throwing his shield before getting behind Anakin who blocked multiple bolts.

Peter thought instinctively, webbing a boulder that was about half his size and with a mighty swing sent it straight at a cluster of Geonosians.

The Clone Troopers all cheered at the display, picking up the pace as they ran at the bugs with guns blazing.

Far ahead of them was the rest of the 501st and 327th, getting deeper into the rocky formations of the droid base they were assaulting.

Black Widow was ducking behind a rock with Clone Troopers Jesse, Kix, Flash and dozen others while Aayla was leading at the front with Commander Bly by her side.

Aayla cut through several B1 droids with Bly shooting down two by to her left.

"We're gaining ground on them, General." Bly informed.

"Yes but Skywalker and Rogers are still not here." Aayla grunted. "And we're losing too many men on the ground in our push."

"Maybe Sam or Rhodey can spare us a fly by." Nat called out to Aayla from her cover, firing at a small cluster of droids.

"Maybe." Aayla quickly contacted the two. "Colonel Rhodes, Lieutenant Wilson, do you copy? We could use a little bit of a bombing run around here."

"We're a bit busy right now." Rhodey said with a grunt from his starfighter.

He was currently pursuing a set of Geonosian Fighters who were attacking one of the Venators. Flying over the Hangar bay of the Venator, Rhodey waited until they angled upwards before firing and shooting two down with him zeroing in on the last one he had in his sights.

"Colonel Rhodes!" Broadside chimed in. "Enemy Vulture on your tail!"

Rhodey looked behind him to see that there was indeed a vulture pursuing him in the air, being joined by two others.

"Focus on other bogeys in the air, Broadside." Rhodey ordered.

"But sir-"

"I'll be fine man." Rhodey said, adjusting his thrusters. "You need to keep Shadow squadron on task."

Begrudgingly, Broadside pivoted his Y-wing away from the direction of the colonel and refocused on keeping the Geonosian fighters off from hitting their ground forces.

Rhodey all the while began to guide the trio of Vultures down to the planet's surface, increasing speed while bobbing about to keep the droids from getting a clean hit on him.

He kept glancing back at the droids on his tail as constantly as he could without losing his course.

The trio of Vulture droids continued in their pursuit of the Avenger when one had its red eyes flicker momentarily before pivoting away from its set course.

Rhodey had his remaining two pursuers begin to gain on him with them increasing their blaster fire. As he drew closer, Rhodey thumbed his controls and counted down the seconds.

"Tap."

"Yes Comrade."

"On my mark, time it right for the chance to angle up."

"Are you certain this will work co- ON YOUR LEFT COMRADE!"

Rhodey's head snapped in the direction Tap bellowed out in alarm, eyes widening as he saw a Vulture droid less than several yards away making a beeline for his ship with only one goal in mind. In less than five seconds, Rhodey shoved his canopy open with his helmet snapping shut around him.

He was violently jerked aside as the Vulture Droid crashed into his Starfighter. Thankfully he had been mostly out of his ship with his thrusters activating in time as the two ships blew up into thousands of fiery pieces.

"What the hell was that?!" Rhodey called out.

"Unclear Comrade, but it appears that Vulture had a death wish."

"Fucking Kamikaze." War Machine muttered when his sensors blared in warning. Looking up, the other two Vulture Droids were now flying straight at him.

Rather than fly in the opposite direction, Rhodey instead had his thrusters flare up at full blast rocketing right at them.

Due to his armor proving to be more durable as well as giving him a significant boost in strength, Rhodey's hand shot out to grab the head of the closest Vulture droid. Using his thrusters, momentum and strength in tandem with one another, Rhodey spun around at full speed and threw the spiraling Vulture Droid into the other.

With both being taken care of, War Machines thrusters fired up once more and flew up into the sky with his shoulder mounted gun beginning to fire off at every passing Vulture Droid and Geonosian fighter while Rhodey simply punched, kicked and repulse blasted any that got within range.

Rhodey halted in mid-flight as Aayla's voice came over the comms.

" _This is General Secura, we are losing men down on our end and need air support now!"_

War Machine pivoted around with Tap laying out a pathway to the 501st and 327th frontline.

"This War Machine." Rhodey flew at full speed. "On my way."

Over with the 212th and 41st square, the clones under Cody were establishing their defensive whilst dealing with the oncoming swarms of AAT tanks and Geonosians.

"Sir." A clone came over to Cody. "Our Factory has established a shield generator and we can't send in an air strike to soften the blow."

"We'll have to regroup with what we have in order to press forward." Cody said. "Where is General Luminara and Commanders Offee and Gree?"

"On their way sir. A few klicks to the south of our perimeter."

"And General Kenobi."

"Over there."

Cody looked ahead to see Daredevil pointing ahead to a crashed Gunship.

Wanting to confirm, the clone commander pulled out a pair of binoculars and indeed recognized the specific ship his general and Avenger friend was on.

Overlooking the crash site, Cody gritted his teeth with the ongoing battle around him.

"No good. The bugs are splitting up."

It wasn't looking good at all. Parts of their squadron have been split up during the fall and it took some time and effort to salvage from the respective crashes.

It wasn't long before a pair of Troopers came up beside Cody and Daredevil.

"Boil reporting as ordered, sir."

"Waxer reporting as ordered, sir."

Cody nodded and addressed the summoned clones. "We've got a downed gunship five klicks east. We believe it's General Kenobi's. I need you to get out there and check for survivors."

"Sir, yes, sir." Voiced Waxer and Boil.

"Mr. Murdock, can you accompany the two and provide support as well?"

"On it." Matt nodded. "Come on you two."

Matt ran ahead of them both. "Boil watch your left, Waxer slow down."

The troopers were confused yet followed the vigilantes instructions, blinking as explosive went off just a few inches away from them.

"Come on." Daredevil gestured, sprinting forward.

Both Clone troopers shook their heads and rejoined in their run, arriving at the down gunship with the three men leaning against it.

"Why do we always get the fun missions?" Boil complained.

"Oh, this isn't the _fun_ part." Waxer commented. "Getting back to the Square is the _fun_ part."

"Come on, those bugs are starting to close in on our position." Daredevil said, his enhanced senses picking up on multiple movements closing in around them.

The two troopers quickly pulled the gunship doors open revealing Kenobi stirring with one other clone and Scott lying motionless.

"Waxer, Boil, am I glad to see you." Kenobi groaned out. "Trapper, Scott and I are the only ones still alive."

"Good to see you, sir." Waxer said.

"Commander Cody's established the square just beyond this position." Spoke Boil.

"The bugs are on the move and trying to surround us as we speak." Matt stated. "We gotta get going now."

Both the clones and Matt helped get the injured on their feet and had to think on how to get them back to safer grounds.

"Urgh, Matt?" Scott began to stir. "That you? Or is that really the Devil?"

"Yes to both." Matt remarked with a smirk.

"Oh good to know." Scott shook his head, trying to clear his dazed eyesight. "What happened?"

"You guys got shot down and they're surrounding us." Matt stated.

Over by the perimeter, several more AT-TE's were dropped down with the Clones establishing a firmer line to ward off the swarms of Geonosians.

Pulling down the binoculars, the clone beside Cody reported in his finding.

"They've got the general."

Nodding, Cody spoke to his wrist coms. "AT-TE 636, lay down cover fire at 0.35."

"Sir, incoming AAT Tanks, left flank!"

"Get on them."

The Clones and Vigilante soon returned with the rest of their allies.

"Are you injured, General? Scott?"

"No, nothing too serious." Obi-Wan simply said.

"Just need some rest and I'll be fine." Scott added in.

Being brought further into the safe zone, Kenobi requested a small debriefing. "What's the situation here?"

"Ah. We've got no air cover, many of the generals and Avengers on the ground are beyond our position, and a mess of bugs surrounding us. The enemy was more than prepared for our attack, sir. They knew our every move."

"What of Luminara, Offee and Hope?"

"Here, Kenobi."

All heads turned to see Luminara, Offee, Gree, Hope and their contingent of Clones arrive.

"Are you alright, Master Kenobi?" Offee inquired, kneeling down to him with her hands hovering over his arms.

"Much better now that the rest of you are all here." Kenobi said with a small grin.

"We'll be able to hold off enemy forces and prolong their advances until further help arrives." Gree informed the Jedi Master.

"We're not getting any further if we don't take care of all those tanks surrounding us." Matt stated, his head tilted in the direction of all the oncoming droids. "The two in charge… they're ordering for an attack on our position right now."

"What?" Waxer spoke up in confusion. "How do you know that?"

"Super hearing, taste, smell." Daredevil idly listed off. "Compensates for my blindness."

"I'm still amazed you can pick up all that over the fight, Matthew." Barriss commented.

"So what do we do then?" Gree asked. "If we just sit in wait, we will get overwhelmed."

"We're gonna need a plan of shock attack." Cody stated. "Throw them off somehow long enough for us to capitalize and storm the base."

"Probably gonna be my time to shine, again." Scott grunted out, slowly standing to his feet.

Knowing where this was going, Hope voiced her displeasure.

"You can't. You're injured from the crash. We won't know how long you'll last this time and the fallout."

"Hey, it's not gonna be like last time." Scott assured. "That was a Godzilla sized match."

"And this is a damn warzone." Hope shot back.

"Eh~ tomato, tamato."

"I beg your pardon Scott." Kenobi spoke up. "But you're not doing what I think you want to do."

"Oh he plans to, which I'm really against."

"What is it?" Gree inquired.

Hope looked to Scott who shrugged with a grin while his helmet snapped shut around him.

"You boys are gonna be in for a treat." Scott said. "Give me some of those shots and I'll be raring to go."

A few clones were a little hesitant in giving Ant-man the medical shots to relieve some of the pain. It wasn't out of necessary training, but the glare Hope was giving them.

"Just don't become a junky after this." Hope told him. "Don't want to deal with that."

"Trust me, that's the last thing I wanna become. Just give me some cover for now."

After being administered his shots, Scott did a few small stretches before getting to work.

He began to run forward, aiming for the gunship he was shot down in. It was still relatively intact so he wound up his leg and raised his left hand.

Once he had his leg all the way back, he pressed down and his entire world view changed in height and perspective.

Gi-Ant-Man was back and came in swinging, punting the gunship in front of him into an AAT tank which erupted into a fiery display of fire and metal.

Many of the clones stopped firing and had their jaws drop in complete shock. Some even took their helmets in order to confirm that what they were seeing wasn't a trick of the light.

Even the Geonosians flying around the battlefield gaped at what they were seeing.

"Time to go all Rampage on their asses!" Scott bellowed out, grasping a Geonosian ship and throwing it like a football into another.

Far off at the front of the factory, Chezo and Tann froze staring in wide eyed disbelief at what they were witnessing.

"WHAT THE HELL?!"

"I was… aware of this ability." Tann muttered, eyes nearly the size of dinner plates. "Master Dooku spoke of it. But actually seeing it…"

Scott ran forward, nearly 70 feet tall, and scooped up an AAT tank before tossing it like it was a baseball at another tank.

Cody was one of the first to snap out of his shock, quickly taking command of the situation.

"We have our opening, grunts." Cody began barking out. "Get the tanks and yourselves in formations and push forward."

With that front now on the offensive, the 71st and 21st were just getting to theirs with the troops assembling in full force to charge forward.

Before that, Commander Jet had called up Admiral Yularen in hopes of getting some form of an airstrike to help soften the playing field for their assault.

"Negative, Commander. We will be unable to provide any air support at this time." Yularen stated. "Lieutenants Wilson and Hawk are barely holding back the Separatist and Geonosian Starfighters as is from the rest of the invading forces.

"I understand that, sir." Jet said. "But we're dealing with serious fortifications and we could get blasted to smithereens."

"This is a planetary wide invasion Commander." Yularen reminded. "I can't divert any forces in the sky without risking getting overwhelmed. All I can tell you is what I can try at this moment."

"I'll take it, Admiral." Jet said, ending the transmission. "Generals, we've got no air support right now."

"Then we're doing this the old-fashioned way." Bacara declared. "Jet get the AT-RT's ready for a head on assault, we'll be covering you with artillery fire while you head up the middle. Keeli, get ready the flamethrowers. Those ridges will be swarming with Geonosians."

"Why not just bring the caves down?" Pietro asked.

"It would take too long and we're on a time crunch unfortunately." Mundi stated.

Pietro only grinned roguishly. "Well, we can cut that down. I am here after all."

"Do what you must." Di said, patting his friend back with Pietro nodding.

"Hey Keeli, did you tell the rest of the boys?" Pietro asked an unspoken question.

"Yes sir, they'll know what to expect with you running around." Keeli assured with a wry tone.

"Excellent." Pietro clapped. "Then gentlemen, do try to keep up."

With that, Quicksilver dashed off towards their targeted droid base with a wake of dust left in his run.

"I hate it when he does that." Keeli said, waving the dust away from around him.

"Come on men." Di said, igniting his lightsaber. "We need to keep up, else Maximoff will hold it over our heads."

Bacara simply shouted. "Begin the attack."

A legion of clones let out war cries as they sprinted forward with their blasters raised, firing off into distance at the large contingent of Geonosians and battle droids all standing in defensive formations. Up on the two separate ridges before the droid base, Geonosians flew out in droves and descended down upon the oncoming clones.

Di led Keeli to one of the ledges with a large contingent of clones, the squadrons deploying hooks to quickly scale up the rocky walls.

While the separatists were already firing back, confusion began to arise with the droids suddenly being shattered at random with Geonosians being bashed away by an unseen blur.

"Sure am glad we got someone like him on our side." Bacara admitted, nodding in an impressed manner at the literal speed of which the droids were being disposed of.

"Indeed." Mundi agreed, his eyes barely being able to catch glimpses of Quicksilver who was moving through the Separatist forces. Seeing the dense numbers of the planet's natives, he spoke towards the troopers. "Bring in the flamethrowers!"

A number of clones soon came out from the back with flamethrowers equipped. Once ready, they started burning the enemy and giving Pietro some breathing room.

"Thanks for the assist." Pietro soon patted his shoulder. "Do try to be careful where you're aiming those next time."

Elsewhere, Aayla and Nat had set up a stagnant line upon the droid base they were assaulting.

"Nat! Aayla."

Both girls looked behind them to see Captain Rogers, Anakin, Ahsoka, Rex, Parker and Domino squad at long last make it to their front line.

"It's about damn time." Nat joked. "What took you so long, Cap? Old legs can't handle the desert plains."

"Hilarious." Steve said, crouching down next to her. "What's the situation here?"

"We've managed to push the separatist forces back but they have a fortress wall blocking us access to the droid base." Commander Bly informed the newly arrived group. "Can't get in and continue the assault unless that wall is taken care of."

"That's what we're here for." Anakin said. "What about those acolytes you told me about?"

"I've lost track of them. "Aayla griped.

Just overhead, War Machine flew past them dropping a large cluster of bombs that took out a majority of the droids and bugs ahead of them.

"Alright, there's our chance to move in." Anakin said. "Aayla, you keep pressing forward. We'll deal with the fortress wall."

"I'll stick with Aayla for now, Steve." Nat informed her friend with Steve only nodding as he, Anakin, Ahsoka, Peter, Rex and a dozen Clones made a dash for the fortress wall.

"We can't get into the factory without taking out that fortification." Steve stated. "It's the last thing to get the rest of the boys in and securing this base."

Coming across the dam-like wall, Anakin and Steve's group were being assaulted by enemy fire. They already lost a handful of men on their way here and things weren't looking good.

"Careful, people." Steve called out to the troopers. He then addressed the climbing party. "Ahsoka, Anakin, Peter, you're up."

"We'll cover you!"

Rushing out of their cover, the two Jedi ran towards the rock wall with Spiderman coming up from behind. Using their grappling devices, Anakin and Ahsoka launched a line towards the top. Zipping up from the pull, Peter soon wall-crawled up right after them.

Reaching the top, Spider-man quickly webbed several droids up and pulled on them towards him. He ducked down as they sailed overhead right into Anakin's lightsaber which cut them down.

Ahsoka sliced through her own few while blocking several blasts directed at her.

"How many droids have you shot down so far?" Anakin asked as the two fought side by side.

"Twenty-five." Ahsoka stated

"Ah, you're falling behind." Anakin teased.

Spider-man webbed up several droids before flinging them over and down the fortress wall.

"I think that makes thirty-three." Peter quipped. "Pretty sure I'm ahead of both of you."

"That only counts as one." Anakin stated.

"What?! Don't you dare pull a Gimli on me!"

"Gimli?"

Peter groaned. "I'll show you the movie after all of this is over."

"You better." Ahsoka jibbed in. "I'm getting lost on all these Earth references you guys keep spouting."

"Movie night it is once off this rock."

Down below, a good battalion of droids were assaulting the Republic forces and were breaking through the line.

Steve bashed a B1 down, with the droid shattering into pieces yet the top half of it remained. Cap turned away to continue fighting elsewhere when-

"No… strings… on… me..."

A cold shiver ran down the good Captains spine, snapping around to see the B1 he had just destroyed slump down.

A small feeling of dread came over him, yet he had to focus on the fight before him.

Suddenly, he felt himself get flung forward by an unseen force from behind.

Crashing down to the ground, Steve quickly whirled about onto his back as he saw a blond man wielding a red blade sailing at him overhead.

He raised his shield in time to deflect the lightsaber that bounced off his shield. With a quick reflexive kick, Steve planted his boot upon the Acolyte's chest making him fly back.

The Acolyte landed on his feet, rubbing his chest as he felt it burn with pain.

He was suddenly assaulted by Clones and blaster fire.

"No stay back!" Steve called out to the clones yet it was only in vain.

The large blond Acolyte blocked the bolts before cutting down the Clones closest to him.

In response, Steve flung his shield at the Acolyte who ducked beneath the Vibranium which bounced along the rocky growths before returning to Steve's hand.

"So you must be the fabled Captain Rogers." The Large Acolyte sneered.

"You know who I am." Steve stated, not questioned.

"My Lord Dooku has made sure to keep those who follow him informed of your presences across the galaxy. Your arrival was a shockwave that has left the Force in an erratic phase that must be taken care of."

"And you are the man to do that?" Steve asked in a steady tone.

The blond Acolyte got into a stance with his lightsaber raised up to his shoulders.

"Tol Skorr, slayer of the Avengers leader. Perhaps Dooku will reward me greatly if I were to accomplish such a feat."

Steve was only silent as he kept his gaze focused on the acolyte who made the first move. Tol jumped forward with Steve stepping back, shield raised as he braced his attack.

The lightsaber clashed against his shield yet Skorr quickly went for another series of strikes with Steve blocking every strike.

On top of the wall, the droid fighters were already taken care of, giving the three Republic fighters a momentary pause of rest.

"Look for a hatch." Anakin ordered. "We need to put the explosives inside the wall."

It didn't take Ahsoka long to find one, yet a Droideka rolled on out and activated it's shield.

"Found one."

Looking over, the two men were about to assist her when another hatch opened up with a second Droideka popping out.

As Anakin defended himself against the second droid, Peter went in and slid on the ground. Once past the barrier, he delivered a rising uppercut on the droids head to snap it off. With it out of commission, Peter went to help the Padawan with the same actions.

With them down for the count, a hatch opened back up. The two Jedi and Avenger went on guard for anymore Droideka popping out. Luckily for them, it was just a mere B1 droid.

"Hey, did you get them?"

Unholstering the backpack carrying the explosives, Anakin tossed it towards the droid. "Catch."

"Huh?" Both Jedi then used the Force to push the B1 droid back into the hole as it screamed out in utter horror. "Wha- NO!"

Seeing their task done, the master/padawan duo looked at Spiderman with a coy smirk.

"Come on, Peter."

"Up and away."

"Whoa! Wait!" Peter cried out as he was flung off the wall via Force push. "I could've just jumped!"

Not long after their shared act on the teen Earther, they both leaped off and dived towards the fight below just as the wall exploded from the inside out.

As he fell, Peter fired off a web line to the nearby rock wall in order to help him with the landing. And once coming into a recovery roll, the wallcrawler glared at the two Force sensitives as the wall came tumbling down.

"Next time, just tell me to jump."

"Now where's the fun in that?" Anakin joked. "Come on, we can't keep Aayla waiting."

"Cap!" Peter cried out, spotting Steve clashing with an acolyte.

"Tol Skorr." Anakin said with a glare.

"The Acolyte who you encountered on Mustafar?" Ahsoka said in worry.

"Ahsoka, Peter, go catch up and assist Aayla with the others." Anakin ordered. "I'll help Steve with the Acolyte."

Ahsoka wanted to argue yet they were in the middle of a battle. Right now wasn't the time for ignoring orders.

"Come on Peter." Ahsoka stated. "We can't Keep Rex and Aayla waiting. They're advancing into the droid base."

Spidey regarded Ahsoka for a moment, looking to Anakin who was dashing forward to assist Cap.

"Right, let's go."

The two broke off to run towards the front of their droid base.

And at the front fortifications and trenches of the base was Aayla Secura locked in a heated duel with one Kadrian Sey.

The Zabrak Acolyte had retreated earlier to prepare the defenses for the Droid Base she had been assigned to protect as she had heard some unusual reports.

Droids malfunctioning, explosions going off around the area where there were no starfighters or clones nearby and vulture droids suddenly crashing indiscriminately against either Seppie or Republic forces.

She needed to regain order, though it was proving rather difficult.

Aayla Secura was an adept duelist and the commotion around them with the Clones of the 501st and 327th were in full assault, blasting away any opposition they faced.

This was becoming a losing battle for her end as the Republic was beginning to break through.

"Surrender, Kadrian." Aayla said, their lightsabers clashing with their faces inches apart. "Our forces will overwhelm yours well and soon enough."

"I would rather die." Kadrian sneered, shoving Aayla back with the two re-engaging in a series of lightsaber clashes.

Aayla held her blade upside down to deflect a horizontal strike to her legs, holding it up diagonally a moment later to block Kadrians next strike.

She retaliated with a series of long sweeping swings of her own to gain some distance between herself.

Suddenly, behind Kadrian, a string of Y-wing Bombers flew overhead to deliver a bombing run upon the factory destroying many of the bases defensive turrets and forces.

"Do you not see now?" Aayla asked, standing tall with her being joined by Commander Bly and Lightning squadron who all had their weapons trailed upon her. "Your base will fall and it will be taken by the Republic. Kadrian, it is not too late."

Aayla lowered her Lightsaber though Bly and his clones kept their arms raised.

"Please." The Twi'lek raised her free hand. "Return to the Order, you can still be what you once were."

The glare Kadrian leveled at Aayla would have made most men and women cower in fear. Yet Aayla stares impassively in return.

"I'd rather DIE." Kadrian felt the Dark side flow within her as she unleashed a powerful force wave upon those standing before her.

They all flew back, landing hard on the ground.

Kadrian raised her wrist and pressed a command upon it.

"All Forces retreat." Kadrian said with a furious tone. "This base will fall. We must fall back and regroup."

She spared a glance back to Aayla who was getting back up to her feet with Bly and the others.

Gritting her teeth, Kadrian dashed away.

Over with Steve and Anakin, Tol was on the defensive.

He was facing off against two very seasoned and battle-hardened warriors who were working in tandem with each other.

Skorr was holding up his blade shakily, breathing heavily.

"It's no use fighting us, Skorr." Anakin said heatedly. "You will lose if you keep going."

"Surrender." Steve said evenly.

"Surrender?" Skorr scoffed. "Surrender to the order I spat upon? You Jedi and your self-righteousness. That will be your undoing as Lord Dooku has foreseen. The future of the Galaxy shall belong to the Sith."

"Not gonna happen." Anakin said, leveling his Lightsaber at the former Jedi.

" _Steve it's Sam."_ the two heard the aviator through their comms. _"Aayla, Bly and Rex reported bravo base has been taken. The Seps are in retreat."_

His voice was heard aloud with Skorr managing to hear the news.

"Well would you look at that." Anakin taunted. "Looks like your base has fallen."

Skorr only sneered defiantly.

"Over here!"

From behind Anakin and Steve ran up Captain Rex with Domino Squad and several more Clones all with their blasters trailed at the Acolyte.

Skorr knew he was outnumbered and outmatched.

He gripped his saber tightly with his teeth grit in anger. How was he supposed to get out of this one?

"You don't need to fight." Steve said.

"Oh, that's where you are wrong, fool." Tol's eyes blazed with anger, as he prepared to fight when the Clones quickly fired upon him, riddling the Acolyte with blaster bolts.

Tol Skorr stood, eyes wide in disbelief as he attempted to move forward…

Only to keel over, dead and unmoving.

Steve stared down at the unmoving body with a stoic face.

He felt Anakin place a hand on his shoulder.

"Come on Steve." Anakin said softly. "Battles not over yet."

"Right."

Rex stepped forward. "Generals Di and Mundi are still fighting for their droid base but they informed us recently that they're gaining the advantage right now."

"And Obi-Wan?" Anakin asked.

"General Luminara informed me that they are pressing their attack but their Droid factory is shielded." Rex stated.

"See if we can get some gunships, get over there to back Kenobi and Luminara." Anakin ordered.

"Right away sir."

Anakin then went to contact another battlefront. "Master Mundi, do you read me!"

"We are here, Skywalker." Mundi replied, slicing through a B2 Super while Bacara grabbed a B1 battle droid by the neck and ripped it straight off.

"Our base has been taken, what's the status of yours?" Anakin looked up to see an LAAT gunship descending down to them.

"We're moving up, General." Bacara stated. "Give us a few minutes and we'll have the base."

"We're moving forward to Point Rain. Turns out Obi-wan is in a bit of a more dire straits then we had expected."

"We can't spare any force, General." Bacara stated. "We need all hands-on deck for this front."

Pietro soon spoke into the conversation. "I can run on ahead and help out what I can."

Mundi nodded. "Do what you must, Pietro."

Giving the Jedi Master a two-fingered salute, Quicksilver sped off and went on ahead to help clear a path for the assembled parties.

From his spot down below, Anakin called out to Sam. "Sam, are you there?"

"Still airborne Skyguy." Sam said with a grunt. "What can I do for ya?"

"Obi-wan is in a bit of a pinch." Anakin stated. "Think you can spare a few fighters to give him an assist?"

"I'll do what I can."

At the crash zone, Scott had to return back to normal size after being oversized too long again. He had to rest beside Obi-Wan, who still hasn't recovered yet from the abrupt landing earlier. As the fight went on around them, the Jedi Master swore to protect his friend and ally if anything were to go south.

And he wasn't the only one as Luminara and Barriss helped block any stray blaster fire coming their way while Hope and Matt assisted the clones in fending off the Geonosians.

Daredevil had begun swinging his electrified nun-chaku about while directing clones at unseen enemies from their blind spots while barking out those needed to move back from getting blasted away.

Wasp was barely visible, flying about the battlefield zapping Geonosians and Droids with some getting knocked out while others were stunned long enough for Clones shot to shoot them down.

They had pressed forward for a short amount of time before the Separatist managed to reform and counterattack with the long line of AT-TE's and clones now on the defensive once more.

To his relief and the rest of his party, a silver blur soon came into the battlefield. It knocked off many of the enemy fighters before coming to a stop near them.

"Did you miss me?"

"You're a sight for sore eyes, Pietro." Obi-Wan said with a pained chuckle. "Seems you're the messenger for Mundi and the rest."

"Yes I am. And they aren't that far out."

"Hopefully it won't be long."

"Reinforcements have arrived!"

Hearing the call from one of the clones, the two men looked over and saw Sam and his fighters swooping in and delivering a payload of bombs on the enemy. It gave them all bits of relief as more and more Republic forces started flooding in.

Rushing towards his side, the Tortuga padawan immediately checked the injured people. "Master Kenobi! Scott!"

Coming to a stop, Anakin had to catch his breath as he gave his former master a strained grin. "Well what happened to you?"

Looking at Skywalker, Obi-Wan saw the man's current appearance. "I might ask you the same question."

Kenobi chuckled weakly.

"Since now we are all together again," Luminara began, "we should get back to what we originally intend to finish."

"You're right."

Soon a holo-map was put on display in the middle of the assembled group. Readjusting himself in his spot, Obi-Wan soon gave out the debriefing.

"Our combined forces should be enough to destroy the shield generator. Anakin, you'll need to take a small squad through the shield, as close as you can get to their gun emplacements. From there, you'll be able to temporarily jam their scanners so they are unable to target the incoming tanks. Once the tanks knock out the shield, Master Luminara can bring the rest of the troops in with the gunships."

"Consider it done, Master."

With everything accounted for along with the assembled strike force organized and sent out to their positions; all that had to be done was given the order to commence the final stage of Operation: Point Rain.

Bringing down his binoculars, the clone trooper turned towards Jedi Master Luminara.

"All units in position, sir."

Nodding, Luminara gave out the order. "Tell Skywalker to start the attack."

Receiving the order, Anakin, Steve, Nat and the rest of the assembled squadron left their cover and rushed towards the barrier.

The rain of blaster fire came down upon them all, with many Republic forces having to do their best to avoid getting hit. Some were not lucky while others were taken by incoming Geonosians.

Yet Spider-man was swinging from up high, webbing up the wings of the Geonosians that dropped down to the ground with Quicksilver rushing in to get the troopers back to the main assaulting force.

Closer and closer they all got to the factory did the enemy fire get harsher and harsher.

The large attacking force got to cover.

"They're set up along fortifications on the upper levels." Steve noted, peeking out from his cover.

"We need to jam their scanners. Droid poppers ready." Anakin ordered aloud.

With the devices pulled out and primed, they were soon thrown and with a bit of a Force push, they were successfully sent towards their destination. And it wasn't long before an EMP wave went off and disabled many of the enemy cannons.

"Looks like it's working." Ahsoka commented.

"It won't last long. Bring up the tanks."

The Republic walkers came strolling in and once situated, they quickly aimed their barrels and opened fire upon the shield generator. The results were instant with the incoming assault. The tower came tumbling down with the shield barrier no longer operational.

As the barrier faded away, Republic dropships came flying in and started deploying a good number of troopers and Jedi onto the scene.

Operation: Point Rain was a success, Mundi and Di had reported successfully taking their Droid base and the next set of operations to retake Geonosis were underway.

Hobbling along to a ship, Obi-Wan was being helped by Anakin while some clone troopers brought Scott in via stretcher.

"So, what happened to you this time Scott?" Pietro walked up to Scott on the stretcher who held his arm.

"Stay there please." Scott said, eyes squinted. "You're keeping the sun out of my eyes."

Pietro chortled aloud when one of the Clones from the 212th came up.

"You should have seen him. He went all-"

"Giant sized?" Hope was now walking alongside her boyfriend on the other side of the stretcher. "Yeah, this idiot here just had to be brave again."

Scott chuckled woozily. "Hey… didn't pass out this time."

Walking into their path, Ahsoka spoke in a perky tone towards Skywalker.

"So, Master, what was your total?"

"Not now, Ahsoka." Sighed out Anakin.

"Come on. Are you afraid you lost this time?"

Rolling his eyes, Anakin gave his response. "Fine. Fifty-five, that's my count. And you?"

"Sixty." She said smugly. "Looks like I won."

"Yeah, but I called in the air strike. Tie."

"You guys are ridiculous." Scott groaned out. "And if I were going by kill counts, I beat you two by a good amount."

"Hey what about me?' Peter spoke up. "I was with the two of you and I got a good number of those robots."

"Droids." Ahsoka absentmindedly corrected.

"Were you keeping track?"

Obi-Wan shook his head at their antics. "I'll never understand how you can simplify these battles into some kind of game."

Handing Kenobi off into the dropship, Anakin waved the others off. "Take care of yourselves. I expect to see both of you back here by the time I've destroyed the main factory."

"We shall do our best."

Before the ship took off into the air, Mundi, who had returned with Ima-Gun Di decided to speak up. "Sixty-five, Skywalker."

This quickly confused Anakin, throwing him off a bit. "I'm sorry?"

"My total. Sixty-five." Mundi answered before curiosity took over. "So what do I win?"

Both Anakin and Obi-Wan shared a look before Skywalker chuckled to himself.

"My everlasting respect, Master Mundi."

This wasn't what the Cerean Jedi Master was expecting. "Oh…"

Wanting to come in to defend his former Padawan, Kenobi spoke on his behalf. "That is a gift Anakin rarely bestows, I assure you."

Scott chuckled on the stretcher. "Hey, if it makes you feel any better I can treat you to something once we're back on Coruscant for your win."

Mundi nodded as the ship doors closed up and took off into the air for its occupants to rest up and be ready for what's to come.

"So that takes care of establishing a foothold." Steve said to Anakin who nodded.

"Now we need to take out their main factory that Padme managed to get from Cato Neimoidia."

Steve was silent.

"Steve?"

"Hmm?"

"Are you alright?"

Steve didn't respond at first, staring off into the distance where multiple Clone forces were being deployed across the surface.

"We got a transmission here." Steve stated. "A transmission that matched one that would come from Earth."

"Are you serious?" Anakin asked in surprise. "So that means-?"

"Someone from Earth is here." Steve said solemnly.

Anakin grinned before it fell, noticing that Steve didn't exactly seem happy at the prospect of finding one of his lost friends.

"What is it?" Anakin asked cautiously.

Steve had his brows furrow in deep thought. "I… I dunno. Let's just say I have this gut feeling that doesn't fill me with warmth."

Steve walked off leaving a confused and rather… disturbed Jedi.

"Well that doesn't exactly make me feel all that better." Anakin murmured to himself.

_-Scene Cut-_

Sev'rance Tann was kneeling before a holo transmission of Count Dooku. The Count's face was unreadable yet his eyes were ablaze.

"Sev'rance Tann."

"Master."

"You abandoned your base when you could have swept aside the Republic's attacking force." Dooku said slowly. "Why have you done this?"

"Master, I find it difficult to explain to you as to why but I shall attempt to." Tann spoke in a calm tone. "During the assault, I had noticed droids behaving… erratically. Both on the ground and in the air. At first, one may have assumed there to be some sort of glitch so to speak with the droids and their actions. But the consistency and actions that were conducted were not glitches. They were doing this intentionally. Outside of the programming of the Confederacy."

Dooku regarded his Acolyte silently. He glanced up at the two Commando Droids that stood at attention behind Tann.

Kadrian Sey and Chezo Niva had reported similar events with the base that was taken by Jedi's Mundi and Di suffering the same turn of actions.

Someone was sabotaging their droids.

"Leave Geonosis immediately." Dooku stated. "This planet will hold out for only so long. Poggle will decide its fate."

"Master?"

"Do what I order, Sev'rance." Dooku said with a firmer tone. "There is a disturbance in the Force. The Jedi and Avengers are not the only things on Geonosis that are a threat to us."

Sev'rance only bowed her head in acknowledgement.

She quickly departed from the room with Dooku's transmission ending a moment later.

The two Commando droids remained, eyes blinking red for a moment with a rumbling chuckle.

**Rate Read and Review and As Always Have Nice Day.**


	33. Proving Grounds

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Cover poster link here
> 
> https://www.deviantart.com/freemanwriter/art/Weapons-Factory-839437344

**Rate Read and Review and as Always Have Nice Day.**

Avengers Infinite Wars Chapter 33: Proving Grounds

The invasion of Geonosis was underway, the foothold of the Republic well established after securing the three targeted droid factories from Operation: Point Rain.

Now, Republic forces landed in mass with multiple droid and Geonosian bases and cities being targeted and sieged.

The Avengers had also been distributed amongst the Republic forces, assisting the Jedi and Clones in taking out the Separatist troops while also conducting their own secondary mission.

Tap had previously informed them of a transmission that matched Earth radio waves so they had been searching for some time now while battling across the Geonosian landscape.

Currently, Steve Rogers and Sam Wilson were with Anakin Skywalker, Aayla Secura, Commander Bly and Captain Rex going over the next plan of attack upon the main new droid foundry on Geonosis. Senator Padme Amidala along with Natasha Romanoff and Hope Van Dyne had undergone a secret mission to retrieve evidence of a Senators collaboration with the Separatists which proved to be true.

Now they were preparing for their assault on the factory, hoping to take it out lest it churns out more battle droids then any one of them could handle.

The 501st legion and 327th corps were on standby, securing the surrounding perimeter whilst bolstering and preparing their forces for the attack on the base.

They were not to go in alone however.

Currently, they awaited the arrival of the 41st Legion with Jedi General Luminara Unduli and her Padawan learner Barriss Offee.

"Are we all set?" Steve asked Anakin who nodded.

"We've got our Artillery and AT-TE tanks prepped and ready with Luminara's AT-TE's joining in on the fun in a short moment." Anakin replied.

Sam then looked around for a brief moment. "Hey, where's the kids?"

"Over there Lieutenant." Captain Rex said, thumbing behind him.

Behind him upon an elevated ground hill, Ahsoka Tano was conversing with Peter Parker and other men of the 501st.

Though it appeared to be more of teasing as one Clone in particular was being mercilessly picked on by the rest of his brothers. Apparently, this particular Clone had managed to recreate Ahsoka's facial markings perfectly upon his chest piece.

"Kinda hate to ruin their fun." Steve said with a small smirk. "But Luminara and her troopers are on their way."

"It's time we go over our plan then." Aayla stated.

"Steve and I are gonna start rounding up the boys." Sam said. "Finish up perimeter sweeps and get ready."

"Rex, Bly, get everyone prepped." Anakin instructed. "We're gonna be in for a long one."

Both high ranking clone officers went off to do their duty with Steve and Sam splitting up whilst the two Jedi went over to the youngsters who were sharing a laugh with the other Clones as it was revealed to be Cutup who made Tano's markings upon his armor.

All the while, the Republic fleet orbiting high above began deploying a large contingent of LAAT gunships with troops and AT-TE tanks to bolster the attacking force for the assault on the new droid foundry.

The drop ship descended from the skies above and headed straight towards the designated drop zone. All the clones onboard were doing another round of preparing for the incoming assault on the main droid base.

"Barriss," Luminara began, "I assume you've made the necessary preparations?"

Hanging on the harness some feet away, Barriss responded back. "Precisely as you instructed, Master."

Standing before the holo-map of the targeted droid factory, Ahsoka was giving the debriefing towards the present clone squadron heads while Peter, Aayla, and Anakin stood not far away.

"This bridge is our first waypoint." Ahsoka said, pointing towards the connecting landmass. "Focus your fire on the gun emplacements here and here, because it's only-"

Suddenly, Anakin butted in and took over the debriefing. "Because it's only after we neutralize the guns that we can push for the factory."

Both Aayla and Peter blinked on the sudden action with the wallcrawler voicing his thoughts. "Well that was rude."

Aayla nodded in agreement while Ahsoka tried to fight back a look of annoyance. "I was-yes." She quickly composed herself in order to continue. Two of the clones shared a slightly amused look between one another. "We can push for the factory. Now, expect stiff resistance from-"

"And don't forget to top off your energy cells and ration packs." Once again, Skywalker interrupted and took over his Padawan on the debriefing. "Once we leave, there will be no re-supply." He then turned towards the Togruta. "Anything else, Ahsoka?"

"No… I think you've pretty much covered everything… in _my_ briefing."

"Very well. Squad dismissed."

"I hope that won't become a habit." Peter commented.

"Same."

"I mean, I had that happen to me a while back with a project partner of mine and it was outright annoying."

Ahsoka meanwhile was exchanging a verbal sparring match with her master.

"-briefings might go better if you don't interrupt every time I try to-"

"I wasn't interrupting you." Anakin cut her off defensively. "I was just trying to help you."

"Which I would appreciate if you wouldn't _interrupt_ me at every turn I try to talk." Ahsoka argued with a dry tone. "I just don't think you trust me to do the briefings."

"It's not about trust. It's about getting the job done right."

She let out a mild gasp. "So you don't trust me to get the job done right. I knew it!"

Anakin, however, released a tired sigh. "Snips, I never said-"

"No. No, it's okay. I understand." Ahsoka quickly said, walking past her Jedi Master. "I'm the Padawan. You're the Master."

"Huh." Peter watched from the sidelines while Aayla shook her head, an amused grin on her face. "Do they always argue like that?"

"Yes, quite often." Aayla remarked. "I think they're one of the few Master and Student pairings that do so."

"Is that bad in the Jedi order?"

Aayla shrugged. "I'd like to believe no. After all, my master was the notorious Quinlan Vos. And his master was Master Tholme. I've lost count of how many times my Master and I exchanged words of disagreement. In the end…" Secura's smile became more wistful and fonder. "I feel it made me the Jedi I am today."

Peter nodded as he soon looked over at Ahsoka. With a concerned look on his face, he went after her.

"Hey." He quickly said once walking beside her. "You alright?"

"Does it look like I'm alright?" She snapped before quickly apologizing. "Sorry, just frustrated with Anakin doing this… again."

"Again? You mean that back there wasn't the first?"

"I believe this was the _second_ time I tried to give the proper debriefings and Anakin suddenly butted in and ruined my preparation."

Anakin, who had been nearby still, overheard this last statement.

"Ahsoka, it's not like that."

"See?" Ahsoka said condescendingly. "But who am I to judge? After all, he's the master, I'm the apprentice. Maybe I need to recognize my place."

"Ahsoka." Anakin groaned aloud.

The two continued their little argument as Gunships began arriving, dropping off troops and tanks with Luminara and Barriss walking out in time to see Ahsoka and Anakin…

"Ah, there they go again." Luminara said knowingly.

Barriss tilted her head, feeling slight sympathy for her friend who threw her hands up and walked off leaving Anakin to reach out to her only to notice Luminara and Barriss.

"Go speak with her." Luminara instructed her Padawan. "I will converse with Skywalker."

Nodding, Barriss went over to Ahsoka who was stomping about while complaining about Anakin to Peter.

"Did we miss anything?" Barriss questioned, looking at her two friends and saw the peeved look on Ahsoka's body posture. "It seems we did."

"Just the mission debriefing." Ahsoka quickly said, not wanting to get into specifics.

Barriss wanted to further inquire what's wrong when she saw Peter shake his head 'no'. Getting the message, she kept her inquiry to herself.

"Ah Barriss."

The young Mirialan Padawan turned to see Aayla approaching her with a warm smile.

"It's good to see you once more." The Twi'lek said kindly.

"It is good to see you as well, Master Secura." Barriss said with a bow.

"Not a Master yet, young one." Aayla said, placing a hand on the Padawan's shoulder. "So it's just Aayla to you."

Barriss smiled, head then tilting over to see Anakin approaching with Luminara. And off to the side...

"Are we all set here?" Steve returned with Sam, Rex and Bly. "Luminara, Offee, good to see you both."

"Glad to see you are doing well, Captain Rogers." Luminara said with a gracious bow, one Barriss emulated.

"So what's the plan Skyguy?" Sam asked, Anakin's brow twitching as he knew Sam saw it. That grin pretty much said it all.

Before Anakin had a chance to speak, Ahsoka prevented him from doing so.

" _We,_ " Ahsoka emphasized herself, Peter and Barriss, "are gonna enter the Droid base discreetly to take it out from the inside."

"I have memorized the layout of the base and will guide the three of us through the foundry to its core." Barriss spoke up. "From there, we will set charges and destroy the bases from within."

"And I…" Peter said with his chest puffed out proudly before quickly deflating. "Am just back up."

"But you are the best back up there ever is."

"Thanks… I think."

"What about us then?" Steve asked. "How do we keep the Geonosians occupied while they are setting the bombs?"

"You all," Barriss ushered towards the adults present, "are the distraction."

Luminara nodded to Gree who brought up a map of the factory once more, this time focusing on what lay beneath.

"Each Geonosian building contains a series of tunnels and catacombs beneath their structures." Barriss stated. "It took me some time in memorizing the path needed for the three of us but I can get us there while everyone outside focuses on luring the Geonosians and droids out.

"Good to know." Peter eyed the intricate pathways and felt a migraine building up. "Memorizing all that will confuse me to the point my head might be spinning."

"Oh you're just exaggerating." Ahsoka nudged her male friend's side."

"Really? You try navigating your way through that all on your own." Peter challenged.

"That's why I am here." Barriss said with a light tone.

"Looks like a good way to get lost if you ask me." Anakin remarked as he wasn't fully onboard with having the three teenagers going into the factory by themselves.

"Trust in our Padawans and young Parker, Skywalker." Luminara said confidently. "Right Barriss?"

Barriss nodded. "Especially when the lives of others depend on your success."

"Well that just takes all the pressure off." Peter deadpanned, making Rex and Steve snort with Sam nudging him.

"Come on kid, we know you could do this."

Anakin however appeared to remain skeptical. "I don't know about all this. Entering into that factory with all those droids can be suicidal."

"Which is why we need to make sure we give the kids the chance they need, Anakin." Steve spoke up this time.

"Let's give them the distraction they need." Rex added.

"See, even they are _depending_ on us." Ahsoka said to Anakin. "And don't worry, _Master_ , I can follow orders."

Peter rubbed his eyes. "This is gonna be a long _thing_ , isn't it?"

Barriss placed a reassuring hand upon his shoulder. "We'll accomplish this mission. _And_ help where it is needed."

"Then it's decided." Luminara said to all present as Ahsoka, Barriss and Peter were handed the packs filled with explosives.

"Be careful kid." Steve said to Peter. "Look out for one another. Don't take any chances."

Peter nodded, slipping on his mask.

"Hang on a second." Sam said. "I know we're doing this, but we're letting the kids rush into an enemy factory. How will we know how far along they are."

"That's what these are for. We'll monitor your progress on these chronometers. Synchronize on my mark." Once handing over the devices, they all held out their wrist-coms and attached them to it. "Three, two, one, mark."

Pressing in sync, the chronometers glowed at the same time before dying down.

"Alright, ready to go." Peter said, hopping in place.

"Come on then." Barriss ran ahead with Ahsoka and Peter following after her.

The three teens went off and raced down the hill and across the earth.

From their spot above, Anakin wore a worried look on his face.

"Do you not trust your Padawan, Skywalker?" Luminara inquired.

"You feel they are not up to the task?" Aayla guessed correctly

Anakin only crossed his arms, gazing at the three teens who had now gained a greater distance from the camp.

"I never said that."

"It's alright to be worried about such things." Steve said to the worried Jedi Master. "But if we don't give them the right incentives, then they'll never grow."

Anakin tightened his fists before relenting. "Fine. I am worried. Is that what you all wanted to hear?"

"Anakin, we pretty much knew that." Sam said with the others nodding in agreement. "Just have some faith in them. This isn't the first or last risky assignment they're gonna deal with."

"That's supposed to make me feel better?"

"General, not to speak out of term…" Rex spoke up. "But we're the 501st. Risky missions are our specialty."

Anakin shot Rex a wry look, turning back to the map of the factory.

"Then our distraction is gonna have to be bold if we're gonna draw out the droids from their factory." Anakin stated. "Marching across the bridge, parade style."

"With no cover?" Steve wasn't exactly on board with the idea.

"It's really tempting, which they will have a hard time resisting." Luminara stated.

"We just need to focus on luring them out." Bly added. "Once we get them closer, the spires will serve as cover."

With the plan now in mind, they began calling out orders and rallying the men.

It was time.

Soon, the Three Jedi and Two Avengers were walking side by side with the assembled soldiers of three legions all standing together.

As they drew closer to the bridge, the large front gate of the droid foundry opened with thousands of droids marching forward.

"That's a lot of droids." Sam dryly said.

"Well it is a Droid factory after all." Luminara said knowingly.

"As long as we can destroy them faster than they can make them then we'll come out on top." Anakin said, determinedly while getting a laugh out of the others.

"Sometimes, the simple answer is the best answer." Aayla declared, igniting her lightsaber with Anakin and Luminara doing the same.

Falcon's wings furled out and Captain America gripped his shield tightly.

The Clone Troopers raised their blasters with the lead five running forward to engage the droids.

Climbing down the cavern wall, the three teens eventually made it towards the bottom with the sounds of battle happening above. Reaching the other side of the chasm, Barriss soon felt up the wall in order to properly find the entry point from her studies. She then stopped, ignited her lightsaber, and plunged it into the rock. Wanting to assist her, Ahsoka ignited her own lightsaber and gave the needed assistance to carve out an entry hole. Once made, the two Padawans used the Force to pry the piece of rock out to reveal the tunnel.

"Nice work, you two." Peter said, stepping right to it before glancing at Ahsoka and Barriss. "So… who wants to go into the creepily dark, bug infested tunnels first?"

Before Barriss volunteered, Ahsoka gave him a wily grin. "Why not you?"

"...Is this because of me being a 'bug'?" Peter narrowed his eyes with a pout. "I have you know, I'm an arachnid, not a bug. There's a big difference."

"Yeah, yeah." She shoved him inside before the Padawans followed after.

"So where to now?" Ahsoka asked.

"This way." Barriss said, taking the lead with her friends right behind her.

While the Republic forces began their missions, within the droid foundry itself was Poggle the Lesser overlooking the attack with a specially designed Tactical droid assisting him.

Compared to most Tactical Droids, this one was more built evenly so to speak. More proportioned. There were no lanky parts to him and he was rather more humanoid in appearance, with only his chest piece and head being that of the usual tactical droid design.

"Lord Poggle." The tactical droid spoke. "The foundry is operating at 50% production capacity with ten new droid garrisons ready to deploy."

Poggle turned to the tactical droid letting out a series of clicks as he gestured to the attacking Republic Force.

"The Super Tanks are nearly ready but most still need development." The Tactical droid stated. "But when they are ready, the Republic forces will be routed. They have no weapons that they carry on them that can penetrate its heavy armor."

Poggle only made a few more clicks.

"We shall not fall. I have made many necessary precautions and backup plans." The Tactical Droid assured, eyes flickering red momentarily. "I will prevail."

Poggle only nodded, eyeing the battle that has begun with the Tactical Droid doing the same, concentrating specifically on two individuals **.**

_-Scene Cut-_

Traversing through the dark tunnels with extraordinarily little light was difficult for the three teens. They did have to rely on their extra senses from the Force for the Padawans to the tingling sensation Peter's been getting every so often.

"What?" Ahsoka had asked.

Peter looked around. "I don't know. It's just… it's just that there's one of those weird Geonosians nearby."

Barriss and Ahsoka gazed at him in bewilderment.

"How do you know this?" Barriss inquired.

"It's… this weird tingle I've been getting more often." Peter explained. "I don't know what it is but I've been getting them more these past few weeks and I'm trying to figure out how it works."

"Seems," Barriss paused in thought. "Useful. This reminds me of how Jedi can detect danger nearby."

"Yeah, exactly. That's what it usually feels like." Peter said, nodding his head in agreement.

And it proved useful when they had to avoid the passing Geonosian guards patrolling the area.

"Thank god these guys have no face-hugger eggs."

Ahsoka groaned a little when hearing this. "I swear, ever since seeing the 'Alien' films the other night, I can't look through dark tunnels the same way again."

"C'mon you liked it."

"Yeah, as a good simple scare as we weren't thinking of going into a dark tunnel anytime soon." Ahsoka pointed out. "And where do you think we are _now_?"

"What is this "Alien" you are talking about?" Barriss asked.

"It's an Earth film. Apparently has a huge fanbase."

"You should see comic-con back home." Peter muttered, now sticking to the walls as he crawled about with the two girls walking slowly in the dim catacombs.

"What's comic-con?"

"One thing at a time." Peter said. "So where to from here, oh fearless leader of ours?"

The trio rounded about a cavern with their eyes widening and Peter inhaling to the point of his mouth and throat drying up entirely.

"Oh God, it's Alie-MMPH." Ahsoka's hand clamped tightly around Peter's mask, her own body tense and nervous.

"They're sleeping." Ahsoka whispered out. "We have to find another way."

"We don't have time." Barriss grimly stated. "We must go through here."

Peter vigorously shook his head in disagreement, Ahsoka's hand still keeping his mouth shut and words muffled though it was clear how very much against he was towards Barriss's given directions.

Barriss decided to simply begin moving forward with Ahsoka following after her with a very much nervous Peter in the rear.

Barriss stopped, gesturing the two to move past her.

"This is such a bad idea." Peter murmured. "We're gonna get planted with an egg for sure."

"Will you please, _not say that."_ Ahsoka hissed. "The last thing I need after this day is a nightmare."

"Ahsoka, Peter."

Looking back, they saw a Geonosian hand was lying on top of Barriss' head. Being the one closest to her, Peter inched his way back and carefully pried the limb off of her and gently lowered it away. Giving a thankful nod to him, Barriss joined back in leaving the Geonosian "sleeping quarters".

_-Scene Cut-_

Outside, the Republic was fighting the droids fiercely.

Anakin slashed through a battle droid with Rex and Domino squad standing close behind to provide covering fire.

Steve was holding up his shield to give cover for Commander Bly, the Clone taking out several Droids nearby. This gave Steve the chance to rear his arm back and throw his shield at full force, cleaving through a multitude of droids.

Luminara all the while fought alongside Gree and Aayla at the main front of the bridge, the clones taking out multiple droids.

Up in the sky, Sam was their own air support providing fire from above and occasionally sweeping down to beat back droids that were about to overwhelm a flank or position.

"This is a bit too straight forward." Steve muttered, joining Anakin's side.

"Is it?" Anakin inquired.

"Just droids." Rex said aloud. "We're one Geonosis. So where-"

"Are the Geonosians?" Anakin finished his Captain's thoughts, now realizing their predicament.

Just as Anakin had finished that sentence, blaster fire reigned down from the sky.

"Ambush!"

"Rear guard, focus fire on the skies." Bly yelled aloud, with Clones in the back of the march firing at the Geonosians that had descended on down from the skies to attack.

What the Geonosians did not anticipate however was the Avenger Falcon swooping in with a vicious display.

He weaved around the blaster fire, his wings and other limbs bashing the Geonosians down to the ground.

The clones let out cheers as the Geonosians were quickly disposed of.

A few moments later, the rest of the droids were all taken out, with another quick cheer from the Clones.

"Well that's taken care of." Anakin said, glancing around.

"That's only the first wave." Aayla said, gazing at the droid foundry as the gates began to open with something else entirely coming out.

There were two dozen large dome-like vehicles.

"Tanks?" Sam said aloud in the air.

"Looks like the Separatists have a new toy." Luminara stated.

"Rex, Bly, Pick your targets." Anakin ordered.

"Yes sir." Rex gestured his hand forward at the set of Artillery and AT-TE's. "Elevation Four-Two-Seven."

The cannons began rising to their instructed targets and fired. The Separatist tanks were soon barraged by a whole plethora of blaster shells.

After a few seconds of bombardment, the smoke settled to reveal the tanks were unscathed.

"Sir, nothing should be able to withstand that." Rex said grimly.

"Ray-Shield." Anakin declared. "It's the only way they could survive that."

"So what does that mean for us?" Aayla asked, staring defiantly at the oncoming tanks.

"It means we have a lot more of a problem on our hands than just taking out the Factory." Anakin said

_-Scene Cut-_

"Left at the next junction." Barriss quickly said as the three sped up their walk. Rounding the corner as instructed, they soon came across a dead end.

"Was it _this_ junction or the following one?" Peter asked

"You do remember the way, don't you?" Ahsoka pleaded. "If we got this wrong then it would take forever to make it out."

"I wouldn't say forever, Ahsoka."

"Not now, Peter."

Barriss, in the meantime, pondered and mentally went over the catacomb map in her memory. Looking around a little, she spotted a bit of light coming from the ceiling.

"It's not left, it's up."

Sure enough, Barriss was right as they saw the entry point above them some feet back. Reaching the spot underneath, they respectively jumped upwards in order to ascend to the upper level. And it was from there did the trio have to literally climb their way up.

"This is a little harder than it looks." Ahsoka groaned out.

"What do you mean by that?" Peter questioned. "I'm doing just fine."

"Easy for you to say. You live to crawl through all sorts of surfaces."

"Not all the time."

"I'm siding with her on this one, Peter." Barriss said, breathing out a little from the cramped space. "This wouldn't be too much of a problem if we weren't all in here together."

Peter shook his head and didn't say anything and kept on using his "sticking-powers" to keep climbing up the tunnel. Glancing down below, Peter made sure that there weren't any Geonosians that may have passed by too look up. He suddenly hit his head on something firm… and soft… and-

" _ **EEP!"**_

Peter's lenses widened to the point where the black outlines vanished. "I-I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry I'm so-"

"It's fine." Ahsoka grunted out, soon prying herself out of the hole with Barriss following.

By the time Peter came out, he saw the light shining a bit more brightly with sounds of machinery being more prominent. He followed after them, soon stopping behind them, craned his neck and saw the assembly work happening through the hole in the ceiling.

"Damn, that's a lot of battle droids."

"Come on." Barriss ushered. "The main control room is this way."

The three teens made several quick turns in order to make it to another small tunnel they had to climb on through. At its end, they eventually had to exit through a hatch in order to finally reach their destination.

Helping Barriss and Ahsoka get out of the hatch, he eyed the system situated in the very center of the room.

"Man what I wouldn't give to study that." He let out an exasperated sigh, pulling out an explosive and threw it towards the ceiling. "But alas, it must go up in smoke and smithereens."

Rolling her eyes, Ahsoka started pulling out the explosives with Barriss soon following.

Peter in the meantime was checking for any droids or Geonosians that may be within the room.

"Well now..." A mechanical humanoid voice. "This is certainly interesting."

The trio whirled about in surprise seeing an elderly Geonosian being accompanied by a tactical droid with red eyes along with one of the new tanks the factory had created.

"So, three unruly children have made their way into the heart of our factory." The Tactical droid said in a condescending disapproving manner. "What are we to do about you?"

Barriss and Ahsoka had ignited their lightsabers with Spider-man crouching down defensively in front of them, one hand on the ground the other raised.

"Tsk, tsk." The Tactical Droid shook his head. "I will handle this Lord Poggle."

Geonosians began flooding the area from the door and the hatch from where the teens came. Said hatch was quickly sealed shut by Spider-man with the two Padawans going on the offensive.

The tactical droid observed silently, watching as the three teens fought against the flying bugs. It appeared that the girls were willing to go for the kill, wherein the teen in the skintight red and blue suit instead chose to disable them.

The Geonosians attempted to retrieve the bombs, yet they were no match against the web shots coming from Spiderman. Each one either kept the explosives in place or knocked the sentient bugs down and away from reaching distance.

Who was this new kid?

He moved quite easily and graciously. The technology however… it felt familiar to him.

A bit _too_ familiar

_-Scene Cut-_

On the outside, the Republic was in a bit of a bind.

The Separatist tanks were advancing and have destroyed their artillery and were now decimating the AT-TE's

Suddenly the chronometers went off, signaling the others on the bombs were active inside of the factory.

"They did it." Anakin said aloud with pride.

"Now we just have to survive long enough for them to celebrate with us." Sam sarcastically said. He was high in the air, letting out a volley of missiles that had left no damage upon the tanks.

"Let me try something." Steve said, running forward.

"Steve!" Aayla called out to him in vain as Cap was already sprinting at full speed towards the first two tanks.

Raising his shield, Steve grunted as he felt the much stronger blaster bolts from the tank bounce off his shield yet pressed on.

As he got closer, Steve picked up on the pattern of the blaster fire and flung his shield forward. The Vibranium disk bounced off the lead tank, leaving a noticeable dent.

The droids inside the tank jolted in shock.

"Uh, was that supposed to happen?" the droid gunner asked with a nervous tone.

Steve grit his teeth, throwing his shield once more.

The shield bounced in between the 24 lined up tanks with his shield leaving sizable dents in each one.

"Steve." Aayla called out to him. "You must fall back."

"She's right Cap." Anakin said. "Your shield can only do so much."

"I've noticed." Steve shouted, now running back as he had gotten his shield back and placed it on his back to cover him.

Reaching the cover Anakin and Aayla were using, he jumped over and landed on one knee.

"So what do we do about them?" Steve asked.

"Simple." Anakin said, holding up several grenades. "Those tanks are on the bridge."

"We'll set up these explosives underneath the bridge and send them plummeting to the ground." Aayla finished.

"You lead the men away, Cap." Anakin said. "Luminara, Aayla, and I will take care of the tanks."

Sam suddenly landed beside them, wings folding in.

"I think I can speed up the process." Sam said with a wry grin.

Distributing the explosives, Sam flew up into the skies with the Jedi using the rocky spires and pillars as cover.

Sam reached ample altitude and angled his winds, flying down below and quickly tossing multiple bombs at the stone bridges underbelly.

Anakin, Aayla and Luminara quickly scaled down the cliffside walls and began planting their set of bombs underneath the bridge.

Soon after, the three Jedi and Avenger were on the other side of the bridge with Anakin raising the detonator and pressing down on it.

The bombs went off with the bridge collapsing and the tanks all falling to their destruction.

On the other side, Steve stood with the Clones who all began cheering in victory with the Jedi and Sam all waving back at them.

"That's taken care of." Aayla said, looking to the imposing droid factory.

"But where are the Padawans?" Luminara spoke up. "Young Parker?"

"The bombs are armed and this place is gonna blow at any second." Sam said holding up his wrist to display the literal ticking time bomb armed inside the base.

"Rex, Steve, any sign of the kids on your side?" Anakin said through his comms.

"They aren't here Anakin." Steve grimly informed, gazing down at the chasm below in hopes of him being wrong.

"The evacuation ships are on their way, General." Rex followed after Steve. "I suggest you get on one."

"Not without Ahsoka." Anakin said firmly.

"Anakin, have faith in our Padawans." Luminara said. "They, with Parker, will complete the mission."

"Ahsoka, can you hear me?" Anakin called in. "Ahsoka, where are you? Barriss? Peter?"

Sam opted to use his new Avengers ID card to contact his fellow Avenger.

"Kid? Peter, it's Sam, can you hear me?"

What he got was a grunt of a reply.

" _In the middle of something, Mr. Wilson."_

Things were starting to prove difficult for the teen trio. When the Geonosians were proving useless, the tactical droid called in for reinforcements. And soon enough several small waves of droids started flooding into the chamber. With them present, the droids were becoming more of a nuisance.

Slicing through a battle droid, Ahsoka used the Force to hurl the halves into some droids coming too close to the explosives. When some were taken off their placements, she was forced to activate those particular ones and destroy those particular mechanical adversaries.

Barriss had to keep up with the pace and nearly followed Ahsoka's example. Yet instead of setting off the individual bombs, she had to set new ones in the old one's places.

Peter, for his part, had to web up a lot of the explosives in order to keep them in place. Whatever droid he webbed up in hopefully immobilized them, he had to swoop in and break them apart so none could get remotely close to extracting the bombs. This was quite hard, however, with the growing number of incoming droids.

The tank that had been brought in was taken out by Ahsoka and Barriss but the droids kept on coming.

In the meantime, the tactical droid was observing the fight before it with silent analysis. It made no moves to engage or enter into the fray. Instead, opting to merely watch it all transpire paying close attention to how these youngsters fought.

They had some experience clearly but it wouldn't take a genius to figure that they clearly had room to grow.

However, the one who truly kept his attention was the one currently tying together several battle droids before quite literally throwing them like they were a softball into the cluster of another set of battle droids.

"This isn't working." Ahsoka panted out. "We're going to get overwhelmed!"

"What do we do?" Barriss asked, force pushing a droid away from an armed bomb with webbing soon splattering around the bomb to keep it in place.

Spider-man swung around the room from above, webbing up and taking out every droid that was in his path while deftly avoiding everything he could all at once.

Landing atop the main reactor of the factory, Peter's eyes darted about the area briefly momentarily landing on the tactical droid that just stood there. It hadn't moved, had not done anything in the entirety of this little battle.

Just watched there with its eyes glowing red.

Shaking his head, Peter continued scanning the surrounding area when he looked at the tank that had not moved. The droids within had already been dealt with and since has just been sitting there.

Completely unscathed.

Blaster bolts had bounced off the tank leaving no marks and Barriss at one point had even thrown an explosive at the tank with the explosion leaving no signs of damage.

"Ahsoka, Barriss." Peter called out to the two. "The tanks!"

Both girls looked over to the stationary tank and shared a quick glance before nodding in agreement.

The girls saw that there were at least a dozen bombs that have now been webbed up and kept in place. Yet Barriss believed it wouldn't be enough.

"Peter." Barriss hefted the backpack filled with the remaining explosives. She threw it for him to catch with the web head grabbing it before tossing it onto the upper portion of the reactor.

Webbing up the package, Spiderman dropped down and broke one of the droids with a powered kick. Backflipping from incoming fire, he soon saw Ahsoka get carried off by the Geonosians and about to slam her to the reactor above.

"Let me go, you stupid green buggers!"

Leaping into the air, he flipped around and struck one of the bug aliens before punching another. They let go of the Tortuga Padawan, which Peter caught her in a bridal carry.

"My hero."

"Just doing my services, ma'am."

Landing on the ground, both saw a tank coming right towards them. Acting quickly, Barriss leaped onto it and carved through the locking mechanism for the hatch with her lightsaber. She soon dived in, which Peter and Ahsoka heard the droids cry in agony, being cut down by their friend.

Popping her head out from the hatch, Barriss signaled her friends to get inside. Peter dived right into the hatch of the tank with Ahsoka closing the hatch after the two with the three teens now sitting within the tank.

"Are the bombs set?" Peter asked with Barriss nodding.

Ahsoka regarded them both with hesitation.

"You think the tank will hold?" Ahsoka asked her.

"It withstood blaster hits. I bet it can withstand what Barriss planned, much less a bombing or a building falling down on it." Peter quipped.

Ahsoka nodded, holding up her wrist comms. "Master, can you hear me?"

Sounds of fighting could be faintly heard while Anakin's voice was more prominent. "Ahsoka, set off the bombs! We're getting overwhelmed!"

Ahsoka only let out a sigh with a wistful smile. "I'm sorry, Master. We can't make it out in time."

"Not with that attitude." Peter joked though his tone didn't match the joke

"Can't make it out?!" Anakin exclaimed. "Ahsoka, wait!"

"Kid." Sam's voice cut in now. "What the hell is going on in there?!"

"Nothing just the job is all." Peter began firing webbing all around the interior of the tank.

Getting nods from her friends, Ahsoka pressed the button on the detonator to have the explosion, setting off various more that encompassed the entirety of the foundry.

In an instant, the Padawans and Avenger could feel the force of the point black explosion hitting them through the tank as they soon blacked out.

Outside, the Jedi and Avengers starred in abject horror and shock upon seeing the factory begin to fall apart before them.

The smoke that came out from the explosion encompassed the entire battlefield, blinding the Republic Forces.

The dust remained up in the air yet the Avengers and the Jedi were already calling in Gunships and having the Clones scour the wreckage for the teens.

"Ahsoka." Anakin spoke desperately through the comms. "Ahsoka, do you read me?"

Luminara however nearly went down to her knees in a silent prayer, her face solemn but mournful as well.

"We'll find them, Luminara." Anakin promised, placing a comforting hand upon her shoulder.

"Be at ease, Skywalker." Luminara said calmly.

"At ease?" Anakin said incredulously. "This isn't the time to be at ease. We need to act now, our Padawans need our help."

"Where could they possibly be?" Sam murmured.

"Are they even alive down under this rubble?" Aayla muttered.

"They are." Steve stated, no room for arguments. "We _will_ find them."

"There's not enough time." Luminara said grimly. "I can sense them drifting."

"Then we'll use that time to find them." Steve said in a louder voice. "Rex, get everyone moving _now._ We're not leaving here until we find them."

"Yes Sir." Rex saluted, moving to join his men as they were now moving to get through the destroyed factory.

Weakly waking up, Peter soon gasped for air before coughing. He soon pulled off his mask to hopefully get some direct air from the mask filters before trying to look for his friends. Reaching out, he grasped onto their arms before he gently shook them awake, hoping they were alright.

"Barriss? Ahsoka?"

The two Padawans stirred awake and saw nothing but darkness around them. The electronics in the tank which once lit the space were no longer operational.

"Girls? Are you alright?"

"I'm fine, Peter." Ahsoka voiced.

"Same." Barriss groaned. "Though I'd feel better when the ringing in my ears went away."

The Padawans pulled out their lightsabers and carefully tried not to aim them at each other. Igniting them, blue and green light helped cleave through part of the darkness.

"How deep do you think we're buried?" Barriss asked.

"Hard to say." Came Ahsoka's response. "Might not be best to fully think about it." She turned her head and tried looking around and spotted something right beside Barriss. "Hand me that power cell, would you?"

"What for?" Peter asked as Barriss used her arm to reach out and pop out the requested item.

"I want to try and get a signal out to the others to know we're alive through my wrist com."

Peter nodded before remembering his Avengers ID card. "Maybe I have something that'll speed things up better." He soon patted himself and tried finding it, only to find it missing. "I definitely know I had it on me."

"What are you talking about?"

"My Avengers card." He answered. "Has a far better signal reach than your wrist coms and runs on its own power source."

The Padawans nodded and it did not take long for them to spot it.

"I found it." Barriss said, trying to reach for it physically. She was not successful and could not move farther than she can, due to it being placed in an awkward position. She even tried using the Force, but it seemed to have wedged itself through a crack and proved difficult to pry out. "I could use some help here."

"On it." He said, leaning forward and muttered out 'I'm sorry' several times over as he had to go through Barriss' personal space. Once crawling over, he was able to pry the card out of the crack. "Got it."

Once in his grasp, he activated the distress signal and hoped the others could reach them in time.

Back up above, the Jedi, clones and Avengers were hard at work in finding their allies. No one wanted to think of the inevitable, but it was obviously coming up repeatedly.

"If their time has come-"

"They'll find a way out." Anakin snapped at Luminara. "They have to."

The Jedi Master softened her gaze at the frustrated Skywalker. "If my Padawan has perished, I will mourn her, but I will celebrate her as well through her memory. I have to know when to let go. Do you?"

"Well we need to make sure to celebrate with them _here_ and _now."_ Sam said. "Not every day some young kids take out a factory on one of their first missions."

Gunships began arriving and hefting pieces of debris out of the way, with the Avengers, Anakin and Clones continually looking through the rubble.

"Come on Ahsoka where are you?" Anakin muttered, moving about with a growing sense of panic.

"They're not responding." Aayla said, face stoic.

"They'll find a way out." Steve stated determinedly. "They're resourceful, they'll find a way to contact us."

Lo and behold…

"I got something!" Sam called out, holding up his Avengers card. "Kid activated his distress signal. They're alive!"

"Do you know where they're at?"

The Falcon nodded as he walked towards where the signal seemed to be strongest, using his card to guide his way.

Back underneath, the three teens had some bit of small talk to pass the time.

"Do you think everything will be alright for us?" Ahsoka questioned.

"Whatever happens might not matter to us after what we've done." Barriss simply said, trying to control her breathing, due to them running out of air. "By destroying this factory, we've saved countless lives elsewhere."

"That's one way of looking at it." Peter grunted, trying to get a bit more comfortable. "Luckily, I've possibly saved all three of us."

"And how can you be so confident?" Ahsoka asked with a strained smile.

Sounds of metal groaning could be heard from within the tank. The teens wondered what was going on. They quickly wondered if the tank's hull was starting to give in and soon crush them from the weight above. Yet that thought was pushed aside as the creaking increased more before the hatch was pried open to give them a bright light and a fresh bit of dusty air.

"See?" Peter asked with a small grin with the girls sharing the sentiment.

Soon figures blocked the light with a familiar voice cutting through. "Glad to see you guys are alright."

"Nice to see you too, Rex." Ahsoka said before coughing.

The clone captain helped get them out of the tank as they were quickly surrounded by their allies. The trio climbed their way out of the wrecked area with their friends assisting them.

"I knew you'd come looking for me." Ahsoka said.

It was hard for him to hide his worry, but Anakin did the best he could. "I never doubted you for a second."

"Padawan, you did well." Said Barriss' Master.

"Thank you." Barriss motioned her hand towards her friends, more importantly Peter. "But if it weren't for Peter, we'd still be down here."

Peter was sitting atop some rocks, mask off still off with a bashful look.

"And if it were not for Ahsoka, we would've had a bit more difficult time dealing with the droids. Her leading us and all that."

"Indeed." Aayla smiled at Skywalker's padawan. "It's good to know your master never lost faith in you."

Anakin only gave her a proud smile with Ahsoka returning her own grateful smile.

"Ya did good kid." Steve said, patting Peter on the back.

"Feels good on the inside." Peter joked tiredly. "Outside however."

"You'll get some rest." Sam said.

The teens all slumped down as gunships began descending down from on high.

This was the end to a very successfully stressful day.

**So this one was a quick breeze. Jebest4871 and I had this down in one day.**

**This was an easy one to go through.**

**The last episode just helped boost through this chapter with ease.**

**Really, nothing to it for this one.**

**Hope you all enjoyed it. Until next time.**

**Rate Read and Review and as Always Have Nice Day.**


	34. Terrors Beneath

**Rate Read and Review and as Always Have Nice Day.**

Avengers Infinite Wars Chapter 34: Terrors beneath.

Rhodey munched on a ration meal that he was happy to say was an MRE meal he had with Hope, Scott and Peter's help. Tap was able to supply the ingredients, comparing it to the chemicals found within the galaxy and pairing them up to those known on Earth. With the AI's help, the smartest of the three Avengers within the current nine were able to recreate MRE's and had made several dozen now.

"This is delicious." A Clone Trooper in Green tinted armor of the 41st legion nearby was eating from an MRE packet Rhodey shared. "What'd you call this again?"

"Mashed Potatoes." Rhodey said, taking a drink of water.

"And these MRE packets?" Another Clone from 41st inquired. "What are they called again?"

"Meals Ready to Eat." Rhodey answered, finishing up his pack and crumpling it up. "After Geonosis is done, we're gonna start mass producing these little bags. May be small but with Tap's help and our team eggheads, you troops will be eating better than the crap sticks they usually pawn off on you all."

One clone ate with gusto, nodding in the process. "Beats eating the ration bars any day when the fighting dies down."

"No less than you boys deserve." Rhodey stated, wiping his mouth. "The troops from where I come from may not get the best meals but these are gonna be way better than those plastic sticks I've seen."

"No arguments here."

"Second."

Whilst Rhodey and the group of 41st Legion Clone ate and simply chatted, off to the side was Peter Parker, Barriss Offee and Ahsoka Tano still roughed up from their recent mission and currently entering a gunship to get off world and too rest up.

"Sorry to leave you here, Rex. There's still a lot to do." Ashoka said apologetically to the Clone Captain of the 501st who had come to see the trio off personally.

Rex waved them off. "You three have done enough destroying that factory. Go get some rest. We'll let the others take it from here."

Barriss nodded with Peter giving a small salute goodbye while other clones were brought in on stretchers into the drop ship. "We'll be back before you know it, Captain Rex."

Meanwhile, Obi-Wan Kenobi stood upon an elevated hilltop with Clone Commanders Gree and Cody, standing with Luminara Unduli, Steve Rogers and Sam Wilson. Gunship flew past them; most being filled with wounded soldiers who were being carried back to the Republic fleet for proper medical attention

"A hard-won victory." Simply said Kenobi.

"Indeed." Luminara responded. "And a costly one. We suffer a great many losses in these battles." She released a built-up sigh welling in her chest. "Too many…"

"The battles do appear to be coming with growing frequency."

"How much longer do you figure we'll be on this planet?" Sam asked, crossing his arms. He was honestly getting tired of the arid land before him.

"With the main factory taken care of, we need to start cleaning up this rock. And the main portion to sweep up is nabbing that Poggle character.." Steve informed.

"No signs of him, I take it?" Luminara inquired.

Kenobi shook his head 'no'. "We have clone squadrons spread out all over the area but no hits yet."

Luminara slowly nodded and walked towards the parked speeder bike nearby. "I'll go out and find some clue as to where he went."

"We do need to find him quick before the trail goes cold." Steve commented. "Poggle has too much information about the Separatists to let him get away."

"Agreed." Hopping on her hoverbike, Luminara started up the engine. "Just make sure to leave a bit of strategic planning for me when I come back. I'd hate to feel left out. Commander Gree, care to join me?"

"Of course, General." The Clone Commander seated himself in another hoverbike nearby.

Steve gave her an amused grin. "No promises."

She responded back with a similar grin before taking off, Commander Gree joining after her.

"Hey guys."

The group turned around to see Rhodey approaching.

"Rhodey." Sam said, the two bumping fists with Steve nodding.

"How was your mission?" Kenobi asked.

"The Clones and I finished sweeping up our area in the southwest quadrant." Rhodey said, looking around for a moment. "Where'd Luminara and Gree run off to?"

"Reconnaissance, so to speak." Kenobi stated. "The two have gone off in search of Poggle the Lesser in hopes of finding him."

"By themselves?" Rhodey asked, clearly not liking the idea. "You sure you should have let them go out there? It's a madhouse of bugs out there, you've seen how they just pop up and surprise us in the middle of battle."

"He does have a point." Cody conceded, grimacing at the mention of the Geonosians. They're serious hellraisers, causing annoying amounts of pandemonium on the battlefield.

"If you're willing to join her, you're more than welcome to." Obi-wan said. "You will, however, need to catch up to her."

"No problem." Rhodey said, heading out to get into his War Machine suit. "I'll just need to trace her signal and will be with her in no time flat."

Steve nodded as Rhodey jogged off over to where he left his armor, turning his gaze back towards the smoldering wreckage of the destroyed Droid foundry.

Ever since coming to this planet after Operation: Point Rain, there's been a foreboding feeling that has followed him everywhere for the past few days.

That droid… it said a specific set of words that are all too familiar to him.

Frowning, he could vaguely hear it. Hear him. That sinister, taunting laugh.

Then there was what Peter had told him. About a strange tactical droid that only watched while he and the two Padawans fought inside the factory. It didn't exactly fill him with joy to say the least.

Steve blinked a moment later at the sound of thrusters being heard overhead.

Glancing up, he saw Rhodey in his War Machine suit rocketing forward after General Luminara and Commander Gree at full speed.

Sighing, Steve knew he'd have to speak with the other Avengers about this. He didn't want to startle them but better to be safer than sorry after all.

_-Scene Cut-_

In a region farther to the west where the Republic ships were stationed, Luminara and Gree were speeding along the terrain. Coming across a slope, the pair parked their hoverbikes and surveyed the area in finding any clue towards Poggle's whereabouts.

With her binoculars, Master Unduli spotted something. Zooming in, she saw a wayward crate. "150 klicks southeast."

Gree looked over towards Luminara's directions and saw an object _fairly_ out of place. He was about to help get a report in towards the others when the pair heard thrusters in the air. Looking towards the source, Gree and Luminara saw the War Machine diving towards them. Both instinctively stepped back to give the Colonel some room for his landing. The Earther slowed his descent and softened his landing a few feet from them.

"Well hello there." Rhodey said, helmet retracting back to reveal his small smirk. "Mind if I join you two?"

"Colonel Rhodes." Gree said in a respectful manner.

"Hey Gree."

"Rhodey." Luminara raised a brow. "What brought this on? Is something amiss?"

Rhodey waved his hand in a downward manner. "Nah, none of that sort. Just figured it'd be better the two of you weren't entirely alone out here. This place hasn't been exactly friendly to us to say the least."

Gree huffed in agreement on that little fact.

"I appreciate the notion, Colonel." Luminara said kindly. "Are you sure, though? I'd rather not having you waste your energy on a simple scouting mission."

"Scouting for a priority targeted Seppie leader ain't exactly a simple scouting mission." Rhodey pointed out. "And you could use some help. I spotted a sandstorm while up in the air and it's coming our way."

This slightly unsettled the Jedi and Clone. "You're certain?"

"Positive." Rhodey pointed up ahead. "Look there."

Gree and Luminara stared ahead and indeed, there was a large cloud of smoke and sand far off in the distance yet it was visibly getting closer by the second.

"Then we'd better make this quick." Luminara said, getting back on her speeder bike. "There's something Gree and I had found earlier that we wish to inspect."

Rhodey nodded, helmet snapping back on as Gree got on his own speeder bike. The trio descended down the cliffside down to a lone crate sitting there in the middle of the desert.

Rhodey was able to get to the crate first, opening the lid and inspecting the contents. "Food and… whatever that crud is."

Gree took a moment to get in his own inspection while Luminara contacted Kenobi and Captain Rogers.

"General Kenobi, Captain Rogers, Ah, Master Mundi, it is good to see you as well."

"Luminara." Mundi greeted, his holo form bowing in greeting. "How goes your search for Poggle?"

"We haven't gotten anything on him personally but we found something that appeared rather out of place." Luminara showed them the lone crate that sat within the sand. "It appears to be some sort of munitions crate. There was no battle in this area so it being debris of some kind seems unlikely."

"And whatever the hell this crap is." Rhodey muttered aloud.

"It looks like Poggle was on a direct course." Gree spoke up. "11 mark, 72. That way."

"Straight into the coming desert storm." Rhodey said with half-lidded eyes. "Of course he'd go there." he turned to Luminara. "What's over in that direction?"

"The Progate Temple, if I'm not mistaken."

"But why would Poggle go over there of all places?" Mundi asked aloud. "That area was heavily bombarded by our munitions, there should be nothing left for Poggle to go back to."

"Praying to whatever deity he worships to for good luck or whatever." Dryly said the colonel. "If not, then something else could be happening nearby that location that we are in the dark about."

"That place looks exposed, from what we're looking at." Steve said, a holo-display of the temple being brought up on his end. "Maybe there's something there that we don't know about."

"Whatever the case may be, we need to keep onto Poggle's trail and not lose him again."

"But what about the sandstorm coming your way?" Kenobi inquired.

"If you can get in touch with my Avenger ID signature, then you can keep track of our location." Rhodey informed.

"Good to know. I'd hate it if we'd have to find both you three and Poggle."

"I'd rather take the minimalist amount of risks right now."

"Then good luck."

With the transmission ending, the three soon took off and headed straight towards the sandstorm.

Coming towards the sandstorm, the War Machine flew right above it so he could at least try to keep a visual of the intended path the three are taking. And to be sure he wasn't going to lose track of Master Unduli and Commander Gree, he used his suit's sensors to see their forms through the storm.

"You sure about this, Lumi?"

"Yes, I- What?"

"Lumi. You know, Luminara for short."

Gree was certainly lucky that the billowing winds masked his snort and his helmet covered his grin that had now grin on his face.

Luminara gaped slightly, before closing her mouth at the risk of getting sand in her mouth.

"The temple is not far." Luminara quickly answered. "Come on."

Accelerating her speeder, she moved ahead with Gree doing the same to keep up with her.

At this point, Rhodey was forced to dive into the sandstorm in order to get close to his allies as they started to get closer to the Geonosian temple. Once the War Machine landed by the temple's front entrance, he saw the droid tank with several droids no longer functioning; left abandoned by Poggle no doubt.

Coming inside, he saw many odd statues surrounding the temple's interior. And with the billowing storm outside, it left this foreboding feeling in the vicinity.

"Well… this isn't creepy at all." Rhodey commented, throwing his hands up. "Let's just wait for whatever creepy thing is around here to just get the jump on us."

Gree shifted about uncomfortably, holding his rifle close.

Luminara gave the Colonel a slightly exasperated smile before pulling out her transceiver.

"Master Kenobi, we tracked Poggle to the Progate Temple," Luminara informed, "but there's no sign of him."

"Go no further until we can send support." Kenobi ordered. "We can barely read your transmission as it is. It's only thanks with Rhodey's ID signature that we can actually know you're all still in one piece."

"Are you sure he went into the temple?"

"Yes, we saw the droid tank parked outside." Luminara looked over and saw the lid of an entrance on the floor opened ajar. "By the looks of it, he might've gone into the catacombs below."

"Those can go for miles." Obi-wan said with a shake of his head. "I fear we may have lost him. Get yourself out of there and return to the ships."

Rhodey and Gree were standing before the entryway to the catacombs beneath the temple.

"Looks like we've got two ways in. Straight and down." Rhodey noted, gazing back and forth at the entrances.

"What do you reckon is down there?" Gree asked, finger trailing over his blaster's trigger.

"Nightmares." Rhodey said plainly. "Cause this tunnel sure as hell looks like one."

"How bad can it be?"

The sound of flapping wings were followed by the hissing and screams of Geonosians that burst from both entrances of the catacombs and from the open holes of the temple walls.

"...You just had to say it, didn't you?" Said the colonel, flipping his visor back into place.

Luminara ignited her lightsaber while Gree began firing upon the Geonosians. Rhodey was in the air, striking at the Geonosians directly whilst his shoulder mounted machine gun covered his blind spots.

It was a brief skirmish. Though there were about two dozen Geonosians that attacked, the three fighters dispatched them with ease even though they surprised them.

"Huddle up." Rhodey stated, landing next to Gree with the trio now standing in a triangle formation.

The area was silent with nothing but the ominous desert winds buffeting this barely standing structure outside. They were all tense to say the least.

Luminara held her Lightsaber in front of her with Gree trailing his blaster back and forth between the holes of the walls and the catacombs entrances.

Rhodey held out both arms, hands open with his minigun making constant rotation.

" _ **HISSSS"**_

"Here they come!" Gree said aloud.

More Geonosians burst forth from the catacombs. Only this time, the group that came through upon the ground entrance had knocked the lid up and sent it at Gree.

The Clone Commander barely rolled out of the way in time as Rhodey and Luminara fought off the new Geonosians. Only these were rather different. Rhodey found that they took a lot more punishment and were only fully halted by Luminara's lightsaber.

He didn't have much time to think on the matter as he heard the desperate fighting grunts of Commander Gree.

Turning his head around, he was alarmed at the sight of the Clone fighting tooth and nail against these strange Geonosians that appeared to be intent on grabbing him.

"Commander." Luminara said in worry, moving to aid her soldier with Rhodey rocketing forward to knock away several of those Geonosians.

Luminara slashed through several when her wrist holding her lightsaber was grabbed by another Geonosian.

She momentarily struggled against its grasp only to find that it appeared stronger than her with it squeezing her wrist. She grunt in pain, lightsaber deactivating and falling from her grasp.

Luminara was grabbed by several more Geonosians that came out from the catacombs and began to drag her inside.

"General!" Gree cried out.

"Oh no you don't you alien bug knockoffs." Rhodey pounced forward yet a contingent of Geonosians from the cave below had grabbed onto his legs and pulled him down.

"Oh no you don't." Rhodey had his thrusters on at full power with both his hands and feet being used to burn through the flesh of the Geonosians that held him. Quickly escaping their clutches, Rhodey flew over to help Gree out with the last Geonosians that he was still struggling with.

Both men then turned to see…

"Son of a bitch." Rhodey stomped his foot on the ground.

Luminara was gone. Taken by those bugs with nothing but her lightsaber left. Gritting his teeth, Rhodey moved to go in after her only for Gree to stop him.

"Sirs wait, that's not a good idea." Gree argued.

"And why would you say that?" Rhodey countered. "She needs our help."

"I know sir, I know. But General Kenobi said that these catacombs go on for miles." Gree stated. "And we just saw that those catacombs are still full to the brim with those damn buggers. It's better if we go in there with more help than just rushing blindly in."

Rhodey grit his teeth in frustration.

"I don't like it any more than you do, Colonel." Gree said apologetically. "She's my general. But right now, she was taken captive in a Geonosian catacomb. Us rushing in guns blazing might do more harm than good."

Rhodey had his head tilted down in slight self-berating. Gree was right.

"I'll send out a distress beacon." Rhodey said, pulling out his Avengers ID card. "Hopefully the storm settles down sooner than later."

_-Scene Cut-_

A Republic gunship flew in and landed right outside of the temple. The bay doors sprung open with a contingent of clones filing out with Steve, Anakin and Kenobi coming in from the rear.

"Are you still sure Rhodey sent out that SOS signal here?" Asked the Skywalker.

"Positive." Steve said, ID card in hand.

Upon getting inside, they saw the temple's interior was wrecked even further. And sitting on a rock not far away from the catacomb entrance was Rhodey.

"What took you guys so long?" Rhodey said with Gree stood not far from the entrance, blaster trailed upon the main gateway.

"Sorry, Rhodey. We tried to reach here sooner, but the storm was hard to navigate through." Skywalker stated.

"What happened to Luminara?" Kenobi asked, pointing out her lack of presence.

Rhodey held up her lightsaber and gave it to Kenobi. "Taken by those bugs. Would've gone after her, but…"

"Tunnels were swarming, sir." Gree stated, somewhat relaxing but still eyed the catacomb entrance.

Anakin was standing before the main entrance to the catacombs below, gazing up at a particularly unusual statue.

"That is one ugly bug." Cody commented.

"What is it?" Steve asked, going up to Anakin.

"I haven't seen one that looks like that before." Anakin stated, not exactly liking the look of it.

"I don't believe anyone has." Kenobi said. "It could be the Geonosian queen."

"There's a queen?" Anakin asked in bewilderment.

"Queen? You can't be serious. Like from Aliens?" Rhodey brought up.

"Oh, don't even with that movie." Anakin said aloud squeamishly. "After Peter showed that movie to me, Ahsoka and the 501st we've been wanting to get off of Geonosis faster."

Kenobi only rolled his eyes at the banter. "The queen is rumored, but there has been no evidence of her existence."

"Not until today, unfortunately." Rogers said, grabbing his shield from his back.

"Well what are we waiting for, let's dive right in." Kenobi gestured, igniting his lightsaber along with Anakin. The two Jedi lead the group straight into the dark catacombs, beginning their long trek into the seemingly endless caverns.

The Clones had their guns up and helmet light cams on.

Things were quite suspenseful in the narrowing corridors. The dark was intensifying, the smell seemed to grow little by little, and the tracking beacon from Luminara's wrist communicator kept on beeping.

"This leads to a dead end." Cody informed.

"You sure about that?"

"Positive." Turning to an adjacent pathway, the clone commander gave further details. "This one goes further. I'd say it's our best bet."

"I'll head in first." Obi-wan ducked into the narrow tunnel way, the others following closely after him.

"God this even reminds me of the hive from the movie." Rhodey muttered.

"Rhodey… please don't."

While the group continued down the catacombs, deeper within the caves, one Mirialan Jedi Master had regained consciousness. She blearily opened her eyes to find both her hands being held up, her body being dragged through the dirt as the two Geonosians that held her carried her through the tunnels.

In a snap moment, Luminara kicked up and was free of her captors yet noticed her wrists were cuffed.

She resorted to kicking the surrounding Geonosians away with all the athleticism and force enhancements she could pull off in her limited space.

All the while, the Jedi, Avengers and Clones were walking in deeper and deeper when…

"Master Kenobi!" Out of nowhere, they received a transmission from the wayward Jedi Master. Fully activating his wrist coms, Obi-wan let the others hear in on this. "If you're following me, you must leave this place. Just get out. I repeat fall-" The transmission soon abruptly ended.

"She must be close by. Come on."

The group hurried their pace, hoping to catch up to their ally in time before anything happened to her. Yet their task was put to a halt upon hearing a series of clicking and groaning in the darkness. Shining their light towards the source, they saw a good number of Geonosians coming towards them… in an unusual manner.

Soon the group heard more of the same sounds coming from all over, prompting everyone to face a different tunnel and saw the exact same mannerisms from the natives of this planet.

"I don't like the looks of this."

"No one does, Kenobi."

The clones opened fire upon the incoming threat as they landed their hits on joints and torso. But no matter how much damage they took, they seemed still mobile. Even with lightsaber cuts, nothing seemed to faze them.

When one got in close, the air force colonel saw something slither in and out of the Geonosian noses. He quickly put two and two together, paling in the process.

"Oh great, something worse than the Xenomorphs. Alien zombies!" Rhodey started firing on the undead's head and necks.

"Not helping Rhodey!" Anakin said exasperatedly, slicing through the bugs. "Not helping at all!"

Rhodey stepped forward from his end and proceeded to riddle one of the Geonosians with lead, completely shredding through its head.

"You need to destroy their brain or lop off the head. Only way to take them down effectively."

"You heard the colonel." Cody yelled out, pinning a Geonosian by the neck with one arm while firing several shots into the head until at long last it slumped over and didn't move again.

The group started to get overwhelmed by the enemy numbers, prompting Obi-wan to order a retreat. He then ordered for the tunnel supports to be taken out, so they could have a means of distancing themselves from the undead. The clones followed their orders and blasted the support beams as the debris soon fell and closed off the tunnel before them. As the dust settled with hardly a sound being heard from the other side, the group tried their best to collect themselves.

"Well that wasn't terrifying, _at all."_ Rhodey said aloud, letting out a breath of relief at getting away from those zombie bugs.

"What happened back there?" Steve asked in complete seriousness. "Most of our attacks barely slowed them down."

"Those weren't ordinary Geonosians." Anakin said, slightly disturbed by what had just transpired. "We could barely kill them."

Obi-Wan walked over to a nearby wall, leaning against it as he thought on the enemies they had just faced.

"I've heard stories of a Geonosian hive mind so powerful, so strong, that it can maintain its connection with its warriors even after they have died."

"So we couldn't kill them because-"

Kenobi finished Anakin's statement. "They're already dead, yes."

"Might also help with whatever was slithering of their noses." Rhodey added in.

"What did you see?" Kenobi asked.

"Some kind of worm thing." Rhodey said, pointing to where his nose was beneath his helmet. "Saw it going in and out of a Geonosian."

"Hmm, direct entry towards the brain then." Kenobi muttered to himself. "So if those worms can do the control from there, who controls the worms?"

"This is getting out of hand." Steve muttered.

"Sounds impossible."

"Impossible or not, these creatures keep moving even when we cut them up or shoot them down. Only through Rhodey's quick detail was he able to give us the upper hand."

"So what's our next play then?" Rhodey asked. "Cause talking about all this mind control zombie crap ain't exactly helping Luminara's case right about now. They took her alive."

"Then we must make haste." Kenobi said. "But not alone."

"Right." Anakin held up his wrist comms and pressed upon the transmitter only to get a red mark. "Nothing, no signal down here."

"Avengers ID cards also have some spotty signals as well." Rhodey informed the group. "We're too deep underground."

Obi-wan looked to Steve. "Captain Rogers, can you take two men with you and get back to the surface to call in for reinforcements?"

"Consider it done." Steve said.

"Gearshift, Rotor." Cody pointed to two clones. "Go with Captain Rogers."

They moved through the small tunnel they had used to enter deeper into the catacombs while the others kept moving further underground.

With the trio, they slowly made their way back where they came from. It would be quite difficult in their current pace, but they were in an unfamiliar, enemy territory. The Geonosians have a great advantage here and Captain Rogers did not want to take any risks.

"Can't wait to get back to the surface." Gearshift muttered out, checking his 6 at every other moment.

"Likewise." Responded Rotor. "This place gives me the creeps."

"Just stay close, you two." Steve instructed. "And heads down. Bugs may come from above or all around us for all we know."

"Yes sir." Both Clones said in unison.

It wasn't long before Gearshift saw movement the moment his helmet lights shined down the tunnel. He quickly fired a shot with the all too familiar, disturbing sounds soon following.

"Contact." Gearshift shouted out with several dead Geonosians appearing around them.

"Get down." Cap ordered, the two clones ducking as Steve threw his shield at a downward angle.

The shield bounced against the walls, flying from one to the other all while slicing through the dead bugs with their bodies being cut to pieces.

Gearshift and Rotor recalled Colonel Rhodeys advice, both focusing on one Geonosian at a time with both shooting them down at the head.

However, they could only do it one at a time with the zombies closing on them.

"There's too man-AH"

"Gearshift." Rotor shot his hand out and grabbed onto his brother, pulling him back from the grasp of the Geonosians.

Steve suddenly vaulted over, shield grasped in his hand and swung his arm horizontally. His Vibranium shield easily cut through the Geonosians, spinning around to bash back several more dead bugs. Gearshift and Rotor recovered a moment later, joining Caps side and blasting the bugs dead more permanently this time.

"You both alright?" Cap asked.

"Yes sir, green."

"Thanks."

"Captain Rogers, are you alright?" Kenobi asked through Steve's Avenger ID. "We heard blaster fire."

"We're alright." Steve responded back. "Some of the undead tried sneaking up on us, but we were able to make it through. We'll keep you informed on our progress back to the catacomb entrance."

"Please do. I'd rather not tell the others of your demise in such a place."

"I've dealt with worse, Obi-wan."

"I won't debate that matter." Kenobi said, walking further down. "Steve, Gearshift and Rotor are in the clear."

"So reinforcements are on the way." Gree said in relief.

"Now we just need to find Luminara." Rhodey stated.

Traversing further down and deeper, the search party was starting to feel quite uncomfortable.

"We must be getting close." Obi-wan noted. "The air is rather warm."

"Oh, forget the heat." Anakin started to cough before covering his nose. "It's utterly rank down here."

"Luckily for the troopers and I, our filters are keeping the smell out." Rhodey said with a hidden smirk.

"Yeah, lucky you."

"Keep your voice down, both of you."

"I'm just saying, this planet is rotten from the inside out."

"You might not be wrong on that one."

Reaching the tunnel's end, Anakin, Obi-wan and Rhodey soon gazed upon a rather large bug reaching towards the chamber's ceiling. It wore a unique headdress and by the looks of it, they quickly realized they had found the Geonosian queen.

…

…

…

"Jesus H, Ridley Scott, eat your damn heart out."

"Oh for the love of- Enough with Alien!" Anakin hissed at the present Avenger. "I had nightmares for a week after seeing those movies. How Peter ever convinced me in seeing those films, I'll never understand it."

"Can you both just stop for a moment." Kenobi said exasperatedly. "These "Alien" films are just getting annoying now."

The rest of the Clones stepped forward, blasters up in case the Geonosians spotted them.

"Any sign of Luminara?" Anakin asked.

Rhodey activated his scanners and was quickly able to detect her. "She's alive, for starters, and is suspended near the throne."

"What about Poggle?"

"Speaking with the queen, apparently." Gree said, pointing to said Geonosian.

"Good." Obi-wan then requested an order. "Rhodey, I want you, Gree and Cody to take the men and when I give the signal, use whatever lights you have to blind them. No doubt these undead Geonosians are extremely sensitive to bright lights."

"You got it." Responded the colonel before silently directing the clones to certain points of the chamber.

"And what will we be doing?" Anakin asked. Upon seeing his former master looking towards the queen, he quickly realized where this was going. "Oh, no. You don't actually want to talk to it, do you?"

"Matter of fact, I do." Kenobi then looked upon his former Padawan. "Anakin, don't you wonder why they took Luminara captive? Why not just kill her?"

"She's leverage. She's a hostage."

"Leverage for what? No, there's something else going on here and these zombies are connected to it."

"Obi-Wan, do we really need to have this discussion right now?" Rhodey said from his position, now him being exasperated.

"Obi-wan, please."

"Where's your sense of adventure, Anakin?" Obi-wan said, walking out of his hiding spot.

"Some adventures are better left untraveled." Anakin argued back.

"Sir." Cody spoke through the comms. "Are you sure about this? We can't kill them by conventional means."

"We'll do what we did earlier." Rhodey said. "Blaster the support beams and bury the buggers."

Obi-wan and Anakin walked forward with the two still debating on the matter of Luminara being taken.

"Come now, Anakin. The queen took Luminara hostage. She wanted a Jedi. Now she has two more. I merely want to know what she's after."

"Well, when this doesn't go as planned, which it won't, I'll be ready."

"That is _so_ reassuring."

Walking past the zombie Geonosians, who groaned and hissed at them, the two Jedi soon stood before the queen of the alien race.

Gazing upon her fellow Jedi, Luminara fought back a groan. "I thought I told you not to follow me, Master Kenobi."

"Yes well I decided to take a page out of Anakin's book and _not_ follow orders." Kenobi said plainly.

Anakin nodded before realizing what was just said. "Hey!"

" _ **Yoooou."**_ The Jedi looked up and saw the queen was speaking to them. _**"Yoooooooouuuuu are the creatures that attacked Geonosia!"**_

"Holy shit, she speaks." Rhodey said, Gree right by him as the Clones and Colonel were now in position surrounding the queen and her thralls.

" _ **Whhhhyyyy have yooouu come befooore ME!"**_

"Your majesty, it's a pleasure to meet you at long last." Kenobi said cordially. "I am Obi-wan Kenobi, and this is Anakin Skywalker. It is our sad duty to inform you that your rule is at an end."

The Geonosian Queen didn't take too kindly to that statement.

" _ **Yoooooouuu nooot dictate to me, Jeeediii."**_ Said the queen. _**"My empire iissss fooooreveeeer."**_

"I'm afraid it does not appear that way, your grace. You shall release the Jedi Luminara and submit to Republic law."

The Geonosian queen merely growled and screeched in response. _**"I noooo submiiiit to yoooou!"**_

Anakin quickly ignited his lightsaber when the zombie bugs turned towards them. Obi-wan was quick to hold him back with his hand. "No, patience, Anakin. Wait." Anakin eventually complied, deactivating his lightsaber before his and Obi-wans were ripped away from their persons and taken back to the queen. "Majesty, destroying us shall only make the Republic's judgement on you harsher."

The queen merely groaned. _**"Noooo, Jeediii. Nooooo! I nooo destroooy yoooou. I devooour yooouu. I controool yooouu. I had but ooone Jeediii before yooung Poggle bring meee. But nooow I haaave threeee."**_ Poggle soon came forward and retrieved an egg from one of the undead and came right towards their bound captive. _**"Nooow, watch as my chiiild enters yooour Jeeediii friend. Aaannd ooonce insiiide, her miiind becomes my miiind. Her thoooughts, myyyy thoooughts."**_

"It's a sort of mind control, a hive mind." Kenobi whispered in open fascination. "She thinks she can possess us."

"Great." Anakin said in a mocking, annoyed tone. "Find out everything you wanted to know?"

"No wait, I want to see how it works." Kenobi waved him down.

"I don't think Luminara wants to see how it works." Anakin said a bit irritated now.

Luminara gave Kenobi a pleading look as Poggle drew near. "No, I really don't."

"I'm curious, the more we know the better." Kenobi admitted.

"Didn't we already know the worms work through going through one's nose?"

"No, we saw it simply move about within the nose. We're unsure of how it truly works."

"I disagree." Luminara said a bit more forcefully now with Poggle holding the brain worm before her.

"So do I." Anakin said.

"Come now, the nose or the ears? Which one do you think it'll enter?" Kenobi asked.

Anakin sighed aloud, giving his former master an unimpressed look. "I think it's the nose."

"I hope this is part of the plan." Luminara said in slight defeat as the brain worm began slithering about her head.

"Isn't it always." Kenobi said knowingly. "Cody, Rhodey, now!"

Commanders Cody and Gree rushed out with the other Clones, War Machine flying into the center of the Queen's chamber with all flashing their lights directly into the direction of the queen. The Queen flailed about, shielding her eyes. Her distressed screams made the rest of the brain controlled Geonosians all jerk about as they couldn't be properly controlled.

"Perfect time to say this." Rhodey declared, flying aloft in the air with his arms out and missile compartments open. "Get away from her, _you bitch!"_

Rhodey opened up his wrist turrets and opened fire upon the undead bugs alongside the other clone troopers. They all groaned and hissed with the volley hitting them all. Even a good number was soon directed right towards the Geonosian queen, courtesy of War Machine.

In response to the assault on her person, the alien queen screeched as green goo poured out from her wounds as she was soon slaughtered by the Avenger.

During the assault on the enemy forces, Anakin used the Force to retrieve their lightsabers before quickly tackling Poggle to the ground and secured him in a pair of handcuffs. Obi-wan, however, eyed the dropped egg with another worm trying to crawl out. He reached out for it with the Force when-

_***Thump*** _

"Ow! Rhodey, why would you do that?!" Kenobi asked, rubbing the side of his head after being flicked by a metal covered finger from War Machine.

"For being a curious idiot." Rhodey then snatched the brain worm out from Obi-wan's hand despite the Jedi's protest and threw it on the ground. It would have gotten away had Rhodey not scorched it to death and dust with his foot thruster. He made sure to get the egg as well for added measure.

"Rhodey! I was going to study that!"

"Well study the ashes! I am not going to risk having you bring that with us alive and in one piece and cause a potential outbreak."

"For once, I agree with the Alien reference." Anakin said. "Besides, you can study the bottom of our boots. Plenty of Geonosian brain sludge there."

"And for all the zombie films out there."

"...How many are there-"

"Anakin!"

"Oh, right. Let's get a move on!"

The entire group began running out of the catacombs at full speeds as the caverns started to come down around them.

Geonosians that were still alive and inside either fled or tried attacking the Republic forces in retaliation.

In response, Rhodey lagged behind slightly while dropping explosives and fending off their pursuing Geonosians.

"Keep moving." Rhodey ordered.

Up ahead, they saw a light shining down from a hole in the ceiling.

"There's our way out." Luminara pointed ahead.

"Go, go, I'll hold them off." War Machine had multiple compartments pop out from his armor as he began to fire off all the remaining Geonosians that were still pursuing them.

Reaching the hole in the ceiling, the group stared up to see the sunlight of the nearby Geonosian star shining down from on high.

They began scaling up the walls to escape with Rhodey backing up as the Geonosians began swarming.

He looked up for a brief moment and saw the rest of the clones were now climbing up as well.

"Right, time to go." Rhodey muttered.

From the surface, Steve, Gearshift and Rotor heard of the firefight coming from the catacombs. They were about to go through the main entrance when Steve noticed the sound wasn't coming from where they came in, but from the lid nearby. Rushing over, Captain Rogers lifted up the metal slab and started pulling it further away. The two clone troopers saw the act and rushed over to give the Avenger the assistance.

It was at this point they spotted the search party, with Poggle, starting climbing up from the hole below. Dropping the metal slab, the three leaned down and started pulling people out one by one. And they had to hurry due to the continuous hisses and groans coming from below the group. Once the last of them were out, they heard thruster going off from below. Retreating back, they soon avoided getting hit by the War Machine.

"We gotta move!" Said the colonel. "Place is gonna come down on top of us!"

Rhodey flew off ahead with everyone else running behind as the temple started collapsing. With the last of them out of the vicinity, they were safe from the creatures lurking beneath them.

"Well, all things considered." Anakin coughed out. "That went better than I expected.

"I just wish we could have gotten one of those wo-OW!" Kenobi rubbed the back of his head, giving an incredulous stare at Rhodey who had removed his helmet to deadpan at the Jedi Master.

"Obi, just… don't _even_ finish that statement." Rhodey said in a dry tone. "There are rules to these kinds of situations. And I am not going to risk having you breaking one of them for the sake of your curiosity."

Luminara suddenly began chuckling at the display with Anakin unable to contain his own laughter at his master for being scolded so thoroughly.

Steve had starred in between Kenobi, Rhodey and Anakin.

"I have a feeling I missed something down there."

"Yeah, when we get outta here remind me to show Obi-wan the reason why his curiosity can be a dangerous option."

"I'll be sure to do so once in friendly space."

**A total breeze this one. All it took was one sitting!**

**Thanks again for reading comrades.**

**Rate Read and Review and as Always Have Nice Day.**


	35. Invasion of the Body Snatchers

**Rate Read and Review and as Always my Comrades, The Force is With You. Have Nice Day.**

Avengers Infinite Wars Chapter 35: Invasion of the Body Snatchers.

The Battle of Geonosis was at long last over.

Whatever forces remained of the Separatists were being swept aside as the Republic re-established their firm hold on the planet.

The battle was hard fought with many clones having laid down their lives yet all those that participated made sure that they would win it for those lost and those that had come before.

Now, with Poggle in tow, the Jedi and Avengers prepared for departure from the planet. However…

"So we didn't find anything or anyone with that transmission." Rhodey said slightly disappointed. He was speaking with Captain Rogers, Sam and Natasha, the other Avengers already on a ship back to Coruscant after a lengthy tour. Spider-man was the only one to have remained behind, the young teen not being far off as he conversed with Ahsoka and Barriss.

"I apologize, comrades." Tap spoke up through Rhodey's armor. "I had believed there to be one of our lost comrades on this planet. It seems that I was wrong."

"You sure, Tap?" Sam asked. "Maybe we missed something."

"Unclear comrade Wilson." Tap admitted. "Perhaps this was glitch."

Steve frowned, crossing his arms in deep thought.

'Glitch huh?' Steve internally thought to himself. 'That droid…'

"Steve?"

Blinking, Steve looked up to see the others staring at him with Nat having a hand on his arm.

"You alright?" Nat asked with slight concern.

"You look like you've got something on your mind." Sam pointed out. "Your jaw clenched all weird like that again."

Steve opened his mouth before his expression morphed into one of amused befuddlement.

"My jaw clenched weird?" Steve asked with a bemused face.

Sam shrugged with a wry smile. "It tends to do that when you're thinking too hard."

Steve huffed with a smirk with Nat and Rhodey chortling at the Captain's expense.

"But for real, Cap, what's egging you?" Sam asked after a moment.

Steve sighed, hanging his head for a moment. Chewing the inside of his cheek, Steve replayed those chilling words in his head over and over again.

"No strings, huh?" Steve muttered to himself. "There… was a droid that I encountered here, on Geonosis. It was like every other droid that we had fought against."

"I'm sensing a but here." Rhodey said cautiously.

"But… something it spoke… and how it said it…" Steve drifted off, clenching his fists. "It doesn't seem right at all."

Nat frowned, sharing a look with Sam then Rhodey. To see Steve bothered in such a manner…

"What did this droid say?" Sam asked.

Steve hesitated for a moment. "Strings."

"Strings?" Sam repeated. He looked to Rhodey and Nat who both held slightly disturbed expressions.

"No strings on me." Steve finished the full sentence. "Remind you of anyone?"

"You don't mean…"

"Ultron." Steve stated with slight anger.

"But we took him out." Rhodey said vehemently. "Back in Sokovia. Vision made sure of it and we got all of his bodies."

"Steve." Nat said with worry. "Are you sure about what you heard?"

"I don't know." Steve admitted but still clearly unsure.

Before they were able to discuss this matter any further, a Republic shuttle descended down close to them with a few clone troopers pushing a recently captured Poggle the Lesser towards it.

Landing, the ramp extended down with Poggle getting pushed into the ship.

Walking past Poggle, who was being escorted into the ship with a pair of troopers, Mundi came down the ramp with an uneasy look on his face. "It seems we've come across a complication."

"Don't we always?" Said Skywalker.

"I've just received a distress signal from our forces on Dantooine. Master Windu's defenses held, but at a great cost to his men." Spoke the Cerean Jedi Master. "They need medical supplies immediately. We can obtain these supplies at the medical station near Ord Cestus."

"But we're delivering Poggle to Coruscant and Cestus is not exactly on the way."

"The Republic must begin debriefing Poggle right away if we're to get useful intelligence from him." Luminara firmly stated.

Anakin thought for a moment on what could be done on this. His eyes briefly glanced over to the teens amongst them. An idea formed, causing Skywalker to walk over and put his arms around the three. "Guys, I suggest we let Peter, Barriss and Ahsoka handle the supply mission."

"You sure you want them to go?"

"Why not? I think they'll do fine."

The three teens looked towards each other before voicing their responses.

"Whatever needs to be done, Master. I'm happy to help." Ahsoka sounded off.

"As am I." Barriss simply said.

"Eh~ I could do a simple mission after what happened here." Peter said, finishing the unanimous acceptance.

Seeing the teens being accepting of partaking on this sudden mission, Obi-wan had eyed the elder Avenger members present. As while they were a little mixed on the suggestion, they seemed to accept Peter doing the assignment.

"Very well. Take a medical frigate. And after we've delivered Poggle to Coruscant, we'll rendezvous with you for the voyage to Dantooine."

Over by the Progate Temple, a group of clones were currently resting by the ruins. After the long battles which commenced on the planet, the troopers wanted some shut eye before being deployed back out for whatever mission there is in store for them.

Lying some distance away from one clone trooper laid a small egg. An egg which shook and cracked for several moments. Bursting from the inside, a worm slithered out and made its way towards something warm. Coming out towards the sun, it saw a trooper napping by some rocks. Seeing the clone all so vulnerable, it slithered up the armor and soon burrowed its way up the man's nostril.

Upon arriving in the ruins, one clone lieutenant came onto the scene. Pulling out his blaster, he aimed towards the sky and fired off a round. The sound echoed throughout the territory, causing the sleeping clones to bolt awake, grabbing hold of their blasters thinking the enemy was present. But this was not so as they saw their sergeant arrive with a small smirk.

"Sorry, boys. Hope I didn't interrupt any pleasant dreams."

"Got another mission, sir?"

"You bet." Confirmed the Clone LT. "We're making a medical supply run to Ord Cestus."

One clone, named Pulsar, merely groaned. "Thought we were bred for battle, not running errands."

The Lieutenant soon got into the one trooper's face. "Hey! We were bred to follow orders, Pulsar. You got a problem with that?"

Pulsar straightened himself out. "No, sir. No problem."

"That's what I thought. Now move." Commanded the LT.

As the others gathered up their supplies, Pulsar noticed Scythe was still sleeping. Seeing as he wasn't getting up, he gently shook him awake. "C'mon Scythe, up and at'em. We need to get going."

He wasn't moving for some moments, causing Pulsar to turn back around and move on out. If he were to keep looking at his brother a little while longer, he would've seen Scythe spasm in his laid position before shooting up onto his feet.

Hearing the gravel shift behind him, Pulsar looked back to see Scythe was now awake. "Hey, Scythe. Welcome back to the land of the living."

Scythe merely nodded and gathered his things. But before leaving the premises, he gathered up some more additional items which were native to this world as if in a controlled trance.

_-Scene Cut-_

" _Look around. Are you sure that it's not there? I mean, It's gotta be around there somewhere."_

" _Check it out …, You may be getting interference."_

_He flicked off the strange gooey liquid from his fingers as he gauged his surroundings. Nothing above him from the upper level or below._

" _Dallas, Are you sure there's no sign of it? I mean it's there. It's gotta be around there."_

_The man held up his weapon and sent out a quick stream of flames towards the darkened hallway in front of him. He did so once just to be sure._

_Nothing._

" _Dallas?" He heard his captain on the comm._

_He muttered to himself for a moment, words not being clear. "Alright."_

" _Am I clear Lambert? I wanna get the hell outta here."_

_Suddenly, from his friends end of the ship they watched from their motion trackers as a second dot began moving towards Dallas._

" _Oh god, it's moving right towards you!"_

_He looked to the upper level and saw nothing. He hesitated._

" _Move, get out of there!"_

_Not needing to be told twice, he began scaling down the ladder as his friend continually cried out with increasing panic and fright._

" _Move, Dallas move! Get out of there!"_

_As he descended down the ladder in a hurried state, he was barely able to hear his friend on the other end._

" _Oh, NO! Not that way, the other way, Dallas!"_

_He turned his flashlight and-_

" _ **AHHHHh~~~"**_

The collective scream of the entire unit of clones along with two Jedi Padawans echoed across the mess hall of the frigate was quite the amusing sight for one wall-crawling web-head.

He was chuckling aloud, intentionally pausing the film as the clones and two Jedi recovered from yet _another_ jump scare.

"By the Force." Barriss said breathlessly, hand over her chest to sooth her rapidly beating heart. "I now understand why you made so many of those references on Geonosis."

"Holy Kriffing hell!" Clone Trooper Trap said aloud, shaking his head. "What is the matter with you Earthers? Why do you do this to yourselves?"

"Yeah, why you wanna scare yourselves like that all the time?" Trooper Ox added, shivering. "That chest burster was bad enough."

"Now I _never_ want to go back to Geonosis again if what the general said about those worms is true." Trooper Havoc joked.

"Urgh, Master Skywalker mentioned Colonel Rhodes doing the same thing down in the hive." Ahsoka squirmed. "Jeez Peter, your planet has a crazy freaky imagination."

"Yeah." Edge shuttered. "This on top of that Body stealing movie."

"Body snatching." Peter corrected with a grin. "And besides, we're still not done yet."

"Can we not?" Havoc asked with a face that conveyed slight hesitation. "I'm starting to regret taking you up on this bet."

"Should've gone with Scythe on this one." Edge bemoaned. "Just go straight to bed."

"Aw come on, don't tell me you guys are chicken out?" Peter whined, though with a teasing grin. "I thought Clone Troopers were supposed to be fearless."

"Hey, we are fearless." Trap declared.

"You sure Lieutenant?" Havoc asked with a joking tone. "You screamed pretty loudly that time."

"Who was the one who hid behind Commander Offee when that bastard burst out of that poor schmucks chest?" Trap retorted.

Peter chuckled aloud. "We've still got time to-"

"Forget it, I'm out."

"Don't you wanna see how the crew takes care of the Xenomorph at the end?"

"Don't care!" Ox said, shooting up out of his seat to leave.

"Aw come on, we're already halfway there!"

"No, NO!" Ox waved his arms. "There is no Kriffing way I'm gonna have more nightmares than the ones I'll be getting tonight. No wonder General Skywalker had those jumpy moments weeks ago."

"Ox, you walk out, you lose the bet." Edge called out to him.

"I'll take the loss, clean armors for a week guaranteed." Ox declared in a poignant manner. He knows he's taking the loss, but at this point he doesn't care.

The rest of the Clones laughed aloud now at their brother's response with the teens doing the same.

"Alright then." Peter spoke up. "Shall we continue?"

The collective grumble made the Earth native's grin return in full force.

"Alright." Trap said regretfully. "Let's see it to the end."

"God, don't make it sound like we're going to war." Peter said with an exasperatedly amused smile.

Playing the film once more, the Clones and Padawans watched as Ripley took charge of the situation and continued to find attempts to flush out the Xenomorph. It was clear that the clones really liked Ripley, with her no-nonsense attitude as well as following protocol resonating with them more and more.

The shock of the audience seeing Ash being a robot, a droid in the eyes of the natives of this galaxy was one for the record books.

Peter was honestly glad he discovered that photo and video recording feature in his suit. Really hilarious collection he was accumulating.

By the end of it, the Clones cheered upon seeing Ripley outlast the Alien Xenomorph and blasted it away with the ship's engines. Even Ahsoka let out a fist pump with Barriss having a pleasant smile though her face was noticeably pale.

Once the credits started rolling, everyone present had to return to their quarters for the night or get back to duty before arriving at the medical outpost.

Currently in their shared room, Ahsoka was tossing and turning in her bed. She tried to fall asleep, but it was proving to be a little difficult. When tossing over one more time, she saw Barriss lying still in her bed. And hanging overhead in his makeshift hammock, Peter lazily dozed off.

She stared out at the Mirialan Jedi who had her eyes remained closed until…

"What? What is it?" Barriss spoke up, knowing her friend was staring at her.

"It's too quiet." Ahsoka bemoaned. "After all those explosions and blaster fire, this quiet is too much."

"You should enjoy this peace while it lasts."

"Why are you two awake?"

Both girls looked up to see Peter, still laying in his hammock though he hadn't moved all that much.

"Is it still because of the movie earlier?"

"Not really."

"Maybe."

"Maybe?"

Barriss could only look away. "That movie was still… something."

"I hear ya. When I first saw it years ago, I couldn't sleep on that night at all." Peter sat up and fell down from his hammock. "Alright, since it's clear you two ain't sleepin'."

"We didn't mean to disturb you Peter." Barriss said apologetically.

"Yeah, go back to sleep if you want." Ahsoka implored.

"Nope, awake now." Peter waved off. "Besides, need to make some more web fluid and got my case with me."

"Wanna get ourselves a late night snack?" Ahsoka suggested.

"Sure, could use some thinking food." Peter said airily, rubbing his eyes while grabbing a small little briefcase that contained vials and ingredients that he used when making more web fluid.

The trio walked out, making small talk. They passed by a separate corridor, leading to the Clone Barracks. Scythe spotted them, yet he was undetected. Checking back in the direction he came from, Scythe opened the Clone Barracks and entered.

_-Scene Cut-_

Ahsoka, Barriss and Peter sat within the mess hall where the table they sat had the only light within the room.

Both girls sat on opposite ends of each other with Peter sitting right beside Barriss.

While the girls were eating their meal, Peter stirred a concoction within a vial with the liquid inside slowly solidifying.

"I was thinking about what you said earlier about enjoying the peace while it lasts." Ahsoka said in between bites. "As a Jedi, I'm not sure I know how to do that."

"Might be because of you coming into your Padawan stage at the worst possible time." Said Peter. "If it weren't for this war happening, then you might be enjoying more times of 'peace' with the occasional mission and skirmish to settle."

"Possibly." Barriss muttered. "Though who can ever know for sure. Master Windu has said we are keepers of the peace, not warriors. Once the war is over, then it'll be our job to maintain the peace once more."

Peter tilted his head, turning away from his chemistry. "But if you guys are peacekeepers, doesn't that still make you warriors to an extent?"

"We are trained to know how to fight in both small and large scale battles." Ahsoka muttered, resting her cheek on her knuckles.

"Once the war is over, it will be our job to maintain the peace." Barriss stated firmly.

"Yes, but will we do so as keepers of the peace or warriors?" Ashoka questioned. "And what's the difference?"

"I don't have all the answers, Ahsoka." Barriss said, once washing down her throat. "Like you, I'm a learner. What does your Master tell you?"

"Anakin? Oh, um, you might find some of his thoughts on the future, uh, a bit radical."

"Really? Why?"

"Let's just say my Master will always do what needs to be done. I'm not even sure how peacetime will agree with him."

"Well, peace can only last so long." Peter remarked. "Back home, there's always something happening."

"Like what?" Barriss asked.

Peter shrugged. "Oh you know. Crime here and there, maybe a war happening in some part of the world, maybe not. The occasional end of the world type threat." The web-head paused. "Though… we've been getting a lot of those recently when I _really_ think about it."

Ahsoka blinked, finding herself chuckling unexpectedly a moment later. "Sounds like a nightmare."

Peter grinned for a moment. "The way I see it… I don't really know but maybe it never does end."

Barriss and Ahsoka shared a look. That was rather different.

"What do you mean?" Barriss asked with Peter throwing his arms up.

"Well, I don't know either to be honest." Peter said truthfully. "I was supposed to be worrying about my next tests back in high school a few weeks ago. Now I'm in some other part of the universe far from home."

"...That can't be too bad, can it?"

Pausing from his work for a moment, Parker had a wistful smile on his face.

"No, it's not all that bad." Peter said. "Can't deny that going to space, seeing other planets and worlds has been a dream of mine."

He then gave both girls a cheery smile. "Got to make some great new friends as well."

Both Padawans beamed slightly at the words. They were then momentarily distracted by the sound of a strange warbling sound, glancing at the beakers to see it filled with webbing.

Grinning, Peter began storing his newly created webs into cartridges.

"My word Peter, hearing you speak of your knowledge of science is one thing but seeing it…" Barriss trailed off, truly impressed by his work.

"You should see Mr. Starks work." Peter said, patting his spider emblem on his chest. "Made this suit for me."

Ahsoka hummed in interest, though her mind wandered back to an earlier statement made by her Earther friend.

"Peter."

"Hmmm?"

"Do you truly believe in what you said earlier? About there being more to do after the war ends?"

Halting in his storing of webbing, Peter resumed with a slight frown.

"We have to." Peter said, rather solemnly. "It's… it's part of our responsibility. It's what we _must_ do."

Ahsoka and Barriss exchanged bewildered looks. This was certainly a far cry from the usual joking and over exuberant web-head. And there was that word again.

"Peter." Barriss said slowly. "Why do you believe it to be our _responsibility?_ "

Peter was about to respond when the doors in the mess hall opened up, looking over he saw a couple of clones.

Ahsoka looked up and smiled slightly.

"Evening, Ox, Edge." Ahsoka greeted. "Care to join us?"

Looking at them, Peter felt a tingle crawling up into his head as something was off. _Really_ off.

"Uh… guys?" Peter said warily. "Everything o-WHOA!"

Both clones stepped forward and began firing at the trio with the teens leaping back, Barriss and Ahsoka igniting their lightsabers while Peter jumped high into the air.

"Troopers, stand down!" Ahsoka ordered, backing away before turning the table

"I don't think they want to!" Peter said aloud from the ceiling, firing two web lines at the troopers.

Snagging the guns of the troopers, Peter yanked them out of their hands giving Ahsoka and Barriss the chance to Force push them into the wall and knock them both out.

As they got in close, Barriss swung her lightsaber and cleaved through the blasters in case the clones were to awaken any time soon.

Suddenly, the door behind them opened up once more with two more clones coming in with blasters aimed right at them. Out of reflex, Peter fired web shots on the clone's hands and right next to the walls as both struggled to free themselves.

"What the Kriff was that for?!" Havoc cried out, pulling in vain against his web bindings.

"You tell us." Peter said, eyes narrowed. "Your buddies just attacked us for no reason."

"What is going on?" Demanded the Tortuga padawan.

Barriss then went on with the interrogation. "Trap, do you know what happened to those troopers?"

"Couldn't tell you, commander." Trap responded. "I'm just as confused as-"

"You're in charge of those men." Barriss exclaimed. "Did you order them to kill us?"

"No, sir. I didn't!"

"What's happening? Why would they do this?"

"We don't know. We heard shots." Havoc informed the three teens.

"Why should we believe you?"

"Look." Trap gestured to his stuck hand. "You've unarmed us. We have no intention of harming any of you."

"Though my hand sure as hell hurts now." Havoc murmured, making Peter wince slightly.

"Why would they just up and attack us like that?" Peter asked, going over to the trapped clones and ripping them off with ease.

"Did you see the way they looked at us?" Ahsoka brought up. "It was really weird."

"Yeah." Peter murmured, looking down at the unconscious clones. "That was some looks that could literally kill."

"They wouldn't just attack us without reason." Said Barriss.

Ahsoka soon sucked in her teeth. "My Master had a clone betray him and Obi-wan once, before I first met them. A traitor who was paid off by Ventress."

"No, It can't be that simple. At least, it didn't feel like that." Barriss brushed off.

"Excuse me, sir." Trap spoke up. "We should make sure that we're still in control of the bridge."

Barriss nodded, holding up her wrist comms. "Bridge, this is Barriss. Respond."

Static was her response.

"Oh… that's not at all like a movie we just watched." Peter said with a blank face.

This earned him an annoyed flick across the forehead from Ahsoka.

"We need to get up there." Ahsoka declared. "Find out what's going on."

"But what about these two?" Barriss gestured to the Clones. "They can be coming around any time now."

"I'll take care of that." Peter soon fired off a good number of web shots onto the unconscious clones as they were now in a cocoon with only their heads seemingly free to move.

"Nice work, Peter." Barriss praised.

"That'll last for an hour. Hopefully enough time to figure out what's happening."

"Havoc, stay here just in case." Trap ordered. "Let's not take any chances."

"I won't."

With the others leaving, Havoc moved aside so he wouldn't get jumped easily from the nearby door while still training his site on his brothers.

_-Scene Cut-_

While the Padawans and vigilante went about dealing with their newest situation, the elder Jedi and Avengers were unaware of the trouble that they were now facing.

"No word from Peter or the girls?" Steve asked.

"No." Luminara frowned. "They should have checked in by now."

"It's not like either Padawan or young Mister Parker to miss a check in schedule." Obi-Wan pointed out, rubbing his beard in thought.

"Think something's up?" Sam asked.

"Unclear." Luminara said.

"They could be in trouble for all we know." Anakin bluntly stated.

"Anakin, have faith in your Padawan." Kenobi said assuringly. "She is not alone after all and she has your teachings. You know she is more like you then you realize."

"Reckless, crazy and annoying?" Rhodey said with a knowing look.

Anakin had a brow twitch but felt Steve pat him on the shoulder.

"Don't worry Anakin, if anything does come up we'll know about it immediately." Steve said. "Rex, keep us up to speed. Any transmissions from the kids or Tango company, you let us know straight away."

"Yes sir." Rex promised with Anakin shooting Steve an appreciative expression.

All the while...

Walking through one of the hallways towards the bridge, a number of security shields suddenly went active.

"Someone doesn't want us going up there." Ahsoka plainly stated.

Hunching down, both Barriss and Peter tried to bypass the security measure. Before either could properly get started, their senses soon alerted them of danger. Peter was the first to react, pushing Barriss aside to avoid a blaster shot. Ahsoka looked over and witnessed Trap open firing on them. Using a Force Push, Skywalker's padawan sent the clone flying for a few feet. Landing harshly, the clone soon rushed forward in hopes of tackling Peter down, who was the closest to him.

It was then did the teens see something… unsettling.

"AH~" Peter cried out as the clone trooper's eyes were rolled up to show off the whites with a yellow worm coming out of his mouth. "Whoa, whoa, don't put your eggs in me."

Reacting quickly, Peter's hand shot up and grabbed the worm. The ear ringing scream made them all cringing at the sound.

The New York native clenched his teeth and ripped the worm out of the clone's mouth. Lieutenant Trap spasmed uncontrollably for a brief few moments before keeling over and falling down to the ground unmoving.

Ahsoka and Barriss were by Traps' side with Peter holding the worm as far away from his face as possible.

The Mirialan Jedi patted down the Trooper, checking his

The Mirialan Jedi patted the Trooper down, checking for his pulse and let out a relieved sigh to feel it was still beating.

She looked up to Peter and saw him squirming while holding the worm in his hand.

Narrowing her eyes, Barriss called for her lightsaber and in one swift motion cut the worm in two. Peter jumped from such a quick action, dropping the dead worm to the ground.

"What just happened?" Ahsoka asked aloud. "What is that thing?"

Barriss kneeled down to investigate the worm that was in two pieces now. She gingerly picked it up and took a moment to inspect it.

Peter grimaced. "That was some Invasion of the Body Snatchers stuff right there."

"My master Luminara spoke of the Geonosian Queen. The one that kidnapped her had a means of controlling dead Geonosians and perhaps other organisms with a worm like parasite from eggs."

Peter blanched

"Oh god… Oh god… Oh god. Ohgodohgodohgodohgod! _This is Invasion of the Body snatchers!_ I didn't know Body Snatchers would happen in real life! This is a freaking nightmare! _And it's alien on top o-_ "

Suddenly Ahsoka slapped him across the head, stopping him from escalating his wild fear induced ramblings.

"Thanks."

"Anytime." Ahsoka looked back at the dead parasite on the ground. "This would explain why those clones attacked us earlier for no reason and why Trap suddenly acted such a way moments ago."

"Question is, how'd these things get on board in the first place?"

Barriss voiced her deductions. "They must have infected some, if not all, of the clones while they were on Geonosis."

"We'll have to quarantine the ship."

"We should also contact Master Fisto and the others and let them know of the situation."

With their task set, the trio ran through the hallways as they searched for the means of contacting anyone outside of the ship. When nearing the hangar, they heard a very peculiar sound.

"Doesn't that remind you girls of anything?" Peter asked, slowly walking towards the source.

"Peter, please. Not now." Ahsoka squirmed, shaking her head.

"Not the scenario, I'm talking about the sound in general."

Both girls paused for a moment, straining their hearing out as to what he was referring to.

"Wait…" Barriss tilted her head.

There was a series of unusual clicks and grunts coming from a nearby room.

"That sound, it's…"

Ahsoka now recognized it. More specifically, what language it was.

"Geonosian."

The teens peered into the room, seeing clones all surrounding another clone who was struggling to break free from the grasp of his possessed brothers. And one of them held up what appeared to be an egg… with an all too familiar parasitic worm wiggling out of it.

"We have to help him." Ahsoka whispered out.

Barriss merely shook her head as the worm shot out and quickly inserted itself into the clone's head via nostril. "It's too late."

Peter only nodded his head, face pale. "Ok, so it is in fact Alien meets body Snatchers."

Ahsoka grimaced. "I hate that you're right."

"We gotta do something." Peter declared much as he really didn't want to fall into the horror movie clichés. His tingling sensation suddenly blared, making him blur around and firing off a web shot out of pure instinct. It hit one of the possessed clones as the blaster missed it's intended target. He tried to fire again but was met with a punch across the face to render him unconscious.

This did not go unnoticed by the possessed clones in the other room, all heads whirling about to spot the three teenagers. In a unanimous moment, they screeched out something akin to the Geonosian language to something of a high pitched wail.

"Yeup, definitely body snatchers."

"Not the time for that." Ahsoka stated, deflecting blaster bolts from the possessed clones. She saw one of them holding out two more eggs with the Jedi immediately force pulling them away and slicing right through them.

The infuriated shrieks from the Clones increased their rate of fire.

Ahsoka force pushed a Clone away with Barriss disarming another and force pushing him away a moment later.

Peter webbed a clone to the wall, the trio now hiding behind a crate for cover.

It didn't last long as other possessed clones from the corridor they came in from rushed in.

"Oh come on." Peter whined.

Ahsoka however was already looking for any way out and found it from above.

"Peter, Barriss, head for the vents."

"On it."

Firing off a web line, Peter shot towards the ceiling as he soon pried off the ventilation lid. Some seconds after entering the space, Ahsoka and Barriss arrived as they soon had to crawl towards the bridge.

"Think any of them spotted us?" Peter asked.

"They must've, given the ventilation lid fell on top of a few clones."

"Now what?"

"I'll go to the reactor room and disable the thrusters." Barriss volunteered. "You head for the aft comm-center and send a warning to Master Fisto, Ahsoka. We have to stop the ship from reaching the medical station."

"Not alone you're not." Peter declared. "I'm coming with you."

"Well there's only one of you and two of us." Ahsoka pointed out. "Who is it you'll be helping out?"

It was oftentimes like these Peter didn't enjoy choosing one thing over the other. In the past, it was over meaningless problems of everyday life. Now it was for a dire situation.

"Urgh." Peter rubbed his head.

Thankfully, Ahsoka chose for him. "The comm room is on the other end of the ship. Right now, most of the clones are probably still looking for us where last ran off, sweeping those areas."

"Are you sure?"

"I'm… 90% sure."

"What about the other ten?" Peter asked, slightly deadpanning.

"...Okay, maybe 75."

"You're not helping."

"Guys." Barriss cut in. "We must make haste and contact our masters and Fisto."

Nodding reluctantly, Ahsoka positioned herself and began crawling away to her destination.

"Be careful you two." She called out to them.

"We'll be fine." Barriss promised. "Just be careful yourself."

Nodding, Ahsoka went down her path with Barriss and Peter moving towards their own destination.

For Ahsoka, she made it to her destination faster than her friends, happy to see that the communications were still operational for the most part. She went and contacted Master Fisto and the medical station the frigate was journeying to at this moment.

" _Padawan Tano."_ Jedi Master Kit Fisto greeted her with his trademark grin. _"I was starting to worry when we did not hear your check in."_

Ahsoka let out a tired sigh. "We have a very good reason for our lack of communications."

Fisto's expression fell slightly, noting the clearly worried and panicked look upon the Togrutan Padawan.

Ahsoka quickly recounted what had transpired upon her ship, telling the Nautolan Jedi of the Geonosian Parasites that have infected the Clones and were now pursuing them.

"As long as these things are on board, Master, we cannot under any circumstances board the medical station." Ahsoka declared.

"But that leaves you, Barriss and young Parker at risk still." Fisto argued back. "You must dock with the station. We can analyze the parasite and find the means of dealing with them."

"Master Fisto, these worms are extremely dangerous. They managed to get to our Clones without us even realizing or sensing them." Ahsoka countered.

"We will take necessary precautions, young one." Fisto assured yet Ahsoka was clearly unconvinced.

"I have a bad feeling about this, Master Fisto." Ahsoka admitted. "But, I'll follow your instructions."

Whilst Ahsoka spoke with Fisto, Barriss and Peter arrived on their end of the ship with the two dropping down from the vents back to back.

"Looks like we're clear." Barriss said in a low voice.

"For now at least." Peter said.

"This way." Barriss gestured for him to follow.

Peter took note of their corridor. "Weren't we here before?"

"There is some repetition to the ship's layouts." Barriss joked as they entered into the corridor that would lead them to the reactor room.

Peter blinked before he was electrocuted within the door panels. He let out a small yelp, clenching his teeth tightly with his eyes on Barriss who spasmed about from the pain with her lightsaber falling from her hand.

Suddenly, they were surrounded on both sides by Tango company with blasters trailed upon them.

Peter was looking back and forth, mind going on overdrive to find a means of escaping this situation.

The Clone Trooper Edge spoke of how the Clones always knew the proper means of taking out a Jedi but Peter didn't hear all that as he heard Barriss whisper next to him.

"As soon as you get the chance, go back to Ahsoka." She whispered.

"What?" Peter said in shock.

Clone Trooper Scythe held out a Geonosian egg with two worms wriggling out.

"Go now!" Barriss whispered harshly with Peter hesitating causing Barriss to force push him through the two clones that blocked their original entryway.

Crashing through them, Peter looked up in horror as Barriss was electrocuted once more making Scythe grab her head and pull it back.

Slamming his fist hard to the ground leaving a sizable dent, Peter was about to charge in when the passage was ray shielded.

Gritting his teeth, he looked to see the two clones that he had knocked into recovering and quickly webbed them up to the walls to immobilize them.

Berating himself internally, Peter jumped into the vents once more just as the shield came down with a freshy possessed Barriss recovering her lightsaber.

He needed to get to Ahsoka.

_-Scene Cut-_

"Almost got it." Ahsoka muttered, rewiring the jammed console.

After several more moments, the monitor soon fritzed before showing a familiar clone to the padawan.

" _Cargo ship TB-73, this is clone Captain Rex. Please respond."_

"Rex, this is Ahsoka." Ahsoka let out a sigh of relief. "Boy, am I glad to hear _your_ voice."

" _Likewise, sir."_ Rex said, in kind. _"I've got someone here who wants to speak with you."_ Moving aside, Rex had Anakin come onto the screen.

" _Ahsoka, what's going on? Are you and the others okay?"_

"Well, not exactly." Ahsoka admitted straight away.

Barriss walked with some of her fellow possessed down one of the hallways of the ship before splitting off from them, eyes narrowed and slightly out of focus. She momentarily tilted her head up at the sound of something padding softly above her.

Back with Ahsoka, she had finished telling Anakin of the situation with her master now giving her instructions.

" _Make sure you have a wrist com. Keep it on."_ He ordered. _"I'm going to interrogate Poggle. He might have some answers. Find Barriss and Peter and wait for my signal."_

Ahsoka logged off and turned to her side to see...

"Barriss, you're back. Were you successful?"

Barriss said nothing, only staring at Ahsoka in a rather disturbing manner.

"Barriss… What's wrong?"

"AHSOKA!"

Peter suddenly burst down from the ventilations.

"Get away from-"

Barriss had already raised her hand towards the glass and used the Force to shatter it and send the pieces flying towards Ahsoka.

"Barriss!" Ahsoka cried out. "Please, we're your friends."

The controlled Barriss lit up her lightsaber, lunging at Ahsoka, who ignited hers just as quickly to avoid being severely hurt.

"Barriss! It's not you." Ahsoka said to her friend. "It's the creatures. Fight them."

Getting nothing of a response, Ahsoka kicked Barriss away before running from the aft comm-center.

Barriss got up and gave chase, with the blinded intent of killing the other padawan. However, out of the corner of her eye she caught Spider-man about to jump in.

Peter was ready to make a move when the Mirialan Jedi did something that made both him and Ahsoka freeze in their tracks.

The possessed Padawan gave the two a sinister smile as she held up her azure blade to her neck.

"Attack, and she dies." Barriss spoke in a hollow dead voice making both her friends blood run cold.

Seeing her opportunity, the mind-controlled Barriss let out a force push that sent them both clamoring to the ground.

Knowing that one was a greater threat then the other, the Mirialan pounced upon the stronger of the two. Opening her mouth, the worm emerged with her intended targets eyes widening and him beginning to struggle to break free.

"Sorry, Barriss. You're a nice girl and all, but I'd rather kiss ya after the second date. French on third, maybe fourth."

"PETER!" Ahsoka yelled out.

"I'm sorry I use humor to mask my FEAR OF GETTING AN EGG IN ME!" Peter cried out, shoving Barriss as lightly as possible away from him.

"Come on." Ahsoka helped him up. "We gotta go!"

"But Barriss…"

"You saw what those worms are willing to do." Ahsoka said with regret. "If we fight her, we risk having the parasite kill her."

Gritting his teeth in frustration Peter briefly glanced back at Barriss who was already beginning to stand back up and reluctantly ran off with Ahsoka.

Meanwhile, one Jedi Knight was on his way to speak with a certain expert on Geonosian physiology and mind control in order to help the Padawans and young hero.

Walking down the corridors of the ship, Anakin made his way towards the prison block.

And he wasn't alone with Steve right by his side.

Upon arriving, Anakin dismissed the clones guarding the cell before making his way inside with Steve standing in the entryway.

"You will answer my questions." Came Anakin's quick demand, raising his hand as if signaling to use a Force ability. Steve quirked a brow at the motion.

Poggle spoke in his native tongue, prompting the protocol droid in the cell to translate. "Your feeble Jedi mind tricks do not work on Geonosians. The other Jedi already learned this."

Anakin brought down his arm and turned away. Clenching his fist, he calmly spoke. "Mind tricks?" Suddenly, he punched Poggle across the face and sent him tumbling onto the cell floor. "I don't need mind tricks to get you to talk."

Once more the protocol droid translated Poggle's words. "I will never talk, Jed-"

The Geonosian soon clenched his throat, trying to rasp out for air as Anakin started to Force choke him. "We'll see about that, Poggle."

"Anakin." Steve called out to him making the Jedi turn towards the Avenger with the Captain shaking his head.

The Jedi dropped Poggle a moment later with Steve now walking towards the Geonosian.

"Tell us what we want to know." Steve asked in a dangerously calm voice.

Poggle let out a series of clicks and coughs, the protocol droid translating for him.

"If you think a show of force like that will make me talk, then you are clearly more foolish than I thought."

Steve sighed, giving Anakin a look. The Jedi Knight was giving Poggle a burning glare. Cap silently gestured his head as a silent message for Anakin to step back behind him.

Anakin crossed his arms and stood behind Steve while the super-soldier grabbed his shield and held it tightly.

In a flash, Steve smashed through the metal table that was between himself and Poggle. The Geonosian Separatist barely had time to register the shocking display of strength as he was kicked right at the wall.

As he slumped down, Poggle jolted as his ear was ringing from the clashing sound of Vibranium hitting metal.

Steve loomed over him with a fierce gaze.

"We can do this two ways, Poggle." Steve said intensely. "Either you tell us what we want to know and help save those kids and clones _or_ Anakin and I take _turns_. Your choice."

To say that Anakin was surprised by this sudden display from Captain Rogers was a bit of an understatement. He had no idea that someone as controlled and calm as Steve had a side like this.

But right now, he didn't care for that. He wanted to get the means of saving the Padawans, Peter and the Clones. And Poggle had the answers.

All the while, Peter and Ahsoka ran from their possessed friend with clones joining in on the chase.

They had to resort to immobilizing and stalling tactics, force pushing and webbing the clones up with only Barriss proving to be the constant thorn in their side.

"This way, Peter." Ahsoka called out to him, the Web-head ensnaring a Clone into a cocoon.

Following her a moment later as Barriss and the Clones descended upon him once more, the two rounded a corner to the next hallway. Peter unclipped a cartridge from his belt and tossed a web grenade that created a large web that blocked off passage to their pursuers. The Clones all ran into the webbing and tangled themselves up with Barriss stepping back, losing sight of the two.

Back with Anakin and Steve, both had returned to the Resolutes Bridge to meet up with the other Avengers and Jedi.

"I made contact with Ahsoka." Anakin said aloud.

"What's their status?" Obi-wan questioned.

"Geonosian parasites have infected her crew."

"How did they get on board her ship?" Kenobi questioned in slight alarm

"Poggle said the parasites must have needed a new host after we raided the Queen's temple." Steve stated grimly

Some of the other Jedi looked amongst each other with Luminara voicing their shared thoughts. "You both interrogated Poggle?"

"Yes, we did." Anakin stressed out. "There wasn't time to get the rest of you."

Master Mundi voiced their next question. "How… did you get him to talk?"

"Look, all that matters is that he told me how to stop the worms." Steve said, diverting the intended question.

He shared a look with the other three Avengers on the bridge. Nat, Sam and Rhodey knew there was more to the story but they also knew there were more pressing matters at hand.

Getting in touch with Ahsoka's wrist com frequency, they were soon met with Ahsoka's voice. _"This is Ahsoka."_

"Ahsoka, listen to me." Anakin firmly said. "The worms are affected by the cold."

" _Cold? That's how we stop them?"_

"Rupture the coolant system." He said but didn't hear an immediate response. "Did you hear me? Rupture the coolant system!"

" _The coolant system. Got it."_

With this said, the transmission ended, having the others hope things will turn out alright for the others.

Back on the TB-73, Ahsoka and Peter had to carefully maneuver around the vents and hallways to find the coolant system. Yet it was quite hard with the roaming clones and padawan controlled by the Geonosian parasites.

It took longer than they would've liked, but the pair were able to reach their destination. Peter stood on guard once inside with Ahsoka working the controls. After some time and a pull of a switch, Ahsoka released the coolant system as the ship started to decrease in temperature at a rapid pace.

"So what happens now?" Peter asked.

"Now? Let's just hope this works." Ahsoka said sheepishly. All across the ship, the temperature began dropping with possessed Clones all halting in their movements as they looked around in slight bewilderment.

Meanwhile, the ship had just exited hyperspace with the medical station in view.

Staring into the hologram from within the medical station, Kit Fisto recognized the specific ship which now entered their system.

"That's Ahsoka's ship." Spoke the Nautolan Jedi master. "It just came out of hyperspace. Send out the tugs to tie them in. Warn all medical hazard crew that I don't want _anyone_ boarding that ship until the parasites are contained. Sound all alarms and prepare the subzero conduits."

The medical clone nearby nodded before giving out the orders to the security team.

Running through the hallways, Peter and Ahsoka were successful with their task. All they had to do was bide their time and survive the cold long enough for them to be saved.

"I kinda regret leaving my robes back at the temple." Ahsoka remarked, crossing her arms as she shivered constantly.

"Y-yeah." Peter's teeth chattered. "Wish I brought some winter clo-"

_***TSSS-SSSHH*** _

Both teens blinked at the steam coming off from Peter's suit as the black web lines around his suit glowed.

"Whoa, built in heaters." Peter remarked with a laugh.

"L-Lucky." Ahsoka said, shivering even more now with a face of envy.

" _ **T**_ _h_ _ **e**_ _r_ _ **e**_ _y_ _ **o**_ _u_ _ **a**_ _r_ _ **e."**_

Whirling around, Peter and Ahsoka heard the distorted voice of their friend. _**"**_ _Y_ _ **o**_ _u_ _ **c**_ _a_ _ **n'**_ _t_ _ **h**_ _i_ _ **d**_ _e_ _ **f**_ _r_ _ **o**_ _m_ _ **m**_ _e_ _ **."**_

"You sure about that?" Peter quipped. The two quickly jumped directly into the vent above, disregarding the cold winds going on at full blast.

The icy winds made the possessed Barriss halt, the worm within her knowing that if it made its host pursue into the vents it would surely die.

Throughout the ship, each and every infected clone were wailing at the top of their lungs. They all sought any means of obtaining warmth but received none. Before long, their hosts could only pass out from both the pain the worms felt to the cold none could really handle.

Peter and Ahsoka crawled quickly through the vents, the Togruta sticking as close as she possibly could to Peter since she felt the heat radiating from his suit.

At long last, they arrived at their destination.

"The bridge, a-at la-last." Ahsoka shivered out, shuffling towards the keypad at the door. Once inside, Ahsoka rushed towards the controls and tried to send out a transmission. "We're coming in aw-awfully f-fast. This is Ahsoka Tano. Can you hear me? I'm shutting down the engines. I'll try to reverse the-"

"AHSOKA!"

The Tortuga whirled around to see Peter having to avoid the lightsaber swing coming from the infected Barriss. It destroyed some of the nearby consoles on the initial swing. When Peter countered, knocking the offending weapon away, the blade cleaved through the coolant tube hanging above. It swept down, releasing a torrent of cooled air directly into the infected Mirialan padawan.

The sound coming from her was agonizing to hear for them. The infected host tried to retaliate, but Peter had to use up the last of his webbing to hold her down in place. Once secure, Ahsoka grabbed hold onto the damaged tube and aimed it right back onto Barriss.

"F-Fo-Forgive m-m-me, but this is fo-for y-your own good."

Barriss flailed in her confinement, screeching out as the worm started coming out in hopes of finding warmth from one of the teens before it. Yet it failed as Peter harshly grabbed it and pried it out of his friend's mouth. Once airborne, Ahsoka let go of the tube and with a single swing of her ignited lightsaber, the worm was slain.

It was a little while later did Kit Fisto and a small number of armed clones arrive at the freezing ship. They kept focus on their surroundings, not knowing if there were any infected roaming about.

When reaching the bridge, they were greeted with the sight of the three teens hugging each other close in order to combine what heat remained within them. Presently, they were a shivering mess even with Peter's suit working overtime in heating them all.

Barely looking up, Ahsoka struggled to smile. "H-H-He-Hello, Ma-Master F-Fisto."

"Wh-What took y-you s-s-s-so long?" Peter struggled to say.

"W-We're rea-ady to pi-ick up the me-medical supplies." Barriss whispered out.

"Don't worry about that." Fisto said as the three teens were slowly overcome by blackness. "We'll take care of that. The three of you rest for now."

They nodded, with Barriss and Ahsoka passing out yet Peter remained conscious.

"Mr. Parker?" Fisto said in surprise.

"Internal heater, Mr. Fisto." Peter said though his head was still exposed. "Still, you g-got a hat I could use? I-I left my mask back in the barracks."

_-Scene Cut-_

The next thing Ahsoka knew, she woke up in a medical room. Her vision was blurred as she was covered with several layers of blankets to help bring her back to a normal state.

By her bedside, Anakin was seated not far away. Upon hearing her seemingly awake, he came over and softly spoke. "Hey, Ahsoka. You're safe."

She weakly nodded, struggling to get up from the bed but was kept down by her Master. "W-Where's Barriss? Where's Peter?"

"They're fine." He looked over, with Ahsoka following suit, to see the sleeping forms of her friends not far away in their own medical beds. Barriss had a blanket over her whilst Peter merely lay there with an arm over his eyes, snoring lightly. "And so are the clones."

Ahsoka nodded before asking something crossing her mind. "What were those things?"

"I think I can answer that." Looking towards the doorway, Kit Fisto strolled in. "We had those worms analyzed. They are the same type of creature you found on Geonosis, Master Skywalker."

Anakin gave a stern nod. "We'll have to inform the troops on Geonosis. This parasite might explain how they recaptured the planet the first time. I _don't_ want it happening again."

Kit Fisto nodded in complete agreement before turning towards the conscious teen. "You've been through quite the ordeal. We are most grateful for what you and the others have done this day."

Stirring awake from the recent commotion, Peter looked up and saw Ahsoka was now awake. Rising to his feet, he slowly walked over and came by her bedside. He gently laid his hand on her shoulder and gave her a small smile.

"Hey. Glad to see you're fine." Peter said happily. "I was really worried for ya."

"Same with you and Barriss."

Anakin and Kit saw this and decided to leave the two friends to converse with each other.

Once out of the medical room, Ahsoka thought back onto something bugging her for a while now.

"So… Peter…"

"Yeah?"

"About earlier… What's French?"

Peter looked at her strangely. "French is a language at home from Earth."

"Yeah but what does it have to do with kissing?"

Peter was silent, mouth agape and not knowing how to properly answer his friend this.

"Uh… um… well, ya see that's…. Not important right now for your young innocent ears." Peter said with finality, one hand over his heart and the other raised up to his ear level.

"C'mon… Tell me."

He shook his head.

"Please~"

'Aw come on, since when could she do that?'

Peter had to look away from her as her eyes seemed to get a certain glint in them. A look that would make his heart ache in how innocent they appeared to be.

'Those should be illegal weapons.' Were the only words crossing his mind as he kept hearing Ahsoka innocent demand.

Anakin had exited the room and was greeted to the sight of Steve Rogers resting against the wall next to the door.

"How are they?" Steve asked.

"They're fine." Anakin assured. "Nothing a little extra rest won't do to help them fully recover."

Steve nodded. "Good to hear. They'll need it after that mess."

"Agreed." Anakin stated the two walking away from the room where the young teens rested.

They were silent for the most part when Steve had noticed a sideways glance from Anakin that it appeared he hoped to hide.

"What?"

"Hmmm?" Anakin looked to Rogers with an innocent expression.

"Something on your mind?"

"What?" Anakin was now trying to play it off. "On my mind? Nothing is on my mind."

Cap gave him an expectant look, waiting for him to tell the truth.

Sighing, Anakin rubbed the back of his head with a slightly uncomfortable look.

"Didn't know you had that in there." Anakin mumbled. "Back with Poggle."

Slight realization hit Steve.

"Yeah." Steve coughed. "It's a method I don't use that often… or really haven't used in over 70 years."

Anakin hummed, before becoming slightly more solemn. "You know, it's not the Jedi way to use the Force in such an abusive manner. That… that wasn't very Jedi of me."

"You were worried about a friend." Steve said, placing a hand on the Jedi's shoulder. "Your first student. I can be the first to tell you about some of the things I did back during _my_ war. Things I did that didn't exactly make me sleep so well at night."

Anakin was silent.

"How'd you cope with it?" he asked after a moment of silence.

"Just dealt with it however I could." Steve stated. "I did it knowing that people were free, that others didn't have to do the things I did with my generation."

Skywalker absorbed the Captain's words for a few seconds before a mischievous thought occurred.

"That I'd like to hear… _old man_."

Steve snorted. "Yeah, an _old man_ who can still kick your ass… _sonny_."

The two laughed, Anakin nudging the Captain's shoulder as they walked off chatting lightly with this long campaign at last coming to an end.

**Alright, Huzzah, that's another one done and Geonosis Arc is officially wrapped up ladies and gentlemen. A good chunk of season 2 is all well and done now.**

**So J and I are gonna be real busy for the foreseeable future cause of the two current stories we're working on as well as several other projects we have planned out.**

**Jeb: And this is on top of our normal working hours, working long days with all the bullcrap happening. And, of course, it'll get worse once the pandemic is finally lifted with things kicking up to high gear.**

**FMW: Indeed, so we're gonna make the most of the time that we can get to churn out as much content as possible. We got a real special new project in the works and it'll be coming out hopefully sooner than later cause like J said, working hours and life in general can be a bitch.**

**Jeb: Said work will be updated monthly instead of whenever like our other works, just so you all know. And of course BulletStormX will be tagging along in writing it as it was essentially his brain baby.**

**FMW: That's right folks. Free Man Writer, Jebest4781 and BulletStormX are all gonna be working together on a brand new story. It will be revealed very soon and updated monthly as Jeb stated so stay tuned for details.**

**Whelp, that's all for this chapter folks. In regard to this story, the next arc will be the first original arc of this crossover. One I've been very much excited to write.**

**Rate Read and Review and as Always Have Nice Day.**


	36. We Are Protectors Part 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Cover poster for this Arc in the link below
> 
> https://www.deviantart.com/freemanwriter/art/The-Mandalorian-Protectors-841990807

**Rate Read and Review and as Always Have Nice Day.**

Avengers Infinite Wars Chapter 36: We Are Protectors Part 1.

The bar was bustling with activity as most bars would.

It was crowded with many patrons at booths, stools and tables with drinks all around.

However…

One particular booth within the bar was given a large berth from the other patrons as they drank in relative peace. These group of individuals were several well-armed, well-armored men who were seated at a round table drinks in hand and T-visor helmets off.

Two of them had mostly green painted and tinted armor with their companion having his primarily black and grey.

The trio of men were around the same age more or less with the black and grey armored individual being slightly younger than them both by about two years or so.

He had jet black hair that was crew cut with a small scar on the right side of his chin. The most defining feature he had was his steel-grey eyes that held an air of mischief mixed with a wariness that showed a man who is a battle-hardened warrior.

The one to his right and seated in the center of the three men had blond hair with blue eyes, arm resting upon his helmet that was on his leg.

To _his_ right was their last companion and friend, downing a drink with a satisfied exhale a moment later. He had a buzz cut hairstyle though it was easy to see that his color was brown while his eyes were blue like the one in the middle but his were slightly tinted darker.

Now, aside from the unifying armor that these three men had there was one other aspect that tied them all together as comrades, allies and friends.

"So, what'd Spar tell ya Fenn?" The Steel eyed man asked.

"Nothing much for the time being." Fenn said, wiping his helmet, thumb unconsciously brushing over the Jaig-eyes above the visor.

"Why you asking, Dax?" the buzz cut man asked, leaning back into his seat. "Thought you'd enjoy the chance to take a nap."

"Come on, Tobbi, I'm still a Mandalorian. I can only sit still for so long." Dax waved off. "Besides, already got my nap in on our way here."

"Why do you always nap anyways, Dax?" Fenn inquired. "You sleep more often out of all of us. How do you ever get anything done?"

Dax only shrugged. "I manage."

"Course you do." Tobbi muttered with a small smirk.

Fenn chortled to himself, patting Tobbi on the shoulder. "Come on you two, Spar is probably gonna want a report on our latest job."

Nodding, the other two men grabbed their helmets and the trio departed from the establishment towards their ship they had affectionately nicknamed sleek. It was a black painted Kom'rk class Star Fighter given to them by MandalMotors, the primary starship utilized by many Mandalorians not associated with the Mando's of Mandalore.

It was 68.1 meters in length, with broad, angular, rotating wings as it was shown once it was currently parked in an upright position. When in flight, the wings could rotate around the vessel's main body, allowing for increased maneuverability. And while they could've been fine with having the smaller version of this ship, they were a team so had to deal with the extra amount of space for their respective quarter to their personal armory they had to share amongst themselves.

Clambering into the ship, it lifted off shortly after with Tobbi at the helm and Dax as his co-pilot. Flying Sleek out into the vastness of space, Tobbi punched in the coordinates and they were off into Hyperspace.

The trip was relatively short, arriving back over the Mandalorian occupied planet of Concord Dawn. This planet has long since become the operating base of the Mandalorian Protectors being led by the new and _true_ Mandalore Spar. Not those _pretenders_ on Mandalore itself and that despicable group, Death Watch, living on the moon of Concordia.

Descending down onto the planet side, Tobbi guided it to the primary encampment/base that the Protectors used for their operations.

Landing nearby where many of the other ships were stationed, the three Mandalorians exited the ship and were greeted by several other Mando's who they all greeted cheerfully.

Entering the camp, all three men paused as they saw none other than Spar standing there awaiting their return.

"Mandalore." all three stated in unison, bowing their heads in respect.

"I take it the mission was a success?" Spar asked, approaching them.

"Would we be here if it weren't?"

Smirking, Spar gestured his head towards the largest tent in the encampment with the trio following after him.

"Good to hear that." Spar spoke calmly. "I hope you didn't encounter any problems."

"Aside from Dax sleeping next to the explosives again, no, not really." Fenn said airily.

Dax quickly elbowed his teammate in response before composing himself in front of their leader.

"Alright. Now then…" Spar went to the nearby holo-table and typed something in as an image soon appeared. "I have a new assignment for you and your team."

Fenn removed his helmet, as did his two friends with all three gazing upon the holo-table that showed a familiar planet to them.

"What is it, Mandalore?"

"Ordo has been recently harried by raiders and pirates." Spar said grimly. "You all know that the Mandalorian sector has been in a constant state of peril due to us being de-unified."

They grimaced, knowing full well that their people were very much splintered into multiple factions right now, spread out across the galaxy.

"What is it you want us to do?"

"Isn't it obvious? Liberate the place, that's what." Dax stated gaze now a bit more intense as he stared at the planet of his namesake.

"You would be correct, but a bit more than that." Spar informed them.

"Which is?"

"An… _asset_ I wish to procure."

Fenn's eyes narrowed. "Is it… _him_?"

Spar grumbled. "Possibly. But I've had no such luck. This is only a lead really and it's the only one I've gotten as of late.

The three Mandalorians were fully aware as to whom Spar was referring to. He had been wanting to track him down personally and being three of his most trusted friends and allies were privy to this individual and the significance he held.

"We'll find him, Mandalore." Fenn assured.

"Don't put your hopes up, but I'll appreciate it if you do." Spar then gave his next instruction. "Go to the Forgemaster before you leave." He told the three. "Asides from refilling your armory, I believe she has something prepared for you three."

"Is it something cool?" Tobbi inquired with a grin.

"You'll see."

Spar then went back to his own devices as the trio left to their new destination.

Exiting the large tent, Fenn led Tobbi and Dax over to where the Forgemaster of the protectors operated.

The place itself was distinctly different as it was a solid one story building as it was personally built and designed for the sole purpose of the Forgemaster.

Nodding to the two other Mando's currently conversing outside the Forge House, they entered.

Even with the protection of their suits, they were met by the heat from the forging chamber. Not truly because of the actual heat from the kiln but because of how intense the owner was radiating.

Hammering away on some project she was working on; the Forgemaster was putting so much focus into it. The power behind the blows, the focus in being sure there are no mistakes and weakness into the craft. The dedication and discipline on the pride of it all could practically be felt by any entering the vicinity.

"I take it you three know what needs to be done?" Spoke the Forgemaster, not breaking her gaze from her work.

"Yes Forgemaster." They chanted in respect.

The duty of a Mandalorian Forgemaster was always first and foremost to their craft and to the clans of the Mandalorians. They are to go by title, sharing names only to those closest to them while adhering to their duty. Being a Mandalorian Forgemaster was one of commitment and understanding, being able to craft with prior knowledge yet innovation that can advance the clans that they primarily serve.

Once done hammering into the metal, she slowly quenched it into a nearby oil pan. It lit aflame upon contact before the Forgemaster soon placed her attention on the new arrivals.

"If you'll follow me."

Not far away from the central kiln, she opened up a compartment on the wall to reveal an assortment of Mandalorian weapons. Vibroblades, rifles, and so many more. Going to a lower compartment, she opened it up to retrieve some small containers. Opening the first up, she then presented the contents to the trio.

"I believe it's time for you three to have these." She stated. "Whispering Birds are a powerful defense against multiple enemies. Use them sparingly for what may come for you."

"Of course." Chorused the three.

She handed the boxes containing the Whispering Bird weapons onto them before hearing their demands on what needed to be refilled in their immediate armory.

"Where is it that you are travelling to?" The Forgemaster inquired as she was authorizing most of their demands.

"Ordo, Forgemaster." Dax answered straight away.

"Ordo." She repeated in a low voice. "That planet holds great significance for our people. I pray for your success, Protectors."

"We'll die if we don't succeed."

"I know. For our culture and our way." Said the Forgemaster. "This is the way."

"This is the way." Came the resounding chorus from the rest.

Now fully equipped and prepared, the three Mandalorian Protectors departed from the Forge and returned to their ship destination and mission now in mind.

"So, Ordo." Tobbi stated, looking over to Dax. "Weren't you born there, Dax?"

Dax shook his head. "No, my father was from the planet. I was actually born on Concord Dawn."

"Really?" Fenn said with intrigue, carefully inserting whistling birds into his gauntlet. "I didn't know that."

Dax, while a good friend of Fenn and Tobbi, never really spoke about his past all that much. He only let out little details here and there, though he mostly kept his old past to himself. He had joined the Protectors soon after they were established, becoming fast friends with Spar, Fenn and Tobbi as well as a leading example of the Protectors.

A leading example being a fierce warrior and an extroverted napper. Dax made it a point to always take a nap before a mission and whenever there was downtime for himself.

Still, he was someone they trusted as a brother and knew that when push came to shove they knew Dax would be right by their side blaster in hand and ready to fight.

"Say, Fenn, Tobbi." Dax spoke up after several moments of silence as the ship was well on its way through hyperspace by this point. "What's Mandalore like?"

"Hmmm?" Tobbi looked over to him. "What? You've never been to Mandalore?"

"Not really. Only seen images of the home world."

"How to describe it… I would say it's a facade." Fenn remarked, rubbing his chin in thought.

"A facade?"

"Sure it looks peaceful and all with what the Duchess has done in these past years. A _pristine_ image, being an example for many neutral systems. Yet there's an underbelly she doesn't really notice with what crime is done here and there. Some black-market dealings over here, discussions of rebellion over there."

"Doesn't sound stable." Dax noted.

"Not in the slightest." Fenn shook his head. "I get that she wants peace and all, trust me I get it. But to just up and change our way of life that has been like this since the very beginning? Too drastically and too soon? There's no way it will work."

"We're Mandalorians." Tobbi said plainly. "Our way of life is all about being warriors. Then this pretty haired upstart just goes and says _we're peaceful_ now. Yeah, like that's gonna last."

Dax hummed in agreement, knowing all too well the truth on that matter. He was fully aware of the planet of Mandalore itself being under the control of the New Mandalorians, as they like to call themselves, that were "pacifists" and a "peaceful" people now.

Only reason Duchess Satine was able to fully gain power when she first came onto the scene was because more than enough influential Houses and Clans were tired from the fighting and wanted to settle down. Those sided with her were able to turn the votes in Satine's favor, which soon led to what is happening now.

Yet it was easy to see how little sway that sentiment truly had. Only the planet of Mandalore itself was occupied by this new regime. Every other planet within the Mandalorian sector of space followed the old ways.

The Aka'liit as they were called in Mando'a. Or the Faithful in Basic. Those who held true to the old ways of the Mandalorians. The true way. The way that the Protectors have based themselves on.

While they had only started as a small number of around 212 members, the recent weeks have been showing a steady rise in recruits and members from all clans as well as foundlings.

The foundlings were the future of their people. They would be protected and trained when the time came to carry on the name of Mandalorians.

"I heard this little rumor actually, before I left." Fenn said, leaning forward as his two friends gazed at him. "Before the New Mando's went and changed Mandalore, The Duchess' own sister refused to support her cause."

"Really?" Dax was surprised at that piece of information. "Any idea on who it was?"

Fenn shook his head. "Nada. Didn't have time to learn about it. But goes to show how her regime isn't made to last."

"Agreed." Dax and Tobbi said in unison.

The trip to the planet Ordo was shorter than their flight back home after the mission prior to this one. Arriving within the system of the planet, Tobbi flew their ship towards the planet the clan and the system was named after.

It was a primarily desert world with very few spots of vegetation within the northern and southern hemispheres. The primary area of agriculture was near the equator of the planet, where most settlements can be found.

Landing outside a small town surrounded by greenery, the Protectors exited their ship and with the trio headed straight for the settlement. It wasn't necessarily big with few people out and about right now yet it was clear for them to see that something was wrong.

There were booths here and there that were either damaged or destroyed with goods missing and other houses and structures having suffered recent damage.

As soon as they set foot into the town, several of the passersby saw them and went for the blasters strapped to their sides. Though they slightly relaxed with one of them, a male human, recognizing them immediately.

"Mando's." He greeted cordially. "A surprise, but a welcomed surprise to be sure."

"What happened here?" Fenn asked straight away.

"Raiders." A woman stated plainly, looking a bit disheveled. "Damn bastards have been harassing towns all over Ordo for the past few weeks."

"Raiders?" Tobbi spoke up, removing his helmet to show a clear visible frown. "What kind of raiders?"

"Vagrants from the way they were outfitted." The man who first spoke to them stated with a disgruntled look.

"They would attack Ordo so blatantly?" Dax asked with a level of anger in his tone.

"Where are the warriors to protect this planet?" Fenn asked. "Are there not Mandalorians on this planet?"

"We are all Mandalorians." The woman puffed out her chest with pride yet deflated a moment later.

"It hasn't been the same." A different male spoke up, this one being younger closer to the end of his teenage years.

"What happened?" Dax stepped forward. "How is it that Ordo, a planet that we all hold in high esteem is to be plagued by lowly raiders."

The elder male spoke with contempt. "It's the blasted New Mandalorians. Those foolish pacifists have been so focused on consolidating control on Mandalore that the rest of Mandalorian Space has been left to fend for themselves."

The three Mandalorian Protectors all twitched with anger at the mention of the New Mandalorians. How could they let this happen?

They knew that Mandalorian Space is essentially fractured into differently aligned factions but the fact that raiders have proven to be such a problem is beyond an insult to them.

"Where are these Raiders right now?" Fenn asked sharply.

"Not far from this village. Roughly a few miles out." the elder male said, gesturing to the left with the Protectors gazing in that direction. "See that building situated upon the hilltop? You'll find them there."

"Alright. Just stay indoors in case of anything." Fenn ordered.

"You think we're stupid in not doing so?" The woman sarcastically stated.

The others shook their heads, with the Mandalorian Protectors making their way towards the building on the hilltop. The trek up to the hilltop was surrounded by tall grass, making for useful cover as they drew closer.

They came to this planet to seek out their objective yet here they were, already going after a set of despicable raiders who had the audacity to choose Ordo of all places.

The trio would not abide by this.

The Protectors were formed with the goal of unifying the Mandalorians under a single, proper banner once more with a united people. However, they come to a planet of prestige and historical importance that was struggling to deal with basic raiders.

To think this is how far the Mandalorians had fallen.

As they drew closer to the hilltop, they noticed that the building situated there was more akin to weathered down home.

"Looks like they're still home." Tobbi noted, eyeing the large freighter parked right beside the house.

"Alright, we'll need to split up and survey the area. Find the full number of Raiders and any additional variables. Don't want a repeat like last time." Fenn instructed; the last comment directed at Dax.

"How was I supposed to know they had a small battalion of battle droids hidden away?"

"Because you were too lazy to fully check your assigned area. That's why."

Dax grumbled beneath his breath, going his separate way from the other two as they utilized the tall grass and any trees or large enough shrubbery for cover as they moved up the hill. From all three perspectives, they heard chatter and laughter.

From Fenn's area, he was hiding behind a large bush with his green armor helping to further blend in as he spied upon the group of raiders that had taken up residence within the house.

They were a ragtag group so to speak. Humans, Trandoshans, Twi'leks and Weequay made up the majority of the raiders with a Devoronian among them. He was the largest of all his companions, laughing boisterously as he downed an entire glass of alcohol.

"Dax, Tobbi, come in." Fenn spoke through the comms. "How many do you count?"

"Looks like fifteen on my end." Dax said, flat on his stomach as he gazed upon the collection of raiders.

"Seventeen." Tobbi added, crouched behind a thin tree on the right hand side of the hill from the entrance. "There's two more coming out from the house."

"Alright, this should be a quick one boys." Fenn said, kneeling down and leaning forward slightly. "On my mark."

Dax and Tobbi readied themselves, sending out signals to Fenn that they were prepared.

"Now." Fenn said aloud, launching a missile from his jetpack. Dax and Tobbi did the same with the three missiles bombarding the front of the old house with the cacophony of explosions drowning out the sounds of pain and agony from the raiders.

The Protectors sprung out from their hiding places; jetpack thrusters fired up as they ascended up into the sky with their blasters out at the ready.

There were several remaining raiders though they handley taken out by the Mando trio. A few had managed to get their weapons and return fire at the flying group of Protectors yet due to their vantage in the air, it was easy to dodge their blaster fire.

The only real problem was the Devoronian as he was growling challengingly with his large blaster rifle. Exchanging looks with one another, all three shrugged a moment later and concentrated all their fire on the horned headed raider, the combined assault taking him down in a matter of seconds.

Descending down to the ground, they made a quick scan of the area to make sure that it was clear before they began looking over the corpses.

"These guys are outfitted with some heavy duty equipment." Dax noted holding a particularly well-crafted blaster rifle.

"But untrained." Tobbi said, picking out some credits that one of the Weequays had one him and shrugged, pocketing the creds.

"Makes you wonder where they got the equipment." Fenn said aloud, looking to the weathered down house. "Any idea what this place is?"

Fenn received negatives from both his friends. Deciding to take a personal look, Shysa cautiously entered the crumbling house while taking out a WESTAR-34 blaster pistol in case of any surprises.

It seemed relatively empty for the most part. The interior looked no better than the exterior.

Peeking out around the corner into the room over, he saw a sort of living room space. There were chairs, shelves and in the center of it all; a large pile of… well a bunch of stuff to put it plainly.

Tilting his head to the side, Fenn removed his helmet, setting it down upon a nearby table he walked over to the pile inspecting it.

"Quite the original organization system there." He said sarcastically.

Hearing footsteps behind him, he looked behind him to see Tobbi and Dax had entered the house.

"What'd ya find?" Dax asked.

Fenn merely gestured to the pile with his two friends standing around it.

"What is all this stuff?" Tobbi asked, walking over to a large pile of discarded material the raiders appeared to have abandoned.

It was a bunch of items, from clothing to blasters, old armor and figurines with a few books even.

"Looks like the raiders couldn't get anything useful out of these leftovers." Fenn remarked, grabbing a particularly large but very much damaged blaster rifle. "Think the Forgemaster could rebuild this sucker? Love how it feels."

"Depends on what's salvageable. Rest will just be used for parts and smelting material."

Dax was on the other side of the pile, eyes skimming through what he assumed was mostly junk. None of it looked all that important really. Where did those raiders even get half this stuff? And better yet, why'd they take it to begin with? They discarded most of it anyway.

Spotting something unusual within the pile, Dax reached forward and pulled out one of the books within the pile.

It was quite rare to see an actual book these days as everything was on data pads for quite some time. What paper pages one could find would be old, torn and treated quite delicately as they'd be found in museums, collector halls and in some particular libraries.

Turning the book onto its front cover, Dax's eyes widened as he immediately recognized the symbol on the center of the old hard cover. Brushing his thumb over it, in case it was real or not, the indent was true.

It was the symbol of Clan Ordo!

Delicately opening the book to its first page with him inhaling sharply.

_Ubic Cuyir Nodew De Canderous Ordo._

'Canderous Ordo.' Dax internally read in complete and utter reverence and disbelief. It couldn't be.

Flipping to the next page over, he saw a faded photo of a group of unique individuals all standing side by side. There were humans, a Wookie, a Twi'lek, a Cathar and some kind of droid.

On the bottom of the photo was a scribbled down note in basic.

_To eternal friends, brothers and sisters. With them, we changed the galaxy._

Beginning to flip through the pages, Dax began reading every single word that his ancestor had written down.

What many may not know about Dax is aside from sharing the last name of the legendary Mandalore of old, he also shared his blood. He wasn't just a member of the clan Ordo but a direct descendant of the Preserver.

Something he takes pride in yet does not share.

He wished to attain his own legacy that leaned upon that of Canderous Ordo.

While Dax was roaming through the pages, his teammates were taking care of the real task at hand. They were quite focused on their roles that neither didn't notice Dax doing his part at all. It was only when they heard a soft 'thud' from the room did they turn towards Dax and notice him pick back up the book with a state of shock.

"The hell do you have there, Dax?"

Dax didn't say anything, only presenting it towards Fenn and Tobbi. Once out of his grasp, Dax waited to see their reaction. And after several minutes, they soon shared his earlier reactions.

"This… this is." Tobbi stammered.

Fenn's jaw only dropped. "Dax, how did…"

"We need to report this in." Dax stated.

"No kidding." Fenn said, reaching for his communicator.

"Already making the call." Dax informed them, soon requesting to directly access their leader via holo-com.

It took several moments before the image of Spar appeared before them.

" _What is going on? What is so urgent you needed to call now? Run into any problems?"_

"Hardly."

The Mandalore frowned in confusion. _"Then is the mission still underway or…"_

"No it's done. We were just about to call you to report on what we found."

" _Did you find-"_

"Unfortunately no, Mandalore. But we have a lead as to where he's at." Fenn informed. "Not just that, but we found something else you'll no doubt like."

" _Like…"_

"The journal of the Preserver."

This surprised Spar quite well on this bit of information. _"Interesting. Wonder why it was there of all places if Canderous Ordo was buried elsewhere."_

"That's what we'd like to know, but that's not the point." Dax said. "There were things in there that could prove beneficial for us all."

"One is the schematics of Basilisk War Droids."

There was a momentary lapse in silence from Spar, the Mandalorian Clone looking at his comrades in blatant surprise.

" _Truly? This isn't some kind of joke?"_

Dax shook his head with a manic grin, holding up the book to show him that they weren't joking. Spar couldn't help but stare for a moment of disbelief.

"It's all here Spar." Fenn said with a roguish grin.

Spar pondered a bit on this new bit of information. _"That will certainly help boost our numbers and morale."_ He then snorted. _"And it'll give us some fighting chance against our enemies, one way or another. Seems like the opportune time on what's about to happen."_

The trio looked at each other, wondering what was going on.

" _I was just about to call you three later in order to call off your search. I found what we were looking for. Head for these coordinates. I will meet you all there."_

"Are you certain about this, Spar?" Fenn asked.

" _Not a doubt in my mind, Vod."_

_-Scene Cut-_

Tatooine.

A desert world with a long history of being one of the center points of galactic crime, slavery, mercenary guilds and bounty hunters.

A planet ruled by the Hutt Cartels where much of their illegal business dealings and profits transpired. From pod racing, slave trading, simple to complex spice deals, weapons dealing, etc. etc.

The sight of four Mandalorians walking together was an unusual sight yet not as uncommon as some would see. To them, it only seems smarter that there are four Mandalorians walking together. Shows unity and a clear message that they cannot be dealt with so easily. Many a fool would play their hand at attempting to get their hands on Mandalorian equipment.

Most would see all sorts of bounty hunters roaming about, given this was a haven for the likes of them. But _their_ kind was a rare commodity in these parts.

Mos Eisley spaceport was known to be a city where the most vicious of criminals and bounty hunters converge. The most jobs can be found here as for the most opportunities.

Dax eyed a particularly scruffy looking human in an intimidating manner.

"You sure _he's_ here?" Dax inquired.

"I most certainly am." Spar said resolutely. "And where he most frequents."

The four Mandalorians stood in front of a cantina for several moments, the Resurrector entering first followed by the others.

Standing in at the entrance of the cantina, they all looked around the bar and its patrons. The majority kept on with their business, either personal or with others, while the rest soon took notice of them and tried to stay away.

It took some time from the hustling and bustling in the establishment for the Resurrector to spot their target.

"There." Spar said in a low voice, the others looking over to see a young boy seated within a booth along with several other individuals.

The young lad was nearing his teen years, having dark hair, tanned skin and brown eyes. With him was a female Palliduvan with ashen skin and a large ponytail, a trandoshan and another human, this one being slightly older and with clothing around his head.

"You three stay back." Spar instructed.

"Are you sure, Spar?" Fenn asked.

"Trust me on this one, my brothers." Spar said, walking over to the booth. "Just keep a little eye out if anyone wants to disturb this meeting."

Fenn watched their leader before clapping his friends on their shoulders. "Come on, let's get a drink boys."

Spar went on over to the booth as some people moved out of the way without him having to speak. When he got close, he was soon noticed by the booth's occupants.

The young boy gave the Mandalore a hard glare, a glint in his eyes as he gazed upon armor all too familiar to him. "What do you want?"

Spar merely shrugged. "Just a simple little chat. That's all."

"With whom?" Asked the Palliduvan.

The Resurrector merely tilted his head down before answering. "You, _Vod_."

"Excuse me?"

"He's talking about me, Aurra." the boy stated.

"The hell you mean by that, Boba?" Aurra inquired.

"What I mean exactly is that I wish to speak with him, _alone_." Spar said a bit more intensely now.

"And if he doesn't want to do that?" The Trandoshan said with a slight hiss.

"This is rather important." Spar insinuated.

Taking off his helmet, Spar was soon met with some glares by Boba's companions.

"What's a Clone doing here?" Asked the other human.

"Looks like a stray to me." Growled the trandoshan.

"Then why's he wearing Mandalorian armor? He stole it?"

"I earned it, actually." Spar corrected. "Is it too much for a father to speak with his son?"

"Don't play that card with us, Clone." Aurra sneered. "We know that Jango Fett died on Geonosis. Boba was there, he brought back his armor with him. We've been with him ever since."

Spar merely held up his hands. "Very well, I'll admit that much. I know I'm not exactly Jango Fett. But unlike all of the other Clones out there, I carry his memories; quite literally in fact."

Boba quirked a brow at that statement. "And that's supposed to mean…?"

Spar exhaled. "Jaster Mereel."

At the mention of that name, Boba's eyes narrowed.

"And what is that name supposed to mean to me?"

"Well it should." Spar remarked. "Considering how much Jango spoke of him. How he was raised by him, how he followed in his footsteps in becoming Mandalore." He leaned in closer. "How _you_ are the embodiment of Mereel's will."

Boba's face was stoic yet his eyes…

"Guys." Boba gazed down at the table. "Give me a moment."

"But Boba-"

"Please, Aurra. Just this once."

Aurra glared at Spar. "Try any funny business and I'll personally shoot you."

"Then have at it."

Aurra soon left the booth with the others following a little while after. Each were hesitant in wanting to do so, but the Palliduvan made them quickly comply to move elsewhere. They didn't exactly leave the room, only heading towards a good distance away as they were within eyesight of the booth Boba currently sat in.

"What do you want?"

"It should be obvious." Spar stated seating himself before his… brother so to speak. "Having his memories, I know how much Jango missed the Mandalorians, his people; your people."

"But he was banished."

"No." Spar shook his head. "Jango followed the old ways, the _true_ ways. Death Watch and The New Mandalorians merely branded him as such. For the Aka'liit, he was Mandalore. He ruled as our true Mandalore. For Jango inherited Jaster's will and title as he lay dying at Korda Six. For Jango was his son in all but blood."

Boba had his head down yet it was easy to see him trembling.

"Why are you telling me all this?" Boba asked sharply, eyes snapping up to glare at Spar.

"I wish for you to return home and rejoin your people."

"I was never a part of the Mandalorians." Boba stated.

Spar chuckled slightly. "You understand our words. You know our ways even if you don't even realize it. You were taught by your father in everything he knew before Geonosis. I merely want to help fill in what he did not complete before his abrupt passing by Mace Windu."

Boba's fist clenched tightly with a look of fury flashing across his face.

"I can already tell you want revenge on the man who took him away from you. But that's not what your father would've wanted. He would've wanted you to live on and have your own life and hopefully with-"

"What would you know?!" Boba roared. "You have my father's memories do you not?! You should know he _killed_ Torre Vizla in revenge for the death of _his_ father. How can you say that about revenge?"

Spar sighed, leaning back as he blankly stared at the ceiling.

"The thing about revenge, Boba, is what you get afterwards." Spar said. "Having his memories and all allows for such perspectives." He laughed bitterly. "Sometimes having all these memories is both a blessing and a curse."

The two sat there in silence.

"Getting your revenge, Boba, will gain you nothing." Spar stated. "Killing Torre got him nothing. It feels fulfilling, at first, but let me tell you Jango had nothing afterwards. His clan and brothers and sisters, dead. His title gone, stolen with his pride and dignity. Now tell me Boba, does that sound like something you want?"

Boba didn't respond.

"I retook the title in order to carry on Jango's memories in hopes of properly passing it onto you, his son and heir." Spar said with complete sincerity. "Please Boba, come home. Your people and your clan will welcome you with open arms."

Boba didn't say anything upon hearing these words.

Sighing once more, Spar pulled out a transmitter and placed it in front of Boba. "Take your time in thinking this over. You don't have to come back now as our doors will always be open to you. When you do, use this to reach me and I'll help you get back to where you belong in the galaxy."

All the while...

Fenn watched from the main bar in the center of the cantina as Spar spoke with the _true_ son of Jango Fett. It had taken a while but at long last, they had found him. Now here's to hoping they would join them.

From what he saw from his spot in the room, things were… heated and complicated. And from the way Spar soon left the booth and made his way out of the cantina, it seemed Boba wasn't going to join them right away.

It was understandable as the kid probably had other matters to attend to, on top of the recent offer. Who knows when he'll return to his people. But for now, Spar at least made contact.

Sighing, he turned his back onto the bar, he leaned back as his eyes wandered about the establishment. Dax and Tobbi were by his side, drinking and chatting about random topics while he continued to observe the patrons.

Nothing more than a hive of scum and villainy.

Yet… there seemed to be something amiss with the setting. And he spotted it quite fast upon finding a peculiar individual.

She was sitting alone with her posture straight and quite frankly one might call it polite with how her hands rested upon her lap as she gazed around the cantina herself. Her entire set of clothing was very green and a bit unusual.

She radiated such… purity and it was extremely out of place in this setting.

But above all else, what stood out to him were her eyes. Her big, large wide eyes that just added to her seemingly innocent disposition. And they pried his attention away from a pair of fleshy attenai dangling from her hairline.

Just who was this girl?

Curious about the young woman getting the better of him, Fenn briefly looked over to his Mandalorian brothers and saw that they were indisposed with their own matters.

Standing up out of his seat, he approached the strange woman who had her head bobbing back and forth as she hummed to herself.

Fenn cleared his throat, making her look up to him. "Excuse me, miss. This seat taken?"

"Oh no, please, help yourself." She gave him a kind smile that made him feel a bit bashful.

Nodding, Fenn sat down in front of her.

"I'm Fenn." He introduced himself. "Fenn Shysa."

"Mantis." She said cheerfully. "It is nice to meet you."

"Likewise." Fenn said. "So, what's a girl like you doing in a place like this?"

"Oh, I'm just waiting for some friends of mine." Mantis said

"Really?"

"Yes. We just arrived here not long ago."

"From where?"

"Can't say."

Fenn wondered if she was merely covering up something or was being quite honest with her answer. "Then what are you and your friends doing in these parts?"

"Finding someone."

"Who?"

"I don't know." She said honestly. "All we know is that they're related to our one friend and we're trying to reunite them."

"Huh, weird."

"Until then, we're just looking around for work."

"What kind of work?"

"Bounty hunting, most likely."

"...You don't seem like someone who's in such a profession."

"That's what Rocket said." Mantis remarked. "But you'd be surprised. I am a capable fighter now."

The flexing of her arms to be frank was adorable in the eyes of the seasoned warrior. And who was this Rocket? Probably one of her friends.

"So, you're a bounty hunter."

"Yeup~" Mantis nodded. "But we do a lot of other jobs as well. Bounty Hunting just looks like it's the easiest job for us to do."

Fenn wondered if she was just a rookie. She appeared to be. And he wondered how bad things will go with how pure she is and how she'll break at some point.

"What guild are you associated with?"

"The Guardians of the Galaxy." Mantis said with pride."

He wasn't quite sure if he heard that right. "The Guardians… of the Galaxy?"

She nodded her head happily. "Yeup~ Quill was once a Ravager but became his own team."

"Right… Ravagers." Fenn was clearly missing some information here.

Either the Ravagers was a new up and coming guild or some group that's been under a need to know basis.

He had been gazing silently at her for so long, Mantis had tilted her head with a curious look to her.

"What's wrong?" Mantis asked aloud, breaking Fenn out of his thoughts.

"Hmm?"

It took a moment to realize that he had been staring at her without saying a word.

"O-Oh, sorry about that I was just thinking, that's all."

"About?" She inquired.

"Er…" He didn't exactly know what to say here. "About… how you have such pretty eyes."

'Smooth, Fenn, real smooth.' He internally bonked himself on the head. 'Come on, man. You know you could do better than that.'

"You think they're pretty?"

Fenn was thrown off from the innocent question. He looked at her as she seemed to be hanging onto his throw off statement.

"Uh, yeah. They are." Fenn quickly added on. "Beautiful even."

"Really~?" Mantis was gaping slightly, lips twitching upwards. "I always thought they were ugly."

At that, Fenn found himself frowning. "Well I don't know who ever told you that, but ugly is the last thing that would come to mind."

"Oh~ Thank you~" Mantis gave him a beaming smile that he couldn't deny made her look prettier.

"Well who put the idea they were ugly in your head in the first place?"

"My friend, Drax. I was told by my other friend that Drax was trying to… what was it again? Letting me down easy as he wasn't interested."

"...Sounds like a really bad way of doing that."

Mantis only shrugged. "He was being honest."

Fenn eyed the strange girl. "Well, for what it's worth, I think you're beautiful."

Mantis only stared at him, eyes widening slightly before leaning forward with her hand outstretched. Blinking in confusion, Fenn jolted a bit away yet she still drew in closer with her soft hand placed upon his cheek. His own eyes widened when the tips of her antenna glowed with her eyes closing.

"You… you truly believe that." Mantis whispered.

He felt… _really happy_ all of a sudden when she touched him. He didn't know where that came from but that swelling feeling in his chest must have come from somewhere.

Pulling her hand back, the feeling left being replaced by pure bewilderment.

"Wha-what was that?" Fenn asked gazing at the now slightly bashful alien.

"When I touch someone, I can feel their feelings." Mantis admitted, holding her hand up, smiling down at it.

That was certainly an unexpected surprise.

"You could _feel_ my feelings?" Fenn inquired with Mantis nodding.

A moment went by when her face had a small red hue on her cheeks with a bashful smile now. "I've never been called beautiful before."

Blinking, Fenn had a small grin grow upon his face.

"Well get used to it." He declared. "Cause that's the only word I'd use to describe you whenever I think of you from now on."

The red on her cheeks grew with her now brightly smiling as she wrung her hands together.

"Really?~"

"Well, it's not the only word I'd use." Fenn said a moment later, putting on a more suave grin. "I've got a long list of-"

"Mantis, there ya are."

Both looked up to see a human male approaching with a maroon trench coat and brown hair.

"Hi, Peter. Are you done already?"

"Just barely. Everyone's meeting back on the ship and ready to head out."

"Wonderful." Mantis said.

Peter eyed the Mandalorian. "Who's your new friend?"

"Fenn Shysa." The Protector introduced himself, holding out a hand for the other human to shake which he did. "Hope you don't mind me keeping your friend here company."

"Peter Quill. And if ya didn't do anything to her..."

"Oh no, he was very kind." Mantis cut in with an emphatic smile. "He was very nice. He called me beautiful!"

Fenn slightly ducked his head down while a small smirk made its way onto his face.

Peter rose a brow on what she said before looking over to the Mandalorian. "You think some pretty words could convince her into doing something-"

"Hey." Fenn shot up from his seat. "Don't go getting your mind into the gutter like that. I ain't that type of guy."

Quill raised his hands up defensively. "Alright, alright, no problems here man. Just looking out for my friend here. Wouldn't want to get on Drax's bad side if anything were to happen to Mantis."

Fenn quirked a brow. "Same Drax who said she wasn't pretty?"

"Huh, you told him that?"

Mantis nodded her head with a large smile. "He called me beautiful."

Peter chortled slightly. "Well, you made her happy for today. Guess I can thank you for that. Sorry about that earlier comment. This place and all…"

"I get it." Fenn waved him off. "We're on Tatooine after all. Not a lot of friendly folks around here."

Nodding, Peter turned to leave with a nod to Fenn as a gesture of 'goodbye' with Shysa doing the same in return.

"Bye, Fenn." Mantis said, coming right up to his face. "I hope we see each other again."

Fenn blinked before he smiled softly at her. "Same here, Mantis. Try not to get into too much trouble."

Smiling at him, she strode past the Mandalorian and walked to catch up with Peter, the two exiting the Cantina a moment later.

Now it seemed he was looking forward to seeing her again.

"Blast, I should've asked for a way to contact her."

"So, who was that? Your new girlfriend?"

Fenn whirled around to see Dax grinning at him with a teasing look.

"She's not."

"Doesn't look that way."

"Shut up before I make you."

"Did you get a way to contact her again?"

Fenn wanted to retort but sighed. "No, but I will next time."

"That's the spirit." Dax clapped him on his back.

**Alright, there's another one done.**

**This one was especially tricky with how much of legends material we had to pull from in order to get this chapter out.**

**Just so you guys know, yes there may be inconsistencies here and there but they are there for the sake of the overall narrative.**

**I've been dying to get this chapter out cause the Mandalorians are probably my favorite faction within Star Wars. they're just so awesome and I can't wait to do more.**

**Next part will be REALLY awesome, I can tell you that much and it's gonna have a lot of surprises like this one.**

**So until next time.**

**Rate Read and Review and As Always Have Nice Day.**


	37. We Are Protectors Part 2

**Rate Read and Review and as Always Have Nice Day.**

Avengers Infinite Wars Chapter 37: We Are Protectors Part 2

"Still reading that book?" Tobbi asked, peering over Dax's shoulder with the Ordo clan member thoroughly engrossed within the journal.

Fenn was sitting right beside him, the two having gone over the pages multiple times.

They had long since returned to their home base of Concord Dawn. Though their trip to Tatooine had them return empty handed without Boba Fett, Spar remained optimistic in regards that his progenitor's son would come to them in time. They would just need to be patient.

Currently, the trio were in the main largest tent that Spar utilized as their main area of operations and mission debriefings.

"I can't help it." Dax admitted. "This is the journal of my ancestor, _the Preserver._ There's so much we can learn from this book alone."

"How in the hell was this _preserved_ for so long?" Fenn muttered in wonder. "I get the cover and all with the metal but even then, the pages seem a bit much."

"Well the ancient Canons of Honor was written upon old fabric of sorts that supposedly lasted for thousands of years until they were lost." Dax pointed out. "Though up to that point, most already memorized them or were copied on to other texts."

Ordo ran his fingertips over the pages with a slightly concentrated expression. "Even the pages feel weird actually. Like… some kind of metal alloy."

"Alloy?"

"Yeah here, feel it out." Dax held out the journal with Fenn taking it out of hands and brushed over it with his face changing.

"See?"

"What is that?" Fenn asked, handing it over to Tobbi who copied his friends motions having the same expression of confusion as they did.

"Kinda feels like… paper and metal if that makes sense." Tobbi surmised holding it out for Dax to take back.

"Spar said the same thing when he looked it over. Said it reminded him of Beskar." Dax bought up.

"Beskar?" Fenn muttered. "Like… like the paper is made of Beskar?"

Dax shrugged, placing the journal down at the table he and Fenn sat upon.

"There are clothing with certain metals weaved into the fabric. So it wouldn't be too much of a surprise if other materials, such as paper, had metal mixed in for preservation." Tobbi stated.

"If you say so." Flipping the page, Dax released a sigh. "Would not be great if this got burned. It will no doubt be pretty."

"You find anything else in that journal?" Tobbi asked.

"Yeah." Fenn took the book and opened to the latter half of The Preservers' journal. "Take a look at this."

Tobbi gazed at a series of unusual symbols and ciphers, some looking like Mandalorian characters and others being unfamiliar to him.

"What's this supposed to be?"

"We don't know." Dax said with the shake of his head.

"Could be something the _Preserver_ made up on his own and needs to be decoded or some unfamiliar language he picked up and used."

"Did you show this to Spar?" Dala asked, squinting at a symbol he tried to make out though to no avail.

Fenn nodded. "He recognized a few of the symbols and phrases. See this one here that looks like a helmet?" Tobbi nodded. "That's the symbol of an initiate after their training as a foundling is over and this curve here on the pistol is that of the moon of Dxun."

"Dxun…" Tobbi muttered. "Do we know that place?"

"Somewhat." Dax stated. "That moon was once used as a training ground for our people long ago. That planet has long since been abandoned."

Tobbi hummed in thought. Seems that whatever these symbols and cipher were that Canderous Ordo had written down, it looked like he wanted to tell them something.

Whatever that may be.

The trio then turned their heads to the front of the tent where the entrance flapped open with Spar walking in.

"There you all are." Spar said. "Wren told me I'd find you three mulling over that Journal."

"Sorry Spar, we just can't help it." Fenn admitted sheepishly.

"Well take that along with you then." Spar said. "Come on you three, it's that time again."

"That's today?" Dax said in surprise.

"You've all been busy." Spar reasoned. "One can forget their other duties. Let's not keep them waiting."

"Yes Mandalore."

The trio followed their leader towards the training grounds of the Protectors where they saw several dozen Mandalorians either engaged in sparring sessions or speaking with the foundlings under their care.

"Mandalore." A random Mandalorian said aloud with many turning their heads to their leader, calling out his title or bowing slightly in respect.

Spar simply waved them down, going over to the group of Foundlings which were under the instruction of Alrich and Ursa Wren the latter of whom wore a plainer set of clothing with a small bump on her stomach that was beginning to show.

"Mandalore." They both said in respect as he nodded at them both and stood before the large group of foundlings. There were about four dozen kids give or take with some other species aside from humans such as several Twi'leks, Rodians, a Togrutan and a Zabrak with all under the age of twelve.

He gazed upon them all with a scrutinizing eye.

"Foundlings." he began softly, moving to take his helmet off as he looked upon them all. "You are all the future of our race, our people, our culture. Our very way of life."

He gestured for them to follow with the group of children along with the instructors following him to the front of the training ground where he sat down upon a set of rocks. Spar waved his hand down, the children all seated themselves with several Mandalorians standing by his side with the rest surrounding the kids in an almost protective manner.

"I know some of you who were born into this way of life. Some who chose to do so where some had no choice at all and had nothing left." Spar began softly. "I know this is something you have all heard before, but I shall tell you this here and now. We are Mandalorians. We are your family. Everyone in this camp are brothers and sisters. We fight and die for each other to the end."

The kids gazed upon the Mandalore with wide eyes, being pulled in by the man's words

"If you are struggling, someone will be there to help you. An example is if you are struggling to get by or need a place to stay. Your neighbor will be expected to help give sanctuary and in turn you'd do the same when the time comes; whether you are a soldier or a farmer."

By this point, Fenn, Tobbi and Dax all stood with their Mandalore with Shysa being the first to speak.

"Unlike other societies and cultures, we are based upon meritocracy, valuing actions and achievements over status and rank. And yes we do have a dislike to hierarchy and no real interest in ranks unless it was rightfully earned. Only then will we respect such positions."

"Look no further than the legendary Mandalore of old known as the Binder." Dax stated. "He was nothing more than the son of a rug weaver and yet he earned the title and his place in our people's history."

"Or Mandalore the Hammerborn who was an orphan on the planet of Kol Atorn." Tobbi added.

"As you can see, the title of Mandalore can go to anyone." Spar lectured on. "Though gaining such a title is not one so easily achieved."

One of the children at the front of the Foundlings raised her hand with Spar gazing at her.

"Who was the first Mandalore?" She asked curiously, with many of the Foundlings sharing her question.

"Ah, now that correlates with the history of our people." Spar remarked with a small smile. "The history of our people date back thousands of years where we were once a singular race then a culture. It was once a religious warrior society under the Taungs with sophisticated laws and customs which went on to become the canons of honor, also known as the Mandalorian text of lore and behaviors."

"The Resol'nare?" A young boy spoke up.

"That's right, little one." Fenn nodded approvingly. "Those are the six actions for which the canons of honor were made from. The six tenets defining what it meant to be a Mandalorian at the time and any who wish to be considered as such were expected to abide by them.

One: wear Beskar armor. Two: speaking Mando'ade. Three: defending oneself and family. Four: contributing to the clan. Five: raising children in the Mandalorian ways. Six: answering the call to arms by the Mand'alor."

"This was during an ancient time, a different time." Spar stated. "A time where Mandalorians were constantly waging war upon the galaxy in their crusades."

The elder Mandalorians regaled the Foundlings of the Mando's that held the title of "Sole Ruler" and the many battles of old. The Foundlings learned of the Mandalores such as the Indomitable, the ultimate, the Preserver, the Avenger, the Vindicated, the Great and the Lesser.

"There was a time where we were once the undisputed sector of space that held true unity in comparison to the rest of the galaxy." Fenn spoke with great reverence with the other Mandalorians picking up on whom it was he was referring to.

"Aga Awaud." A Mandalorian decked in red armor with a black ponytail, green eyes and olive skin said with beaming pride. "The Great Uniter of our people. He orchestrated the event known as _The Return_ during a dark time in the galaxy's history. The Mandalorian sector was uncontested and unbreakable during that period."

"You would feel proud of that, Nam." Alrich said with a grin, nudging the Mandalorian.

"I can't help to be proud of my Clans history." Nam said with a smug smile.

"Are we united now?" A Twi'lek boy asked with his hand raised.

Many of the Mandalorians either tensed up or hung their heads.

"No." Spar said stoically. "Unfortunately, we are not united as we once were."

"Why?" Another kid asked.

"It's… a complicated answer." Spar admitted. "We had splintered after the Great Annihilation of our homeworld of Mandalore by the Republic. Many clans had risen in hopes of gaining power and uniting our people once more." Spar then spat at the ground. "But they had lost their way. Many had used their names and positions as a means of garnering support while forgetting the old ways, the _true ways_ of our people. Earning your place amongst the clans, not bartering or using crutches."

Spar stood from his seat and gazed upon all the foundlings.

"The Mandalorian way of life is all about conflict, throwing yourself at it for the improvement of the clan and of one's self." Spar said emphatically. "We are warriors but not savages. The Mandalore, Jaster Mereel, created the Super Commando Codex which we follow to this day. The one's known as Death Watch and _New_ Mandalorians are nothing more than pretenders. The former wish to continue our barbaric ways of old which would lead us to death. And the New Mandalorians are nothing more than cowards who have abandoned their warrior spirit and become nothing more than dogs to the Republic even if they deny it."

Spar regarded them all.

"It is time you all begin your proper training." Spar declared with many Foundlings looking about excitedly with the older Mando's smirking slightly at their reactions.

"We shall start with the war chant that every Mandalorian knows in their induction to our way of life: the Dha Werda Verda."

_-The Next Week-_

"So who's next on our list today?" Spar drawled out.

The former Clone Arc Trooper sat within his tent of the Protectors encampment with many of his closest friends and allies around him. They had gone about the usual business of training, sparring, instructing the Foundlings while going over resources and numbers.

In their recent plights and sightings, they had experienced a surge within their numbers as well as planets within the Mandalore Sector openly declaring their loyalty for the Protectors. Planets such as Ordo, Shogun and Vorpa'ya all have openly and proudly declared their allegiance for the Mandalorian Protectors, the _True_ Mandalorians.

Due to their ever increasing presence, so to speak, taking on jobs and activity within the Outer Rim territories they had been getting multiple requests and meetings from high ranking individuals across the galaxy. This has been ongoing for some time now and has recently doubled this past week alone.

He was honestly rather tired today, what with a flood of messages from factions and individuals from all across the galaxy hoping to curry favor with the Protectors.

"Another guild, Mandalore." Tobbi said, giving the leader a sympathetic look.

"And who is it this time?" Spar asked, rubbing his nose slightly.

"The Bondsman Guild." Fenn said with a slight grimace.

Spar blinked in surprise. "Them again? How many times have they contacted us?"

"This makes it fifteen." Ursa Wren stated. "Though this time it appears they have opted to change tactics."

The Mandalorians looked at Ursa with slight wariness.

"And that means?" Dax asked for the group.

"The chief agent and organizer has come himself with one other agent." Ursa said.

Spar rubbed his chin in thought, mulling over this little detail before nodding. "Alright, let them come."

"They've been waiting on the outskirts of the camp for some time." Ursa stated.

"Wait, what?" Fenn remarked. "How'd they know where to find us?"

While they had already openly ousted themselves to the Mandalore Sector overall, knowledge of their encampment was limited to very few. The only ones who would be aware of their camp would either be the New Mando's, Death Watch, anyone they've entrusted the location to or…

_*FWIP*_

… Other Mandalorians.

There, standing at the entrance of the tent was a man in his late 20's with a slight grin and to his side a large well armored Mandalorian. He wore primarily blue armor with the traditional Mythosaur skull emblem upon his right shoulder pauldron. His gauntlets and greaves were a rusty brown color and he had a cape over his large heavy repeater blaster cannon.

"Paz?" Dax said aloud in surprise, standing up from his chair and going over to greet the Mando he apparently knew.

"Good to see you again, Dax." Paz removed his helmet to reveal a small perm like black hair with a black beard and goatee with streaks of white at the bottom.

"Glad we can start on more familiar terms, Mando's." The guild agent that had accompanied Paz boisterously declared. "It's a pleasure to meet you all. I'm Greef Karga, head agent and job distributor of the Bondsman Guild."

"What are you doing here, Karga?" Tobbi asked, tone suspicious.

"Well I figured it should be obvious, should it not?" Greef said with a light chuckle. "I wish to create a working relationship with your faction of Mandalorians. Paz here suggested you'd be the more preferable over the others."

"Really?" Spar gazed at Paz with an analytical gaze. "What is your clan?"

"Vizsla." Paz answered straight away with many blinking in surprise.

"Paz Vizsla." Fenn said the full name. "Of House Vizsla. The very same clan the True Mandalorians warred with years ago. The one leading Death Watch and the one we will undoubtedly clash with once more."

Paz only nodded. "The very same."

"And you come here," Spar stood up from his seat. "To our camp knowing full well of our current standings with your clan." He stood directly in front of the Vizsla clan member. "Knowing that we may simply kill you where you stand."

Paz stared back at the Clone of Jango Fett unflinchingly, nodding silently.

"So tell me then." Spar eyed the taller Mando, searching for any means of ulterior motives. "Why come to us? Why should we trust you with anything you have to say or offer?"

"Because it's not him, remember?" Greef smoothly inserted himself in between Paz and Spar with his hands raised in an amicable manner.

"Paz here is one of my best partners, the best Bounty Hunter in the guild to be perfectly honest." Greef stated, backing away to pat the aforementioned Mando on the shoulder. "Only a few really exceed Paz here in skill. And they're far and few in between."

"Then why us specifically?" Fenn spoke up questioningly.

Greef scoffed jokingly. "Are you kidding me? Why wouldn't I choose you. When it comes down to it, nobody beats a Mandalorian bounty hunter. They've been the best for centuries. I mean, Jango Fett's name is still known throughout the Outer Rim. I believe a partnership could be beneficial for us."

Spar stepped back, the silent gesture conveying for him to continue.

"I understand that you can more than likely succeed on your own but be rational. It would be an uphill battle would it not? I know you are all skilled and can get the resources and credits needed to help yourselves, Paz here is more than proof of that." Greef tapped Vizsla on his chest plate. "Partnering up with us will get you a steady stream of jobs and credits that can help ya in the long run. Hell, you can even recruit others to your ways if you'd be feeling they're worth your time."

The Protectors regarded the agent and the other Mando. He had some good points. And say what you will about opposing clan members, he came here with another Mandalorian.

"Say we do accept your proposal." Ursa said slowly. "What are we even agreeing to? Jobs and bounties are one thing but we'd rather not be bound to a guild should we decide to cut ties."

"Fine by me." Greef stated aloud. "With a whole army of Mando's tied to us, our numbers will swell and when you all cut ties I'm sure that those who come after will bolster our guild numbers."

The Protectors were silent, all sharing looks between one another.

"Let us at least digest your offer before we come to a decision. You'll learn by tomorrow at the latest." Spar said.

"Completely understandable. I'll wait for your call tomorrow." Greef said with a smile. "Have a good day."

The guild representative soon exited the room with Paz soon following, only sharing one last look with Spar as he did so. When both guild members were out, the other Mandalorians looked towards each other.

"What do you figure?" Fenn asked. "Should we take him up on the offer?"

"It would do us well to get a higher influx of currency." Alrich Wren said with a pragmatic tone. "It will help in the accumulation of resources. My partners from MandalMotors would find it useful and help build up our ships more."

On that, most would have to concur to a valid point on the necessity of money.

"Not to mention with those droid schematics you recently acquired. We need more materials for them than ships with the amount you plan on having." Dax pointed out.

"If we're all in agreement to this, it has to be unanimous." Spar spoke up. "I may be Mandalore but lest we forget the codex and the reason why we chose to keep to our old ways. Are we to ally ourselves with the bondsman guild?"

"I'm for it." Alrich said, his wife Ursa nodding in agreement.

"Might as well. Need to do certain jobs at a faster rate." Tobbi stated.

"We could use them to help train the foundlings." Dax added with many murmuring in agreement.

"Then we have made our decision." Spar declared.

The next day, Spar and his closest allies made their agreement with Greef Karga, the Guild Agent grinning proudly with a feeling of accomplishment at being able to get the Protectors to join in the guild. The higher echelons of the bounty hunter guilds will be greatly appreciative of the man's endeavors here on Concord Dawn.

During the agreement, Paz Vizsla stood off to the side and watched as Karga finalized the agreement with Spar. Though he was not alone.

"Tell me." Fenn Shysa stood beside him, helmet off though still in armor. "Why come to us? Why not your clan? Are you not Mandalorian?"

"Proud Mandalorian." Paz stated.

"Then why are you not with your clan? Why not Death Watch?"

"They would lead us only to death and ruin." Paz said in a tone that conveys how much he believed those words. "We had a chance once with Jaster Mereel. It was my clan that squandered and killed that chance and resorted to deceit and lies to achieve victory. You could not find a more insulting means of killing a Mandalorian then through those underhanded tactics."

Fenn eyed the fellow Mando as he seemed to swell with every passing word.

"I mean to return my Clan to its former glory." Paz declared. "To the days where we were the clan that held back the darkness when all else could not. And I shall do so, here and now."

Shysa mulled Paz's words in his head, nodding slightly. "Well… should you ever wish to find a place to call your own you are welcomed here then."

Paz turned to Fenn in surprise.

"You brought us a great boon that will help the Protectors in the long run and the short run." Fenn said plainly. "Though they had come to us many times, you personally chose to come here for this reason. That's a respectable decision that I admire."

He held out his arm. "Though we have only just met, it's a pleasure to know that there are Mandalorians out in the galaxy that believe in our way."

Paz squared his shoulders up, grabbing Fenn's arm and shaking once before departing from the camp and the planet altogether.

Sometime after Greef Karga and his group left, Spar and the rest of the Protectors were making preparations for other jobs and tasks when they spotted something coming through their long range scanners. It wasn't anyone they recognized, making them be weary and be on guard. When a number of them came outside of the main compound, they saw it was a Separatist ship.

"Is it the Trade Federation or Techno Union this time?" Dax asked, hand over his eyes as he squinted at the oncoming ship.

Spar's eyes narrowed. "No. Worse than that."

He immediately walked towards the entrance of the camp where the ship hovered while gesturing for Mandalorians to be prepared for anything.

Once the ship landed, a ramp was formed with the door sliding open. With the fumes released into the air, several figures came down and approached the Mandalorians. One was male Weequay, a female Mirialan, a Dathomirian female and-

"Count Dooku."

The Leader of the Separatist Alliance eyed the Mandalorian Leader with a calculative gaze.

"You are not Jango Fett, are you?" Dooku said knowingly.

"Course not." Spar remarked. "Died on Geonosis. You clearly saw that happen."

"Could be arguable now as you present yourself as _him_ , let alone act like _him_."

"Is there a point as to why you're here, Count?"

"Straight to the point, I see. Then I'll get right to it. I wish for you and your Protectors to join the Separatist Alliance."

"...Why in the hell would we ever follow the Jedi or the Sith?" Spar said with a snarl. "In case you don't know, I remember. I remember _everything_. It was your Jedi strike team that killed off the original, True Mandalorians back on Galidraan."

To say that Dooku was expecting the mention of Galidraan was certainly not what he figured he would be confronted with when arriving on this planet.

"I have them all." Spar said emphatically, jabbing the side of his temple. "All of _his_ memories. _Every_ meeting he ever had, _every_ conversation, _every_ battle, _every_ moment. And I remember _you_ Count Dooku, quite vividly."

The companions behind Dooku tensed up, slowly reaching for their lightsabers while keeping their eyes upon the many Mandalorians who were now beginning to hold their hands over their blasters.

Dooku's eyes narrowed as he gazed upon one of the millions of clones of Jango Fett who was glaring back at him.

"I hope you haven't forgotten, Jedi." Spar remarked. "That we are _Mandalorians."_

"You call our master _that_ , clone?" Spoke the female Mirilian, grasping her lightsaber and ready to ignite it.

In an instant, nearly several dozen blasters were drawn up and pointed directly at the four Force-Users.

"Why yes I have. What are you gonna do about it, _poser_?"

The Mirialan snarled alongside her fellow female acolyte while the male one was more neutral. Spar shook his head at her direction, returning his focus upon Dooku.

"As I was saying, we are Mandalorians Dooku. When it comes down to it, we know better than _anyone_ else within this galaxy on how to kill both the Jedi and the Sith." Spar stated, stepping right up in front of the Count's face. "And we have suffered enough under your ways. The Sith have used us as disposable tools throughout the centuries. The Jedi, in their eternal fear of us, basically destroyed our homeworld leaving millions to die. We shall never again fall under the sway of the Sith nor hold court with the Jedi. And it will take _a lot_ to make us rethink that."

By this point, the tension was palpable to say the least.

The meeting was short yet it ramped up to this level in a matter of minutes. Both sides were in a standoff with neither backing down.

Spar grinned. "I can see it in your eyes. You wanna cut me down, right here, right now. Go ahead. I dare you."

Dooku didn't move.

"Never forget, _Jedi_. You can cut us down all you want but we will always get back up and fight back against the tide. That has and always will be our way."

"This is the Way." The Mandalorian Protectors said aloud, their collective voices echoing across the area.

…

…

…

The Sith Lord let out an exhale to calm himself. "Very well."

The Count's eyes bore into the Clone Mandalore. "Know this, we will make your lives rather hard for not considering joining the Separatist cause."

Spar only snorted, a challenging grin. "More like your Master's cause, _Tyrannus_."

Dooku snarled, turning about with his cape billowing in the wind as he and his acolytes returned to their ship all the while ignoring Spar's taunts.

"And make our lives hard?" Spar mocked. "That is when a Mandalorian _thrives."_

The Protectors let out a unified cheer, hollering and jeering at the retreating dark-side practitioners with the two females glancing back with glaring sneers.

The ship soon departed a few moments later with Spar still standing at the front of the camp with Fenn, Ursa, Tobbi and Dax joining his side.

"We're gonna need to beef up our security and patrols." Spar said lightly. "Dooku will no doubt send forces our way at some point."

"And we'll be ready."

_-Scene Cut-_

"Breshig, huh?" Dax gazed down upon the planet they were approaching. "You sure about this place, Alrich?"

The Clan Wren member smirked, walking over to nudge the Ordo with his shoulder.

"Positive." Alrich stated. "Breshig holds a history to our people and has its own set of resources we can use in building up our resources."

"If you mean mass extermination, then yes, Breshig is important." Fenn said aloud, walking over to the two.

"Oh yeah, our ancestors killed the species native to this world here." Dax said aloud blankly. "Who were they again?"

"Not worth remembering unfortunately." Spar said from the front of the ship as he flew it down to the planet.

With them was a contingent of a dozen Kom'rk starfighters being led by the lone gunship being piloted by Spar and Tobbi.

Their objective on Breshig was hopefully simple. They wanted to see if the locals would assist them in establishing a makeshift factory that would aid the Protectors in rebuilding their ships and weaponry to help regain the lost strength of the Mandalorians.

Alrich and Ursa had several contacts at Breshig and they spoke of several towns and small cities that seemed viable though at the behest of Ursa, it would be better to choose one of the smaller villages first in hopes of gaining supporters for their faction.

Though they were coming in force, it was not to subjugate the people of the planet. They were in the Mandalore sector of space thus falling under the category of Mandalorians. The Protectors only hoped they would see it that way.

After the splintering of the Mandalorian clans and people, the Mandalore Sector was never the same. Planets that would normally have hundreds, if not thousands of traditional Mandalorians seemingly died out or abandoned their homes.

Returning to the old nomadic ways of life. Mostly chaotic in retrospect.

It hasn't been an easy time for the Mandalorian people, but the Protectors were adamant about restoring their people even if they have to drag them back to their former glory.

The "small" fleet of thirteen ships eventually made their way down towards a small village with about four or five dozen homes and other buildings that made up the settlement.

Landing on the east side of the village, the Mandalorian Protectors began exiting their ships while unloading supplies with Spar taking a layout of the land.

"Secure the area." Spar ordered with half of his forces following through with the instructions. "Alright, Alrich. You said your man is here, correct?"

Alrich nodded. "This way, Mandalore. He's expecting us at the village."

Spar along with Alrich, Fenn and several Mandalorian guards began walking towards the village which wasn't that far off. It was a short walk, the Protectors spotting a singular individual standing before them with a small grin.

Spar's eyes widened in complete disbelief upon seeing just who it was that stood before him.

"Took you long enough." the man said with a growing grin upon seeing Spar.

He wore primarily brown shock trooper armor with varying shades of the color with brownish-silver hair, blue eyes and a light complexion.

"Kal Skirata?" Fenn spoke up in recognition.

"Oh, you know about me?" Kal said with a shake of his head. "And here I thought I was forgotten."

"Hard not to, sir." Spar said with the utmost respect. "You helped Jango train the first batch or two of clones on Kamino."

"Good to see you again, Spar." Kal said boisterously, walking up to the clone, patting him on the shoulder. "You've done well for yourself I see. Carrying the traditions of the Mandalorians and the title of Mandalore. Couldn't be prouder of ya, son."

"This is your contact, Alrich?" Fenn asked, turning to the Mandalorian artisan and engineer.

"Sure is." Alrich nodded, going over to Kal with the two exchanging a traditional arm shake. "What do you have for us, Kal?"

"Something I know you all will love." Kal said, gesturing for them to follow him. They followed after the aged Mando into the village where they saw many civilians, primarily human, look on at the Protectors in wonder.

"You'll have to excuse the stares." Kal said. "They haven't seen many Mandalorians in full armor in quite some time."

"Better get used to it then." Fenn remarked, making Kal chortle.

"Ah, here we are." Kal announced standing before a particularly large square-like building with the Skirata clan member going up to the door.

"This factory may be down, but once Alrich brings in more proper help and gets it up and running, it'll be as good as new." Kal then opened the door to reveal...

"Is that what I think it is?" Fenn said aloud, quickly removing his helmet to make sure he wasn't seeing things.

"It is." Kal's grin threatened to split his face open as he walked over a six legged gargantuan droid. It had two front large clawed feet while it's back four legs were much smaller though it had a tail that seemed to help in balance. The most eye catching aspect of this large mechanical being was its face that appeared to be entirely made of blaster barrels.

"A basilisk war droid." One of the Mandalorians muttered in disbelief.

"Where in blue blazes did you dig this thing up?" Spar asked in awe, going over to the ancient weapon that once aided the Mandalorians in their old wars against the galaxy.

"One of my latest excursions in the next sector over." Kal informed. "Uncovered a hidden bunker with some armaments here and there. This was among them. It could use some spit shine and tuning, but once done it'll be good as new."

"How much are we talkin'?" Alrich inquired, going over to inspect the War-Droid on all sides.

"Credits or work?"

"Both." Fenn stated.

"More than I can give ya, that's for sure."

"Then it's a good thing we made that deal with the Bondsman Guild." Spar said aloud. "Now we just gotta get Dax here with The _Preserver's_ Journal to help out with mass production."

Kal blinked. "I'm sorry, but whatcha say?"

Spar gave the elder Mando a roguish grin.

"If you were more in touch with us, then you'd be more in the loop with what one of my boys found." Spar stated. "We have recently uncovered the lost Journal of Canderous Ordo, better known to us as Mandalore the Preserver."

Kal gaped in shock. "Where in the hell did you find that?!"

"Mission to the planet Ordo itself we-"

"Well, what's this?"

The Protectors all turned around to see a Mandalorian in blue and grey armor. Though it wasn't any ordinary, traditional armor. No, this armor had a particular three pronged red marks on his left shoulder. A traditional jetpack with a rocket attached and over the right shoulder laid a particular hilt sticking out.

His helmet was also quite distinguished from usual helmets, having yellow highlights and markings to signify their clan.

"Vizsla." Spar snarled.

"Ah yes, Mandalore the _Pretender_." The head of house Vizsla removed his helmet to his sneering face. Slicked back blond hair with dull blue eyes.

"Hark who's talking, _savage_." Fenn countered. "We follow the true path of the Mandalorians, not the barbaric ancient ways that lead to the annihilation.

Pre Vizsla scoffed before looking over to the oldest Mando present.

"Skirata." Pre said, placing his free hand over his chest in respect.

"Hello, Pre. Long time." Kal said neutrally. "Surprised to see you around these parts after what you've done."

"What I've done?" Pre asked in a taunting manner. "And what would that be? Remain true to who are people truly are?"

"Oh let's see from this long list I have here." Kal rhetorically said. "Murder, terroristic attacks, assassination attempts against our own people. Need I go on?"

"You say it one way, it's the opposite on the other."

"The way that would get us all killed." Spar retorted, holding up his blaster.

"Oh, what are you going to do with that, _Pretender_? Kill me?" Pre mocked.

"Don't tempt us." Alrich said aloud, holding out his own blaster pistol.

"Don't challenge us, Vizsla." Spar declared, leveling his rifle up at Pre's face. "You, especially _you_ of all people should remember that every time Death Watch had challenged the True Mandalorians, they were beaten back. Your kinsman, Tor, had to resort to lies and trickery to beat Jaster and Jango."

"Not to mention giving us a bad name as we're trying to make things right since the war." Fenn added.

Pre only glared hatefully back at the Protectors.

"Is this how you speak to a fellow Mandalorian?"

"No, it's how we speak with a madman who would lead our people to our doom." Spar said, his weapon letting out a hum of energy signifying that it was now armed.

"I'm only gonna give you this one chance, Vizsla." Spar warned. "Leave now. No bloodshed is needed."

Vizsla stared defiantly at the blaster before his face morphed into that of manic grin.

Suddenly over Spar's wrist com, a voice screeched out loud altering everyone present.

" _Spar! We got contact!"_

From all over within the village and on its outskirts, blaster fire and explosions erupted all around them making the Protectors tense up in alarm.

More members of Death Watch suddenly appeared, flying high in the air with their jetpacks and firing at the Protectors.

One of them was shot down while the rest fell back into the warehouse, firing in return at the attacking members of Death Watch.

Overreaching to the hilt on his jetpack, Vizsla pulled it out and ignited a blacked lightsaber blade. He then shot into the air with his jetpack flaring as several members of Death Watch storming into the chamber. "Secure the Basilisk! We can't let it fall onto their hands!"

"Protectors, get to the village now." Spar ordered. "It's the damn Death Watch."

" _We're under attack on our end, Mandalore."_ Dax Ordo chimed in. _"We can only send a few over."_

"A few is better than nothing." Spar declared, popping out from his cover to fire at the flying Death Watch members getting two of them. "Protectors, move. Keep them away from the Basilisk."

"Leave that to me." Kal Skirata declared, dashing over to a nearby bench that had a jetpack, his armor and weaponry.

Spar all the while flew out of the warehouse with Fenn and the remaining four Protectors to engage the Death Watch.

Mandalore made a beeline straight for Pre, the Vizsla member holding up the Darksaber over his head to strike. Thanks to Kal Skirata and Jango Fett's personal training of him and his clone brothers back on Kamino, Spar propelled himself to go faster with his helmet bashing into Pre's gut.

The two momentarily plummeted before they engaged each other in an aerial battle.

Fenn, in the meantime, fought valiantly against the members of Death Watch. They outnumbered him and his squad 3 to 1 so they had to resort to strafing tactics, constantly going in and out of cover.

Diving down behind a wall for cover, Fenn leaned up against the house when he heard screaming. Eyes widening, Fenn turned towards the village and saw the inhabitants running about screaming in terror.

Gritting his teeth, he flew out of his cover with his jetpack on full blast as he flew forward towards several Death Watch members. He first used his flamethrower to throw them off before killing them with quick precision to their chest or heads. Whirling back around, Fenn spotted a particular Death Watch member burning a house with its occupants fleeing for their lives.

A reddened two pronged symbol as it curved inwardly. The symbol of Fenn's most hated enemy.

"Saxon!"

Whirling around, Gar looked at his old rival and snarled. "Fenn."

Both Mandalorians opened fire upon each other, dodging and rolling out of their opponent's line of sight.

"Should have figured you'd be here with these assholes." Fenn shouted, holstering his blaster rifle and wielding his pistols now.

"Hark who's talking _Pretender."_ Gar Saxon shouted back.

"God I forgot how annoying your voice is." Fenn said under his breath.

"Hey Fenn!"

Shysa momentarily glanced behind him with a relieved smile at the sight of his friends Tobbi Dala and Dax Ordo leading around two dozen Protectors to assist them in battle.

"What took ya so long?" Fenn called out to them.

"Oh you know, the usual." Dax said, already firing at the Death Watch members.

"They're attacking the villagers and the town." Fenn said. "Tobbi, you help keep the civilians safe and secure this village. The rest of you are with me."

"What about me? "Dax asked.

"See that big building?" Fenn pointed over to the warehouse with Dax nodding. "There's a Mandalorian in there named Kal Skirata. With him is a Basilisk War droid."

"A Basilisk War Dro-"

"Yes, that." Fenn cut him off. "Get over there and keep it out of Death Watch's hands. The last thing we need is for them to get their hands on something like that."

Dax only nodded, activating his jetpack on full blast as he rocketed towards the warehouse, bobbing and weaving around the battle that only increased in intensity with the addition of more fighters.

Fenn turned back in time to see Saxon flying right towards him, the Mando grabbing him by the throat with the two going up into the air to resume their battle.

Tobbi led his group of Protectors in sweeps across the village, firing at Death Watch members while calling for the villagers to get to safety and away from the battle.

Spar was still engaged in a heated fist/blaster/flamethrower fight with Pre with neither of the two relenting upon one another.

Back inside of the warehouse, Kal and Dax were holding the line against several Death Watch members. They were forced to retreat back as they were being outgunned.

Looking over nearby, Dax spotted the console connected to what they came here for in the first place. Knowing what he needed to do, he spoke towards Kal just as he shot down one of their opponents.

"Cover me!"

"You out of your mind."

"Probably. Just need to activate the droid."

"That's not how it works!" Kal fired off the only rocket he had at their opponents, wasting the only trump card he had left.

Dax had already rushed over to the droid and immediately began fiddling with it.

"Yes, I am perfectly aware, Kal." Dax rambled, sifting through the controls and wires trying to remember how exactly the whole thing worked from what the journal told him. "Emphatic bond, it's psychic, semi-sentient, yadda, yadda, yadda."

"Blaster, now!"

Dax tossed over one of his spar blasters to Kal before resuming his task. "Need to make this work or else we're all dead."

Typing away on the controls, Dax had to quickly input the commands and designations as to who was friend and foe. And since all the Mandalorians present on the planet were brandishing their marks, it'll be easier for the droid to filter things through.

His task was becoming a little difficult as he had to occasionally duck from the blaster fire. Even when some were hitting the back of the console.

"You're taking your sweet time there, kid!" Kal yelled out.

"Would be longer if I didn't know what I was bloody doing!" Dax shouted back, slamming a hatch down.

With a final stroke, Dax pulled the lever. Sparks went alive as lights soon lit up from the droid. Rustic creeks were soon heard within the warehouse as a metallic roar was emanated. It wobbled slightly yet still moved forward with its rider atop it.

Dax could only smile as the cables detached before giving a simple command. "Sick 'em."

Outside of the warehouse, the firefight still waged on with civilians running all over in order to find safety. One particular family swerved left and right to avoid the blasts all around them.

"They're coming." Spoke the mother, holding onto her frightened son.

The father could only look on ahead, guiding his loved ones along. "I know, but we must-"

*KABOOM*

The parents fell over from the nearby blast. Scrambling onto their feet, they made their way towards the bunker at their family home while many neighbors fled or fell to the ground dead.

After what felt like forever, they soon reached their home with the father opening the bunker doors. The mother looked over and saw several Death Watch members coming their way. The father saw this too, realizing on what needed to be done.

"Stay here, son. You'll be safe." Said the father, placing him inside the bunker.

"But-"

"I'm sorry, but it's for your own good." Said the boy's mother as she soon closed the doors. "We love you. Don't ever forget that."

"Come on you big bastard, swerve properly." Dax gritted out, trying his damndest in keeping the old War Droid steady. It was rampaging about around the warehouse, firing at any Death Watch members that got within its sights.

Though it held together, it was clear that Kal was right; this Basilisk needed _serious_ maintenance. Yet all the same, the droid proved to be both effective in firepower and frightening the Mando's of Death Watch.

They were firing at him, though hesitantly. It appeared none wanted to be on the receiving end of this behemoth of a droid.

"Dax."

He looked over his shoulder to see Tobbi flying overhead.

"The hell are ya doing?"

"Trying to get this overgrown robot lizard to work properly." Dax shouted, trying to steer the droid away from a house.

"What did the journal say?"

"I barely remember right now!"

"How could you not remember something like that right now?"

"Tobbi, now really isn't the time!"

"Both of you shut up."

They both saw a Death Watch member fly by with Fenn in hot pursuit, stopping momentarily beside them.

"We gotta drive these guys outta here, now." Fenn stated. "They're causing hell across the village."

"We can do that," Dax said, now slapping the control panel of the droid rapidly. "If this could just work properLEEE!"

The Basilisk War Droid abruptly reared back on its hind legs and tail, unleashing a booming roar before going back down on its front legs and beginning to sprint forward towards a group of Death Watch Mando's.

They all saw the war droid pounce up towards them, with their eyes nearly popping out of their skulls at what was coming.

Their momentary lapse in shock was their undoing, the war droid blasting them to death landing on the ground before moving on to its next targets.

Over with Spar and Pre, Spar had landed a spinning kick to the Vizsla's chest making him flail about in the air.

He righted himself and glared hatefully at the Clone Mandalorian.

"Pre." Gar Saxon's voice chimed in through the comms. "We're taking heavy losses right now. Half our forces are gone and we've got more of those Protectors coming in."

Pre snarled beneath his helmet, looking towards Spar that hovered before him with his arms raised.

Begrudgingly, he knew what he had to do. There were more pressing matters to attend to in the coming days. Matters concerning their homeworld.

"Call in a retreat." Pre ordered reluctantly. "This is a lost cause."

_-Scene Cut-_

Scouring through the wrecked village, The Protectors were going about helping find survivors. And so far, there were more dead than alive right now and it was sickening.

"How did this happen?" Tobbi asked in a depressed manner.

"Death Watch holds nothing sacred." Spar said with a venomous tone. "All they care for is this maddening return to the old ways."

"This is the old way?" Tobbi said in disgust.

Spar was silent, simply patting Dala's shoulder as he went to go assist his followers in helping the villagers.

Fenn Shysa walked alone among the wreckage of the town, helmet under his arm with a saddened frown marring his face. This was all an unnecessary fight. So many people up and died for nothing more than a damned rivalry between Mandalorians.

Shaking his head, he continued on his trek throughout the two helping who he could in any way that he can.

He eventually came across a home, frowning upon seeing what appeared to be a married couple lying on top of the entrance of a bunker. Coming closer, gently pulled them off and laid them down properly. As he did, he heard some muffled crying from there.

Grasping the handles, Fenn opened the doors and saw a young boy cowering. The boy was huddled down, garbed in a red garment of some kind that obscured his face.

"Hey, it's alright. The fighting's over." Fenn said softly.

The boy jolted at the voice, glancing over to Shysa before swiftly turning back.

When Fenn started coming inside, the boy crawled back in fright.

"I'm not here to hurt you, I swear. Trust me, please."

To emphasize this point, Fenn placed his helmet down before tossing his blasters away from him. He then disabled some of his other weapons on his person and raised up his hands.

"See, harmless." Fenn said with a small smile.

The child blinked, facing the Mandalorian.

Shysa held out his hand for the kid to grab with the boy hesitantly reaching out to him.

Above ground, one of the Protectors came around to help move the many corpses to give proper burials. He soon saw Fenn carrying a child in his arms, who was quite shaken.

"Who you got there, Fenn?"

"An orphan. Maybe a Foundling."

"He got a name?"

Before Fenn could answer, the boy spoke weakly. "It's Din Djarin."

"There, see." Fenn said, making the kid bounce slightly in his arms. The kid had a small smile at the action before it changed into one of sorrow.

Fenn blinked, looking at Din's face before looking over to what caught the kids attention. The married couple that he had found covering the cellar door that Din resided in.

Sighing, Fenn set the kid down with the boy going over to his parents.

"Don't worry, Din. We'll give your parents a proper burial." Fenn assured, placing a comforting hand atop the boy's head.

Din only sniffled, tears streaming down his face. Wordlessly, Fenn kneeled down and had his arm around Din's shoulder with the boy moving to hug Shysa with him reciprocating the gesture.

"It's alright, kiddo. I'm here."

Over with Spar, he stood with Kal, Tobbi and Alrich.

"How many are our losses?" Spar asked somberly.

"Too much, Spar." Tobbi stated, looking more to the fallen villagers than the Protectors. At most they had only lost a dozen or more.

The people of this settlement however...

"Isn't it always?" Spar said with a solemn tone.

"Mandalore."

Spar looked over to see Fenn approaching with a young boy in his arms.

"Fenn." Spar greeted. "Who do you have there?"

"A foundling." Fenn answered. "His name is Din Djarin. Found him on his own."

Spar only nodded in understanding.

"This is the Way." Spar said softly with Fenn inclining his head.

"This is the Way."

A whirring sound was suddenly heard from Spar's hip.

"I gotta take this."

The Protector nodded and went back to his tasks. When he was far enough away, Spar answered the call. A holographic form of Boba appeared before him.

Spar blinked in slight surprise. "Hello, kid. Something you need?"

" _I… had thought things over,_ Vod _. And… I've considered your offer."_

"And?"

Boba's head tilted down with a slight frown before glancing up to Spar with a resolute expression.

" _It's time I came home."_

"I see." Spar said happily. "When do you think you'll come home?"

The young Fett crossed his arms in thought. _"I still have a few things to take care of, but hopefully soon."_

"That's all I need to hear, Vod." Spar stated with a small grin. "We'll be waiting on your call."

Today was bittersweet in victory, in more ways than one. He had secured several, valuable assets. Recruiting both Kal and Jango's heir, the planet beneath his feet and a somewhat intact Basilisk War Droid. Yet the deaths here today outweigh them all.

Hopefully, things will change for what's to come so his people will return to what things once were, without all the pointless bloodshed.

"Let's pack it up." Spar called out. "It's time we head home."

**Alright, and that's the first original Arc done. Didn't take as long as I had originally thought but still, it's tricky as hell making a proper Arc involving Legends characters and staying true to their characters.**

**Now I know some of you guys are gonna have a few nitpicks here and there in regard to how certain Legends aspects align with the current story and I just wanna tell ya guys, we're using materials from Legends in how their usually presented with a twist to better fit the narrative.**

**Jebest4781: Obviously not everything can be picture perfect and we've gotta have to do our best to make things right.**

**FMW: Yeah, we've done this for most of our stories to begin with cause we wanna tell our own stories. So come the next chapter, it's back on to the main arc. Some of you may say that this was a side arc but that's staying true to the Anthology style that Clone Wars and really the MCU is. Many different storylines that would eventually converge with one another. And we have our Endgame planned for this one.**

**Everything will eventually come to a head at the end of the story.**

**So, until that time…**

**Rate Read and Review and as Always Have Nice Day.**


	38. Old Flame

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Cover arc link
> 
> https://www.deviantart.com/freemanwriter/art/Mandalore-Arc-843987461

**Rate Read and Review and as Always Have Nice Day.**

Avengers Infinite Wars Chapter 38: Old Flame

Natasha sat within the chambers that the Avengers occupied within the Jedi Temple with an unreadable expression as she stared unflinchingly at the small growing baby on her lap.

"You know, if you keep staring at her like that, I'm afraid you're gonna break it." Sam Wilson said from his own seat, eating a small meal.

Said baby only happily gurgled a moment later, hands outstretched towards the former spy who had a small smile as she hefted her up into the air. Little Mara Jade laughed making Nat's smile widen.

"If she did, I'd put her back together again." Natasha promised.

"Would worry if she'll becomes a carbon copy of yourself." Sam though aloud.

"And what's that supposed to mean?" Nat asked incredulously.

Sam hummed aloud with a wry grin coming on. "Hmm, let's see. Your demeanor, attitude, scary feel about you-"

"One more word and you'll find things a bit unpleasant."

Mara laughed soon after, making Natasha smile at the toddler.

"Seems it's already too late in saving her from-WHOA!"

Sam had to avoid what can essentially be a paperweight thrown directly at his head. He soon left, not wanting to get potentially hit by another.

Seeing Falcon leave, Natasha resumed her focus on the child sitting on her lap. The little one clapped slightly, laughing all the while making Nat pull her closer while poking at her little tummy. Mara Jade giggled now with Romanoff gaining a slightly devious look as she began to mercilessly tickle the babe with the toddler laughing uncontrollably.

"You seem to be enjoying yourself."

Nat paused in her tickle attack, looking over to see Steve gazing at her with a fond look in his eyes at the front entrance of the room. She only shrugged.

"I've had some practice with Clint's kids." Nat stated.

Steve only hummed in thought, walking over to her and sitting down beside her. Mara's attention shifted over to the captain, looking up at him in curious wonder.

"Hey there, I don't think we've had the time to properly meet one another." Steve said, holding out a hand for Mara which she grabbed immediately. "I'm Steve Rogers, a friend of Nat here. And you are?"

Mara Jade only scrunched up her face as her stubble little hands roamed over the much larger one.

"She's pleased to meet you." Nat remarked, lightly bouncing her knee up to illicit a small laugh out of MJ. "So, where are the others?"

Steve mused to himself. "Well, just saw Sam, Rhodey I think is over by the base with the Clones. Hope and Scott… I think they took the little green one to one of the Jedi here in the temple. Something about trying to figure out what he eats."

"Did they go to Yoda?" Nat asked with Steve shaking his head.

"He seems busy for the time being."

"Hmm, well what about the others?"

"Pietro is over at the senate building." Steve said with a knowing look that Nat recognized.

"That blue lady that caught his eye, huh?"

"Senator Chuchi. And he's always been persistent in that regard."

"Right." Nat said with a shake of her head. "And what about our two recent members? Haven't seen the kid or Matt around."

"Matt?" Steve repeated in slight surprise. "Wasn't aware you two were on a first name basis."

Nat didn't respond at first. "We've met before."

Steve was now slightly bewildered. "Did you?"

"Long time ago." Nat said blankly. "A different lifetime ago after everything that's happened."

Now Rogers was beyond curious yet the look in his friends eyes made him hesitate in asking for more details on this matter. So for now, he would leave it be.

"Well, if you're wondering, last I checked those two are at the library right now."

And at said library the two native New Yorkers were indeed there.

Peter Parker sat with Matt Murdock at the Jedi library with the latter having head pieces on as he listened to a verbal narration of the many laws and rules of the Republic.

Occasionally taking his eyes off the datapad, Peter saw Matt patiently sitting. With the way he looks, the teen sometimes wonders if the lawyer is apparently sleeping in his seated position.

"You sure you're not getting tired of listening to all of that?" Peter asked after several moments of silence.

"I'm certainly fine, Parker. Almost reminds me of the audiobooks back home."

Peter scratched his cheek. "Yes, but those are supposed to be entertaining, not… well…"

"I get your point, but what else can you do in my shoes. There's no proper means of reading braille in this galaxy. Not that I know of, mind you. So all I can do is listen to everything there is offered."

Nodding, Peter felt tired from reading for so long today. Standing up, he placed the datapad back where it belonged. Heading back to his seat, he picked up some of his belongings and headed on out.

"Where are you going?"

"Out."

"Out where?"

"See if Ahsoka or Barriss are up to hang out."

"And if they're not?"

"Then I'll go out myself. I'm getting stir crazy here for so long."

Matt wanted to object but he found himself closing his mouth before he could make an argument against it. To be honest, he himself was rather feeling a bit cooped up at the moment even with all this new material he had been reading these past few weeks. It's been a while since Geonosis and he along with most of the Avengers have spent their time mostly at the temple.

Sure they went out to the city itself from time to time but never strayed too far from the Temple as a whole.

Hearing Peter head out to do his own business, Matt contemplated a bit more if he should maybe follow the teen's example and do something. Not exactly on his own as he was highly unfamiliar with the districts of Coruscant outside of the temple. And the only other place he could remotely go would be at the Senate building, where he could feel he's in familiar grounds… sort of.

Matt was pretty sure that being a galactic lawyer was a bit above his pay grade so to speak.

It's one thing to help those in need down the block from his Law Firm in Hell's Kitchen. But planetary and cosmic disputes were another matter entirely.

These thoughts were brushed aside as his senses picked up on someone coming towards him.

"Master Obi-wan." Matt said politely to the Jedi Master that came up from behind on the right.

"Mr. Murdock." Kenobi greeted him in return, though he had a quizzical look on his face. "I must ask, how did you know it was me that was coming?"

"A litany of ways. Heartbeat, scent, footsteps." Matt listed off, removing the headpiece and standing to face him. "What can I do for you, Master Kenobi?"

Obi-wan only smirked slightly. "There is no need for formal, Mr. Murdock. Just call me Obi-wan."

"If you say so. So what can I do for you?"

"Just wanting to properly acquaint with you since your arrival." Matt nodded at the Jedi's excuse for being here. "May I ask what you are doing here all on your lonesome, Matt?" Kenobi inquired politely.

"Learning." Matt stated plainly. "This is a new galaxy and government that I have entered into unknowingly. Better to be knowledgeable and prepared than rushing in foolhardy and all."

Obi-wan could only nod approvingly.

"I had heard from my men of the 212th something rather fascinating." Obi-wan said. "During the battle of Geonosis, you mentioned something quite astonishing. They told me that you _heard_ the plans of attack while in the middle of battle. How were you able to accomplish such a feat?"

Matt simply shrugged. "When one loses their eyesight, they gain a different sort of… _perspective._ "

Obi-wan stroked his beard with intrigue. "So when you went blind, your other senses were enhanced?"

"To degrees I had never anticipated." Matt stated. "My smell, hearing, taste and touch give me various means of helping receive information that give me a "visual" of everything around me."

"Sounds quite useful."

"Most of the time it's an annoyance. There are _things_ one should not hear at all. Especially coming from the city that never sleeps."

Obi-wan could already imagine what the Earther meant, picking up on his rather grim tone letting the matter drop.

"You know, these capabilities of yours remind me of the species Miraluka."

Matt nodded. "Yes, I have heard of this comparison. My friend Chirrut mentioned this."

"Ah yes, the follower of the Force." Kenobi said. "I have heard of him. Did he not come to the temple with you when you were brought from Jedha?"

"He did, for a time. Yet he had to return to Jedha with Baze to resume their work there." Matt said.

"I see." Kenobi said. "Did they at least say goodbye?"

"I keep in touch with them every now and then." Matt stated. "Spending time with them for so long before running into the rest of the Avengers would not be good to simply no longer talk with them."

"Understandable. There are people I've known in my life who I wish I could've reconnected sooner instead of more awkward times." Kenobi ran his hand through his hair, releasing a sigh. "Unfortunately, it seems _that_ it is rearing its ugly head towards me."

"What troubles you?"

"Oh, let's just say that I'm revisiting a past I thought I would not ever return to." Kenobi remarked.

Matt tilted his head down as he allowed his senses to take over. He began picking up on Kenobi's heartbeat at the mention of his "past" as well as an underlying tension with his posture on top of the tone in which he was familiar with all too often.

"Did you burn any bridges when you last left this _past_?"

"With how things are now… it's hard to say."

"Ah, what can you tell me about her then?"

Kenobi blinked.

"Why'd you assume this past was a woman and not a man?"

"Mr. Kenobi, I am a Lawyer. Let's just say I have a familiarity with what you may be dealing with."

Obi-wan quirked a brow, crossing his arms challengingly. "Oh, and how would you figure this?"

"I'm trying not to be entirely biased, for one. Two, it's sad to say this kind of situation is universally the same with how it's worded out _mostly_ by the opposite gender. You don't have to be a professional to really figure that out. Third, I can tell by the inflection of your voice and little heartrate makes me believe this _past_ is rather personal."

Kenobi now shifted about uncomfortably. Coughing into his hand to clear his throat, he nodded slightly.

"Well… when you put it like that."

"Believe me when I say this, Obi-wan, I understand what you're going through." Matt said knowingly. "I've had my own series of relationships that could have ended on… better terms."

Obi-wan had to try not voicing what presently came through his mind, not wanting to reveal anything truly personal.

"With how it went, it's something I hope it had."

Matt only nodded in understanding. "Where are you off too?"

"Mandalore. Homeworld of the Mandalorians."

"Mandalorians." Matt murmured to himself. "I have heard the term several times. It seems to hold great importance."

"More than you would like to know." Kenobi said a bit tiredly.

"Any reason why you're talking to me about this?"

"I'd… like to know that myself." Obi-wan said to himself as he crossed his arms for a moment. He thought over what he was heading into.

He couldn't deny a feeling of growing tension at the thought of seeing Mandalore again. Of seeing _her_ again.

The Jedi looked to Matt who was standing there patiently, expression conveying nothing yet Kenobi couldn't help but feel an unexpected kinship with the blind lawyer appear.

"Matthew," Obi-wan began. "Would you like to join me on this matter?"

Matt could only blink on this request. "Why's that?"

"It's a political manner and I wish to have someone helping me who's more familiar in that kind of field."

"Why me instead of another politician?"

"In some ways, the situation might need another party not tied down with the Republic. After all, Mandalore has a series of neutral systems. If I were to bring a Republic Senator to help address this matter, there might be some hostility." Kenobi stated.

"So coming to me, who knows their way around laws, even if it's not entirely with the galactic governments, to give some insight and consultation." Matt surmised.

Obi-wan nodded. "There's also the matter of the Avengers being quite varied in their views and a perspective from a man of law may be useful in what I may have to confront."

Matt Murdock momentarily contemplated on this matter, silently thinking over Obi-wan's words and offer. There was a great deal of information he felt that he was missing yet the Jedi Master could possibly fill him in on the way.

And frankly, he had been getting rather tired now of just sitting around in the temple and waiting for something to do.

Seems he's finally gonna be able to get out of the Temple and do something productive today and possibly the next several days after all.

"So what's the situation?"

_-Scene Cut-_

Sitting in a carrier, Matt was listening to another series of "audiobooks" pertaining to Mandalore. And during the trip over to the main planet the neutral systems gave him quite a lot to catch up on.

"These neutral systems don't appear to be all that neutral most of the time."

Obi-wan only nodded. "Yes, the war has forced the hands of many unwilling participants into choosing sides. Mandalore is no different."

Matt didn't have to look outside of the carrier to possibly see the barren landscape the central planet was currently like. Wars of fighting and through a series of circumstances made the planet primarily uninhabitable. The only way the Mandalorians can properly live here would be through one of many domed cities with controlled environments behind their metal barriers.

Both men soon arrived at the docking bay to the capital domed city of the planet, exiting their transport ship.

Rising from his seat, Matt grasped onto a large suitcase containing some of the bare essentials he brought onto this trip. From a handful of clothing, traveling items and some other items.

Yet the main essential suit lay beneath the one he wore right now. Say what one may have against Tony Stark, but the suit he had gifted to him when he accepted the offer of being an Avenger was certainly a step up then the usual that he had. One press to the chest and his entire suit would form around him.

Walking down the ramp, Matt had his walking stick out to help him along the way. Sure he didn't need to essentially have it on him now, but after years of having one with him at all times made the habit hard to get rid of. Not to mention in recent years, it's better to sell a facade towards many around him to think he's someone not trained in certain manners.

Stepping out of the transport ship, Obi-wan and Matt were met with a guard wearing a helmet that only revealed his eyes.

"The Duchess is awaiting your arrival, General Kenobi." The guard said, looking over to Matt. "And who would this be?"

"An associate to help in these matters."

"Matt Murdock. Lawyer, neutral party.

"If you say so." Spoke the guard. "Just no funny business from you."

"Wouldn't dream of it."

"Come." The guard gestured for them to climb aboard the platform that would take them to the palace. "Duchess Satine awaits."

"Would hate to keep the Duchess waiting."

Stepping onto the hovercraft, Matt felt the wind brushing against his face as he and Kenobi whirled through the city. He heard all sorts of things from the faint chatter to the hover cars zooming past them. The Earther did have to hold onto the nearby rail at one point as one of the transports came a bit too close to them.

Soon enough, he heard the engines of the hovercraft slowing down, making him realize they had finally reached their destination. Coming off the ramp, Matt and Kenobi were soon escorted to where Duchess Satine presently resides. Once going through a series of hallways and corridors, Matt's senses told him the next room had a few more people there as they chatted amongst themselves.

Stepping into the grand hall, it was a large and spacious chamber with windows adorning all sides. On the right was a glass image of a woman with a peculiar head dress next to a corridor.

On the left side of the chamber was a small lounge of sorts that jutted out and gave a clearer view of the city outside. Obi-wan and Matt moved past the two guards at the entrance and were immediately approached by a middle-aged man with slicked back blond hair and violet eyes.

"General Kenobi." the man greeted cordially.

"Thank you for meeting with us, Prime Minister Almec."

The two men soon shook hands before the Prime Minister soon took notice of the Jedi's companion."

"And who might you be?"

"Matt Murdock." Said the lawyer. "Let's just say I'm an attorney and neutral party here to assist Master Kenobi on the matters pertaining to Mandalore."

Almec nodded his head in understanding. "Then I welcome you both as a servant of the people, but I am troubled by the false rumors that brought… you both here." The Prime Minister walked beside them towards the far end of the chamber. "Mandalore would never turn against the Republic."

"Doing so would have you declared for possibly siding with the CIS. If not, then hostilities will come towards your people." Stated the Earther. "Hard to make yourselves neutral if that were the case."

"I am aware of that matter but this is a New Mandalore." Almec stated firmly. "Siding with either faction in this war would only lead us back down the path to the destructive warrior ways of old which lead to the death of millions. We are a changed people. The Duchess Satine values peace more than her own life."

"Oh, I'm _aware_ of the Duchess' views." Commented Kenobi.

"Master Kenobi, Mandalore's violent past is behind us. All of our warriors were exiled to our moon, Concordia. They died out years ago."

"Have they?" Matt inquired. "Prime Minister, on my way here, I had learned of a litany of Mandalorian factions that are still known bounty hunters and follow the warrior cultures of old that are not on Concordia as you have said. A warrior culture as deeply rooted as yours is not one that can be so easily killed off."

"With me, I had encountered a man who wore Mandalorian armor before the war started." Said the Jedi. "A man named Jango Fett."

"Jango Fett was a common bounty hunter." Snapped Almec. "How he acquired the armor is beyond me."

"Jango Fett is the last person one should refer to as a common Bounty Hunter if he is the template that was used for the Clone Army of the Republic." Matt pointed out.

Kenobi looked over to Matt with a clearly impressed look upon his face. He really had done his homework on the way here.

"Well, Master Kenobi," Obi-Wan and Matt looked over to see a woman stepping out of a nearby hallway with several individuals following her. "My shining Jedi Knight, off to the rescue once again."

Matt didn't really need to try to figure out the tinge of sarcasm that permeated out from the Duchess's tone. She walked over to the seat in the center with her guards and a man in robes surrounding her defensively.

Focusing a bit on the man beside him, Matt could hear Kenobi's heart hitch up a little.

"Duchess Satine." Obi-wan said pleasantly. "After all these years, you're even more beautiful then I remember."

"Kind words from a man who accuses me of treachery." she said with a slight edge in her tone.

This earned some questionable looks from many Mandalorian around the room.

"I would never accuse you of personal wrongdoing, Duchess." Obi-wan said honestly. "However, a Separatist saboteur attacked one of our Republic cruisers recently." He pulled out a holo-disk and played a video feed that was captured. "A Mandalorian saboteur."

The holo-clip showed a Mandalorian in Beskar armor fighting and dodging against a volley of blaster fire before retaliating with their own.

It was clear that judging from the reaction of most within the room, they were certainly not expecting this. Their heart rates and body reactions said that much to Matt. Even from the Duchess of her tightening her grip on the sides of her throne.

"You must be mistaken." Almec argued. "No Mandalorian would engage in such violence. Not anymore at least. Where is this prisoner?"

"From what I was told, he took his own life rather than submit to questioning." Matt informed the Prime Minister. "And if you are unaware, Prime Minister, there are Mandalorians out there that have not conceded to this ruling government. They still follow the old ways."

"I know these commandos fought in many wars, often against the Jedi." Kenobi stated. "One need look no further than the Mandalorian Wars four thousand years ago."

"Every one of my people is as trustworthy as I am." Satine stressed out.

"That is a rather bold claim, Duchess." Matt said. "Every Mandalorian?"

Satine then took note of the man, finding his rather attire slightly unusual.

"And may I ask, who are you?"

"Matt Murdock. Neutral Attorney here to assist Master Kenobi."

Satine only stared intently at both Matt and Obi-wan now.

The man standing beside the Duchess soon spoke. "I know we sound defensive, but-"

"Clearly your investigation was ordered because the Senate is eager to intervene in our affairs." Satine cut off the representative.

"General Kenobi's investigation was ordered by his Jedi Council. Not the Senate." Matt stated.

"And to my knowledge, the Jedi Council represents the Republic, much less report to them." Satine stated.

"This investigation is entirely separate from the Republic." Matt said firmly. "We have gone over this topic many times to be sure. All we want is to clear up this matter rather than having the Republic intervene upon your neutral system. The assailant may or may not be from your people. Could be perhaps someone wearing your people's ancestral armor to discredit you all. It wouldn't be the first time this happened to any one person and culture. In all intents and purposes, you are innocent on this matter until proven otherwise."

To say that Satine was rather taken aback by the man's clear and concise argument would be a bit of an understatement.

"It appears, I stand corrected." Satine graciously admitted. "Master Kenobi, Mr. Murdock. Would the two of you care to join me on a tour through the city?"

She had raised her hand towards Obi-wan and held it there.

Telling by the way she's looking at him, it was more of making him comply rather than out of respect.

Walking towards the throne, Obi-wan gently took the given hand as she rose from her throne. Descending down the steps, they soon made their way out of the chamber with Matt following behind, not seeing the questionable look the Prime Minister gave them.

Following after the Duchess and Jedi, Matt was soon led out into the city walking along a pathway high above with flying vehicles flying all about with civilians walking all around him.

Satine and Kenobi walked alongside one another with her guards not far behind and Matt standing in between them from the back.

"It is so good to see you once more, Obi-wan." Satine stated earnestly. "Despite these circumstances, I am glad to see you are doing well."

"Your peaceful ways have paid off." Kenobi said with a small smile. "Mandalore has prospered since the last time I was here."

The Jedi could practically see the chances and differences already. His mind briefly flashed images of a war torn landscape with destruction present all around. People from both sides fighting with others trying to make it out alive.

"Not everyone on Mandalore believes that our commitment to peace is a sign of progress." Said the Duchess.

"It often isn't." Matt commented. "And who is it that generally doesn't like the way you're helping your people?"

With a tired look, Satine answered. "There are two groups that we are aware of. One calls itself Death Watch. I imagine these are the renegades you're looking for with a name like that."

"And the other?" Kenobi asked.

"They refer to themselves as the Protectors." Satine said. "They… are not necessarily aggressive towards our people."

"Who's to say now you gave us the groups' names. Our saboteur could be from either of them. One could be biased this person was from Death Watch, given how they call themselves. Or could be one of these Protectors. Their title could be a false flag or someone from their group is acting irrationally."

Satine only shook her head. "That is not the case with this one, Mr. Murdock. We have met with the Protectors and they follow something called the Super Commando Codex, written by the previous Mandalore Jaster Mereel. They follow a stricter guideline and code that adheres to the old ways of Mandalore. We have met with them and tried to change their ways but they refused before sending us back.

Death Watch, on the other hand, idolizes violence and the warrior ways of the past. Mandalores like the Indomitable and Ultimate are easily some of their heroes with the destructive wars they had waged against the galaxy just to show the power of the Mandalorians."

"Is there anything being done about them?" Matt asked.

"There are those among us, certain officials, who are working to root out these criminals. It has been an ongoing investigation." Satine replied.

Obi-wan soon adopted a thinking posture, stroking his beard as he digested this bit of information. "How widespread is this Death Watch movement?"

"It's… hardly a movement. It's a small group of hooligans who choose to vandalize public places, nothing more."

"And the Protectors?" Asked Murdock.

Satine sighed. "That… may be a greater problem then I had realized. From what Almec has told me, they are far more organized and have a Mandalore that they follow that they call the Resurrector."

"So what of the Death Watch investigations then?"

"Hopefully, we shall soon have them in custody. We have tracked Death Watch down to our moon, Concordia."

"I hope you're right, Duchess." Kenobi said softly.

Matt opened his mouth to ask further questions when he heard footsteps on an adjacent walkway to this one. Footsteps that he has now heard several times with a scent to go with it.

At first he had passed it off as just another passerby, from the way that this person walks and the patterns in which they had used to stay out of sight...

'Who might you be?' Matt internally asked himself as he concentrated on his target.

"Seeing" Obi-wan and Satine so engrossed with each other, Matt decided to fall back a little so they wouldn't notice his departure. After hearing their conversations get into other details, like the means of them catching up for old times sakes, Matt realized he can now do his own thing.

He had slipped away more or less undetected, waiting for the guards that trailed after them to look away while making sure at least one was aware of why he needed to leave. Giving a vague excuse that he would catch up and wished to take a moment to rest, Matt waited until they were completely out of sight and hearing.

Suitcase in hand, Matt began walking towards a less populated area before he began quickly scaling up a building nearby and made his way over to the one that tailed after them.

He was now walking behind her, yes this person was she now that he was closer to her with Obi-wan and the Duchess not far off ahead on the opposite pathway. This woman wore similar garments to the civilians of the city overall yet a hood to obscure her face and large pack on her back.

Drawing closer, Matt drew upon his training to be as discreet as possible.

A moment later, he was now right next to this mystery woman.

"So…" Matt began making the woman jolt abruptly. "This may seem sudden, but may I have the pleasure of knowing your name?"

She had faced the man with her eyes widening for a moment as she appeared to recognize him. She momentarily looked back over to Satine and Kenobi before back over to him. Was he not with the retinue that followed after the Duchess a short moment ago?

How in the world was he next to her so suddenly?

"It's alright, I'm not here to hurt you." Matt said calmly, walking beside here with his walking stick in hand. "I just wanna know why you are following us."

"I beg your pardon?"

"Oh, did I come on too strong with that question?" Matt said innocently. "I apologize. This is a new planet that I've never been to and I'm only just starting to meet the natives here."

"Who are you?" The woman asked with a slight sharp tinge in her tone.

"Matt Murdock. Attorney at law and here on behalf of a neutral party for the sake of galactic peace." Matt stated. "And you are?"

She was at an impasse for the moment when suddenly a large explosion caught the attention of all those present in the area.

In an instant, the man who had snuck up on her suddenly jolted forward and sprinted towards the commotion leaving her standing alone again. She wanted to slip away yet her eyes remained fixed upon the sight of smoke billowing out from where the explosion just took place.

Her heart and mind was riddled with conflicting emotions as she wanted to go over there and see if _she_ was alive and well...

But she knew what she had signed up for when she disagreed with the pacifist ways of the New Mandalorians. Bo Katan knew that much. For now, she needed to get away.

In the events leading up to the explosion...

"A peacekeeper belongs on the front lines of conflict. Otherwise, he wouldn't be able to do his job." Obi-wan stated as he had continued his walk with Satine. He had momentarily glanced back to see that Matt had gone but he figured it was for a good reason.

"The work of a peacekeeper is to make sure that conflict does not arise." Satine argued back.

"Yes, a noble description, not a realistic one." Kenobi countered.

"Is reality what makes a Jedi abandon his ideals? Or is it simply a response to political convenience?" Satine asked challengingly.

Kenobi was just about to give his response when an explosion occurred not far away from them. The blast shook them both a little as many citizens cried out in terror.

"Are you alright?" Obi-wan asked, placing a protective hand upon her shoulder.

"I'm fine."

Satine broke away from Kenobi and rushed towards the explosion. She saw several people injured and buried under rubble. Without a word, she got on her hands and knees and started helping them get out of the debris. Even Kenobi joined soon after alongside other civilians.

Obi-wan surveyed the destruction and gave his thoughts. "Hooligans couldn't have arranged an attack on this scale."

"Then this must be the work of an off-worlder."

Kenobi soon spotted behind the Duchess, having a grim look on his face. "Are you sure of that?"

Satine was confused at what he meant, more so upon seeing the look on his face. Following his line of sight, she looked behind her and saw an orange hologram spinning around for all to see.

"The sign of Death Watch."

"This goes far _beyond_ vandalism." Obi-wan sadly informed. "This is a political statement against your government _and_ against you. You're not safe here. I'm taking you back to the palace."

When some of Satine's guards arrived, Kenobi handed her off to them before addressing the guards. "I want to interview everyone here. _Nobody_ leaves this scene."

From the corner of his eye, Kenobi saw someone pushing past some of the people away as he soon fled the scene. Without a word, Kenobi took off in order to catch him. Leaving the garden area, they ran down a flight of stairs before going through a hallway. Eventually coming towards a closed off ledge, the man Kenobi was chasing no longer had anywhere else to run.

"Please. I only want to talk."

The man didn't see it that way, pulling out a blaster and fired upon the Jedi.

Kenobi dodged and rolled away from the shots before pulling out his lightsaber. He blocked and rebounded the shots with one of them hitting the offender's weapon out of his grasp. Seeing as the offender had nothing else, he charged right at Kenobi, which he was soon caught and thrown to the ground not far away.

"Like I said, I don't want to hurt you." Kenobi soon heard steps coming towards them. Looking over, he saw Satine coming towards them. "Stay back!"

With Obi-wan's attention misplaced, the runaway used this chance to flee… in an unattended fashion. Getting towards the ledge, he stood on the railing and spoke in another language. _"Calhava bru'chun dralshye'ran!"_

By the time Kenobi and Satine heard this, they saw the man fall and land on the floor below. Running towards the ledge, they saw it was quite the large drop as spider-cracks were seen around the man with people looking onto the scene.

The pair soon made their way to the lower level, brushing past many civilians as they came towards the prone man. Satine was the first to approach, kneeling towards the man who was soon dying due to the fall.

" _Se solu,"_ he spoke weakly, _"se kad, se darasuum kote. Kadi, se norm'iim."_

"What's he saying?" Kenobi inquired.

Satine didn't answer right away, only leaning forward and softly spoke to the dying man. _"Ki, kadi norm'iim."_ Once the man closed his eyes, no longer breathing, Satine addressed the Jedi. "He was speaking in the dialect they use on Concordia, our moon."

"I shall like to visit this moon of yours. Perhaps I may accompany the body."

"The Concordian moon is a province with its own governor. You need me to escort you."

"That won't be necessary."

"Actually, it will. You won't make much progress without me there, especially since you've just been involved with the death of a Concordian."

"I didn't kill him." Kenobi said defensively.

"I know. That's why I'm still talking to you."

"Obi-wan."

The Jedi Master turned to see Matt rushing over to him.

"Matt, where did you go off too?" Kenobi asked.

Matt momentarily looked at the recently deceased, eyes narrowing behind his shades.

"I picked up on someone that was tailing after us." Matt answered. "Soon as I got to her, an explosion went off several moments later near you. What happened here?"

"I'll explain it to you on the way back to the palace." Kenobi answered. "We must make our way over to the moon, Concordia."

_-Scene Cut-_

Matt and Obi-wan were now within a Mandalorian transport ship, leaving the dock where it was stationed outside the domed city and flying towards Mandalore's moon.

It was a strange feeling for Matt, thinking on the casualness of interplanetary travel he was experiencing when this was only a recent all still developing breakthrough back on Earth. To be out in the cosmos was still a bit surreal.

"So what's this Concordia moon like?" Matt asked aloud.

"Isn't Concordia an agricultural settlement?" Kenobi looked to Satine who had changed out of her fanciful clothing and settled for something simpler.

"Before the end of our wars, they turned it into a mining base. The sheer number of mining facilities here nearly destroyed our forests. They are finally growing back." Satine said with a sense of pride.

The transport ship flew down towards a lavish city, entering the hangar bay of the largest building. It landed with a ramp descending down with Satine, Kenobi and Matt standing around the coffin of the Mandalorian that took his life back on Mandalore as well as two guards.

Stepping off the ramp, the three were soon greeted with a man with several guards standing behind him. And trailing behind the new arrivals was the coffin of the Concordian.

"Duchess Satine, you are most welcome." The man greeted with a pleasant smile.

"Thank you, Governor Pre Vizsla. May I present Master Obi-Wan Kenobi, representing the Jedi Council and Matthew Murdock. Governor Vizsla is one of the officials I spoke of. He has been working to find the members of Death Watch." Satine said.

"I take it you've heard the rumors about Satine, about how she's supposedly leading Mandalore into an alliance with the Separatists." Vizsla stated with a small twinge in his voice Matt picked up on.

"My only instructions are to seek the truth." Kenobi stated plainly.

Vizsla looked towards the coffin as it was being moved by Satine's men. "This was the man who bombed the memorial shrine?"

"Yes. He was apparently part of Death Watch."

"A worrisome prospect." Vizsla said to himself. "If you'll pardon me, General, we must attend to the body."

While Vizsla and his guards left to attend to the matter of the body, Kenobi stopped Satine.

"I need a favor from you."

"Which is?" Satine asked.

"Please keep Governor Vizsla occupied at dinner." Obi-wan said.

"And where are you going?" Satine questioned.

"Just a look around. I'd like to see one of these mining facilities for myself." Kenobi said.

"You mean you want to determine if they're still… _operational_." Satine said with a more accusational tone.

"I hope to determine they're not." Obi-wan then pulled out a few earpieces as they were presented towards Matt and Satine. "I want you to wear this so that we can stay in contact in case you run into trouble while I'm gone. Matthew, I trust you can keep Satine safe."

Matt only nodded while Satine shook her head in exasperation.

"Remember that you are here under my protection. Please try not to cause problems when none yet exist."

"Think of me as searching for solutions." Kenobi remarked, going over to one of the speeder bikes within the hangar.

"I _have_ to tell you I'm opposed to all of this." Satine huffed.

"I'd be disappointed if you weren't." Obi-wan quipped as he flew out from the Hangar.

Satine only shook her head once again.

"Glad to see he hasn't changed much since I last saw him." Satine said in a dry tone.

"People seldom ever do, Duchess." Matt said.

"True enough." Satine said with a tired sigh. "Come, let us not keep Governor Vizsla waiting."

The two entered the lavish building proper, with Satine leading Matt down a corridor towards the room in which Vizsla waited for them. Entering, they saw Vizsla holding up a datapad while typing away on it.

"Forgive me, Duchess. I'm writing a condolence letter to the dead man's family and making arrangements for them to retrieve his body."

"Of course, Governor. Very proper. General Kenobi will join us shortly." Satine informed Vizsla.

"He said he needed to meditate." Matt added in.

"Ah, the ancient Jedi tradition of meditation." Vizsla said with a light chuckle. "In the days of old, there were some that had picked up on that practice. I myself used to do such a practice. I unfortunately dropped it due to the demands of running a government."

"Perhaps you should try an attempt at it." Matt said conversationally. "I've learned to manage to do it throughout the day when I need it most. Occasionally helps relieve stress."

"Oh? And may I ask for your profession, Mr. Murdock?"

"I'm a lawyer."

Vizsla now laughed aloud. "My word, you've chose a stressful position indeed Mr. Murdock. I do not envy the work you must endure."

Matt only smiled cordially yet in his thoughts, he began noticing a few unusual cues and gestures of this Governor Vizsla. Something was off here.

And he was gonna find out what it was.

Meanwhile, over with Master Kenobi...

Arriving at one of the mining facilities, Obi-wan made his way inside. Traversing through the dark tunnel, he was soon met with light. Scanning the area, he saw the place was not abandoned as he was led to believe judging by the lighting of the mine. And upon looking at a nearby wrack, he saw it was also operational, given the number of Mandalorian armor and weaponry freshly made.

Looking back towards the center of the mine for a brief moment, Kenobi approached the newly made line of jetpacks and helmets.

Picking one up, he examined the familiar T-shaped visor of the Mandalorian helmet when he heard someone running towards him from behind.

Obi-wan turned around in time to see a fully armored Mandalorian running at him while firing his blaster. The Jedi raised the helmet as a means of a makeshift shield before the Mando tackled him to the ground.

Kenobi quickly got back up and ignited his Lightsaber only to find his assailant had vanished.

Slowly walking forward, Obi-wan called out to the Mandalorian hoping to avoid conflict. "I am here on a diplomatic mission under the protection of Duchess Satine."

"We do not recognize her rule." The Mando rose up from his cover and ran at Obi-wan, firing at him with the Jedi deflecting the bolts.

As the Mandalorian drew closer, Kenobi performed a spinning kick to the man's blaster and knocked it out of his hands.

Yet not a moment too soon did Obi-wan's one weapon get shot out of his hands from another Mandalorian that stood on an elevated control terminal.

Obi-wan quickly engaged the Mandalorian closest to him, landing a series of successive strikes yet was subdued only moments later with both Mandalorians grabbing his arms and punching him back. As soon as he looked up, he was met with a boot to the face and was rendered unconscious.

Back with Satine and Matt.

Both sat at the table with Vizsla pouring them both a drink of alcohol.

'Alien alcohol.' Matt mused to himself with a light laugh. 'This is a first.'

"Someone is feeding misinformation directly to the Republic Senate, saying that Death Watch is taking over Mandalore. Who stands to gain from these lies?" Satine asked with a somber tone.

"Death Watch, of course." Vizsla said as it was obvious to him.

"They could not engineer _all_ this." Satine stated. "The problem has clearly grown much larger than we thought. And I suspect some external force helped it along."

"Hard to believe. It would have to be someone at the highest level of influence among the Separatists."

"The Separatists?" Matt said aloud. "Why would the Separatists want to get themselves involved in all of this?"

"And why would they target me?" Satine asked.

Vizsla only laughed at her question. "Duchess, I'm surprised that you don't see it. You lead the Council of Neutral Systems. Thus you threaten the Separatists' goals." He raised his glass towards her direction. "Take it as a compliment. Someone very powerful is working towards your downfall."

They all shared in their drink, entering into a lull of silence.

"Governor Vizsla." Matt spoke up. "With respect, what do you personally know of Death Watch?"

Vizsla grunted, wiping his mouth. "I know they are a threat with the bombing that had occurred on Mandalore. Attacking civilians. Nothing but barbaric. I may be proud of our ancient warrior culture and traditions, but the death of innocence is inexcusable."

Matt heard the passion but did not feel it.

"Agreed." Matt played along. "And what do you know of the Protectors?"

The man's flinch was so subtle, it was barely noticeable. Yet Matt picked up on it all the same. He immediately noticed the shift in tone and inflection of the man before him.

"I haven't heard much of these other Mandalorians with Death Watch being so close to home." Vizsla said slowly. "Only from what I have been able to pick up on every now and then. That they follow a different set of codes and ethics that differ from Death Watch and The New Mandalorians."

The man rubbed his arm with a slight twitch of his brow that went unnoticed by Satine yet for a man like Matt…

Judging by the way he was reacting, that arm… yes it was bruised. As a matter of fact, Governor Vizsla's body seemed slightly strained now that he paid attention to his breathing and heartbeat.

Though it was controlled, Matt recognized the breathing of a man who had been in a fight recently. He was aware of the wonders of Bacta technology but even still that did not always heal ones' self fully.

"And what have you heard about them, Governor?" Matt probed as amicably as possible. "I find myself growing curious at the number of Mandalorian factions."

"This one… is different." Was all Vizsla stated before changing the subject. "General Kenobi's meditation is taking a _rather_ long time."

What they were unaware of was Obi-wan's current predicament.

"You know the Jedi. They never do anything by halves." Satine remarked.

Without warning, Matt and Satine heard Kenobi's voice on their earpieces. _"Duchess, Matt, please acknowledge."_

"May I offer you another drink?" Vizsla asked.

"Yes, certainly."

"I'd rather not." Matt said. "I'll save some for Dinner. Don't want to start without Obi-wan."

" _I'm in a bit of an awkward spot. I'm being held by the Death Watch."_

When he was over at the bar, Vizsla made himself and the Duchess a refill before turning back with an apologetic smile. "Sorry, Duchess. We're out of ice."

"Sorry to hear that."

"There are times I usually go without it."

"Perhaps we should begin dinner without General Kenobi."

" _There's a tracking function on your commlink, Satine. Or, if needed, have Matt accompany you as his is better suited. Follow it due east to my location."_

"I don't know if I can do that at the moment."

Pre was a little confused on what Satine just said.

" _It's extremely urgent."_

"Are you not feeling well, Duchess?"

Getting up from her seat, Satine gave a small smile. "Perhaps some fresh air would do me good."

"Shall I escort you outside?"

" _Take a speeder. It's rough terrain."_

Standing up, Matt soon followed the Duchess. "I'll accompany her. I need some fresh air myself."

"You sure?"

"Most certainly." Matt tapped his shades. "Sometimes I get migraines."

Pre only looked at them with slight confusion as they departed with the two exiting the room and as soon as they had some distance away began running towards the hangar.

"Satine, just so you know, I don't know how to drive a speeder." Matt declared. "I'm blind, much less have not gotten around to learning how to operate one of them."

Satine wanted to ask how this could be since he seemed to be moving about as any normal person would be but brushed that aside for a later time. Right now, Obi-wan needed their help.

Getting onto the speeder, she patted the spot behind her. "Just hang onto me."

Once getting on, he wrapped his arms around her waist. "I promise not to do anything funny."

"I'll hold you to that."

Wasting no more time, she took off as Matt was flung back a little.

As the speeder sped across the Concordian terrain, Matt was silent for the most part when…

"Governor Vizsla is hiding something from us."

"What?" Satine looked back at him momentarily in bewilderment.

"Back at the estate, he kept favoring his left arm and was seemingly tired. He was in a fight recently."

"And how is it possible you would know this?" Satine asked in a slightly affronted manner. "Didn't you say you were blind?"

"Let's just say I have my ways. Kenobi compared me to a Miraluka with how I sense things."

"Sense things?"

"I'll tell you more later, we're here."

Arriving at the mining facility, Matt and Satine got off their speeder with the former holding her back for a brief moment. Removing his clothing, Matt revealed the black and red vest piece he wore underneath his suit with two red intertwined D's on his upper right peck.

Before her eyes, Satine watched as a black and red metallic suit of some kind materialized around the blind man with a horned helm snapping around his eyes and nose with only his mouth and jaw being visible.

"Let's go." Daredevil gestured for her to follow after him with the two cautiously entering the dark tunnel.

As they stepped inside, they heard Obi-wan's voice once more. _"This is not good."_

Hugging the nearby wall, Satine spoke into her wrist-com. "Where exactly are you?"

" _Listen for the loud metallic clanging sound. That would be the machine about to smash me into bits."_ He said exasperatedly with said clanging sound being heard in the background.

Hugging the wall beside the Duchess, Daredevil heard several heartbeats. One was climbing up while the others were calm.

"We need to get the Death Watch members out of the room." Matt commented.

Seeing a nearby panel, Satine started fiddling around with it before she activated the alarm. With it going off, Satine and Matt saw a pair of Death Watch members rushing past them as they soon hid behind a conveyor belt. As they drew near, Matt pounced.

He caught them both off guard with a spinning split kick that knocked them both to the ground with a quick jab to the one to his left in the neck to knock him out before flipping about and knocking out the other.

"Was that really necessary?" Satine asked with a frown marrying her face.

"Would you rather have them come back when we're in the middle of saving Obi-wan?" Daredevil said.

Satine's silence merely gave him his answer.

Rushing towards the captured Jedi, they were soon addressed by him. "Well, it certainly took you long enough." Kenobi said aloud from his containment field as he was hung upside down.

"You know, we haven't saved you yet."

"Yes~ no need to remind me of _that_."

"Be patient."

"I happen to be a bit _short_ on patience right now."

Wow… by the way they're speaking, Matt figured they seemed to argue like a stubborn married couple.

Climbing up towards the console, Satine started fiddling over the controls. "Now let's see. One of these should work."

"Satine, turn the machine off!" Kenobi said more desperately now as he drew closer to the crushing portion of the contraption.

"I'm _trying_."

"Satine!"

"Will you stop yelling at her? She's trying as fast as she can." Matt growled out, feeling his ears slightly ring from the yelling and the noise of the machine.

"And what are you doing?" Kenobi yelled back, earning a flat look from the blind hero making the Jedi realize his words. "Right… apologies my friend."

"There!" Satine pressed down on a control, preventing Obi-wan from being crushed.

"Why is he not out?" Matt asked, "seeing" the contraption still being operational.

"Trying to free him now."

"HEY."

Matt whipped his head around to see the Mandalorians he had knocked out run back in.

'Huh, they recovered faster than I thought.' Matt mused aloud.

"We're gonna gut you first, you bastard." the lead Death Watch member shouted, tilting down to fire off a missile which Daredevil flipped away from as fast as he could. The shockwave still caught him in the air and he fell to the ground.

The Death Watch Mandalorian rushed at Matt with the Avenger getting to his feet and kicking the first one in the chest before blocking the others fist, swatting it aside.

Not wanting Obi-wan grinded into a meaty paste, Satine kicked over a nearby canister into the grinder. As it bounced on the grinders, Obi-wan was freed from his confinement.

He soon used the canister as an impromptu springboard as he soon drop kicked the Death Watch member that attempted to attack Matt from behind into the ground.

Matt grabbed the wrists of the one he currently fought and twisted them before flinging him with all his might over to the other unconscious Mando, making sure the man hit the wall helmet first to knock him out.

The trio soon made it to the nearby elevator and made their way up.

"For a man sworn to peace, you take an unseemly pleasure in the injuries of others." Said the Duchess.

"For a woman sworn to nonviolence, you don't seem troubled that I could have been killed back there." Spoke the Jedi.

"But you _weren't_. And yet I still haven't heard my thanks."

"Well, you certainly haven't changed much."

Matt was silent, merely observing how much angst these two had. Something he'll no doubt want to learn at a later time once everything wasn't trying to kill them.

He shook his head with a small smirk.

"What amuses you so much?" Satine asked, having seen the smirk.

"Nothing." Matt waved off. "By the way, you'll be wanting this back."

Kenobi blinked when he saw Matt holding out his lightsaber.

"Thank you, Matt." Kenobi said graciously, taking his Saber out of Matt's hand. "How did you get this back?"

"Got it from those two down there when we came to get you."

Before Obi-wan was able to thank him once more, the elevator stopped with the door opening to reveal another Death Watch member standing guard.

The Death Watch Mandalorian could barely look back in time to see two fists coming straight at him.

He fell to the ground in a heap a second later with Kenobi taking stock of where they were.

"This is _not_ the way we came in." he noted, hand hovering near his lightsaber.

"Clearly it was back down where we came from." Matt jabbed in.

They stood in front of an encampment of some kind. An encampment filled with Death Watch.

"Look there. It's the Jedi." one of the members yelled out, pointing to them.

Obi-wan quickly ignited his lightsaber, blocked and rebounded the incoming blaster fire.

Daredevil dodged and moved around, blaster bolts sailing past him. Kenobi had pressed one of the controls only to see that it wasn't working.

"We'll have to stand and fight." Obi-wan then looked over to the Duchess. "Or in your case, Satine, just stand and hide."

"Of course you would-"

"If you two, would please." Matt cut in irritably. "Just stop bickering like a pair of exes."

"We are not." Chorused the two.

"Sure." Daredevil said dryly as he hid behind some rocks with Satine while Obi-wan continued deflecting blaster bolts.

Down below, a Mandalorian Death watch member with three yellow marks over his visor pointed to some nearby Mando's.

"You three, stop them."

The trio of Death Watch Mandalorians activated their jetpacks and took to the skies with them firing at the Avenger and Jedi.

Obi-wan was deflecting the blaster bolts but Daredevil had no means of defending himself in that capacity. That was by no means meant that he was defenseless.

Whipping out his Billy Club, he adjusted the makeup of his tool and had it morph into a curved boomerang. Using the tech in his helmet to zero in specifically on the three Death Watch flyers, Matt rolled out from his cover and flung his weapon.

The boomerang whirled about with a small whistling sound that clipped the jet packs of the Death Watch Flyers. They all fell to the ground yet quickly got to their feet, charging at the two.

Daredevil lunged forward, ducking beneath the blaster fire and rolled forward. As he got to his closest target, Daredevil delivered a powerful upwards strike with his legs kicking the man in the chest. He sailed up into the air and fell hard on the ground, unmoving.

Obi-wan all the while was blocking blaster bolts, sending one back that killed its sender while the other successfully disarmed the Jedi.

He ran at Obi-wan and tackled him to the ground, getting up to his feet with his blaster raised for the kill.

"You there!" The Death Watch member looked over before having a rock collide against the visor of his helmet, courtesy of Satine. As she made a break for it, the Death Watch member opened fire on her. Being distracted, he was knocked off his feet by Kenobi before being kicked some distance away.

With him indisposed for the moment, Kenobi rushed over to where the Duchess was presently hiding. "Satine!"

"I'm alright." She spoke out, hugging against the rock wall.

Seeing his men being humiliated by both the Jedi and the man posing as a Devaronian, the Death Watch leader gave out an order. "I'll deal with this. Get to your ships and evacuate."

Upon his command, the other Death Watch members present in the facility quickly made their way towards their transport ships and went to the rendezvous base of operations.

"Obi-wan." Daredevil said aloud with the Jedi looking up to the Avenger and then to what he was facing.

Seeing everyone else was leaving, the Death Watch leader made his way towards the intruders' position with three of his men behind him. As he drew close, he spotted the downed member of his group, who tried getting back up onto his feet.

Drawing a pistol, the leader spoke a single word. "Failure."

In an instant, Matt recognized the voice after the leader fired a shot into the newly deceased Death Watch member.

'Of course it was him.' Matt internally mused. As both he and Obi-wan stepped out to confront the Death Watch leader and his men, the Daredevil addressed him. "Should have known it was you, Vizsla."

Removing his helmet, the leader revealed himself to Obi-wan, Matt and Satine.

"Governor?" Satine spoke out of utter confusion and disbelief..

"For generations, my ancestors fought _proudly_ as warriors _against_ the Jedi." Pre Vizsla spoke with pride before sneering in the direction of Satine. "Now that _woman_ tarnishes the very name _Mandalorian_. Defend her if you will."

"I intend to." Obi-wan stated, calling for his Lightsaber back to his hand. Igniting it once more, he spun it around once and got into his usual Soresu stance. Saber overhead with free hand raised horizontally with index and middle fingers raised towards his opponent.

Matt said nothing, merely getting into a battle stance with his Billy Club split in two and at the ready.

Vizsla looked at his two opponents before reaching towards the hilt on his jetpack and drew out the lightsaber blade.

As the Darksaber ignited, Obi-wan took on a look of utmost surprise. Not just because Pre Vizsla held a Jedi weapon, but because the lightsaber was utterly black in color. Something he had never seen, let alone heard of before in his life.

"This lightsaber was retrieved back from your Jedi temple by my ancestors during the fall of the Old Republic before the seventh battle of Ruusan. Since then, many Jedi have died upon it's blade." Whirling his weapon towards his opponents, Pre Vizsla growled. "Prepare yourself to join them."

"Not today." Kenobi declared. "Matthew, stay back. This is my fight."

The Daredevil complied, stepping back but was ready to intervene if anything were to go awry.

Vizsla grasped the Darksaber tightly before jumping high into the air with a war cry.

Pivoting back, Obi-wan raised his lightsaber overhead horizontally and blocked the downward strike from Pre.

Pushing him back, Kenobi inclined his body back to avoid another swing, ducking down from another before clashing his blade against Vizsla's once more.

For a series of blows, blue and white met and clashed against black and white. Both combatants avoided the coming swings when they couldn't be blocked. At one point, Kenobi grabbed Vizsla's wrist, leaning back to dodge the man's free fist.

Avoiding the man's Darksaber several more times, the Jedi Master spun round for a surprise Force push that sent the Mandalorian sailing through the air.

Breaking Vizsla's fall, the three Death Watch members caught their leader. Back onto his feet, Pre shoved his men away before charging back into the fight. Spinning around while in the air, the Darksaber came down with Kenobi avoiding the blow. Acting quickly, the Jedi kicked the Darksaber out of Vizsla's hands as it skidded against the rocky earth.

Unarmed from his prized weapon didn't mean Pre wasn't gonna end the fight. Coming in close, the Mandalorian kneed and punched his opponent. With the Jedi falling back, the Death Watch leader made a break for it for the Darksaber.

Obi-wan got up to one knee with Daredevil standing by him. He waved his hand down with Matt begrudgingly standing back. Facing his opponent again, the Jedi saw the Mandalorian utilize his jetpack in the battle and sailed into the air.

However, this maneuver left Pre wide open. Exploiting it quickly, Kenobi rolled forward to springboard himself up into the air.

Reaching Vizsla in the air, he delivered a swift uppercut to the chin followed by a left hook. With a Force enhanced spin, he grabbed the governor and spun round, throwing him towards the other three Death Watch Members.

Landing hard on the ground between them, the Darksaber retracted as Pre got on all fours with a spiteful glare leveled at the Jedi master who stared back with a focused expression.

Rising back to his feet, Pre pointed straight at them. "Warriors, finish them off!"

Wordlessly, the three Mandalorians fired off their missiles.

Seeing the missiles coming towards them, Obi-wan avoided the incoming projectiles. He expected them to explode some distance behind him. Unfortunately for him, they appeared to be homing missiles, curving around the sky and redirected themselves towards him and his two companions.

Without any warning, Obi-wan grabbed ahold of Satine's arm and rushed towards the elevator shaft. And soon enough he used the Force to pull the Daredevil in along with them. The three soon fell down the shaft, landing hard on the ground though unscathed by the fiery debris that fell in from behind.

Back up above, the Death Watch Members scanned the ruined elevator shaft.

"Should we go after them, sir."

"No." Vizsla commanded. "There's no time. But don't worry. We'll catch up with the Duchess soon enough."

Coming out of the mining facility from where they once entered, Satine, Obi-wan and Matt were covered in soot. They walked towards the parked speeders with the Duchess being the first to speak.

"I suppose we're even now." Satine remarked, watching as Obi-wan was helped over to his speeder by Daredevil.

"How so?" Kenobi questioned.

"I saved your life. You saved mine." Satine said

"Yes, well, _mine_ was the more daring of the two rescues."

"If you two are done showing off." Matt cut in. "I'd rather get back and rest after a long day. Need to also inform Satine's people back on Mandalore on this latest development."

"On that much, we can agree." Kenobi said with a light smile.

Satine only clicked her tongue in clear amusement at the two with the trio departing from the mine.

"So… who am I riding with this time?" Matt questioned, looking towards Satine and Obi-wan, respectively.

_-Scene Cut-_

Obi-wan Kenobi and Matt Murdock walked with Prime Minister Almec, Advisor Tal Merrik and the Duchess Satine towards the Duchess's personal ship on the dock.

The dock was bustling with activity, Clone Troopers, Mandalorian guards and Senator officials all over the dock. The latter were present because of the coming discussions they wished to have with the leader of the neutral systems.

"But if Pre Vizsla fled, we have no way of learning how widespread Death Watch really is." Spoke Tal Merrik, the senator from Kalevala.

"It's obvious the Separatists are supporting Death Watch." Kenobi stated.

"I disagree. I told you I wanted to stay out of this conflict." Satine said with a slightly cold tone.

"Given the current situation, I'm afraid that this may no longer be possible." Kenobi said

Satine tightened her fists and practically growled at Kenobi. "I thought you of all people would understand my position on this matter. I will never be a part of this war."

She left him there, walking towards her ship with Kenobi hanging his head slightly. He felt a hand on his shoulder and looked over to see Matt with his helmet off giving him an understanding look.

"Thank you Matt." Obi-wan said appreciatively.

"So~ I take it there's a story here."

Both men turned to see Steve Rogers and Natasha Romanoff along with Anakin Skywalker, Captain Rex and Commander Cody all approaching.

"Reporting for escort duty, General." Anakin remarked with a slight grin.

"Oh, Anakin. Am I glad to see you." Obi-wan said with a small smile. "Steve, Natasha, you are both welcomed sights as well after everything Matthew and I had endured."

"Hmm. You sound tired." Anakin noted.

"The peaceful ways of the locals wore me out a bit." Obi-wan stated, walking with the group while patting Commander Cody as a small gesture of greeting with the Clone nodding in return.

"For men of action, like us, that's quite understandable." Steve commented, earning wryly grins from the others.

"So what happened here?" Natasha asked.

"Do you want the long version or the short version?" Matt presented the options.

"The medium version."

"How about the Lawyer version?"

"Then we'll be here all day." Anakin joked as they boarded the ship which took off moments later, departing from the planet of Mandalore.

**Alright, this chapter is all done, but before we get to the AN, a little something that has occurred in between Geonosis up to now.**

"A _spider-sense_?" Obi-wan Kenobi repeated in slight confusion. "What is that supposed to be?"

Before him stood the young New York Queens native Peter Parker who was rubbing the back of his head.

"Well, ya see, I have like this sixth sense sort of thing that kinda warns me when danger is about to strike." Peter elaborated. "Cept the problem is sometimes it works, others, not so much. It's weirdly inconsistent."

Obi-wan rubbed his beard with clear interest.

"How would you explain this exactly?" Kenobi asked. "What do you feel when this _spider-sense_ occurs? How does it happen?"

Peter scrunched up his face in thought, thinking over all the instances whenever his warning sense occurred.

"Well… it's sudden. Random at times." Peter said. "Usually happening when I don't expect it but always like it's pointing me in the direction where the immediate danger is coming from."

Obi-wan hummed in thought, gazing at the young boy in an analytical manner. Out of all the Avengers he had met thus far, young Peter Parker was by far one of the more unique of them all. Each was a sort of void within the Force when stretching out his connection to it yet Peter was distinctly different.

He had no connection to the Force and was empty of it but his presence was much more different. The one time Obi-wan had meditated on the matter of the Avengers, Parker's presence was felt in terms of… branches? Or was it webs? Whatever it was, Obi-wan couldn't deny the growing curiosity he had on this subject.

The Jedi was unsure but Spider-man stood out from the others.

"Before I ask how this works, why come to me, Peter?" Obi-wan inquired with intrigue.

"Well, I do practice with Matty sometimes since his powers are kinda similar to mine but not exactly. He lost one sense when I gained another." Peter explained. "I spoke with Cap and the other Avengers and even Ahsoka, Barriss and Anakin about it and Anakin and Ahsoka suggested I go to you."

"To me?" Obi-wan said in a bemused manner. "Whatever for?"

"Something about you being the master of Sorsu. How you have the ultimate defense as a Jedi."

Blinking at that, Obi-wan couldn't help but chuckle at the mispronunciation as well as the feeling of humility that both Anakin and Ahsoka would direct Parker to him.

"It's pronounced Soresu." Kenobi corrected politely. "And it's one of the seven forms of lightsaber combat, the one I prefer."

"Yeah, Ahsoka and Anakin told me about that too." Peter said. "So, you think you can help me out?" Obi-wan's hand brushed through his beard once more before nodding a moment later.

"Yes, I do believe I shall help you." Kenobi said, making Peter's expression brighten up.

"Really? Ya mean it?!" he asked excitedly with Obi-wan nodding.

"I had been wanting a new pupil for some time, to be perfectly honest with you." Obi-wan freely admitted. "And I believe it is the will of the Force itself that I take you on as a student. You Avengers have begun to show me that I need to broaden my perspectives. Perhaps with you Peter, I can learn a bit more about myself in helping you."

"If you're offering, who am I to decline?" Peter said cheerfully. "When should we start?"

Smiling once more, Kenobi placed a hand on his shoulder and guided him towards one of the many training grounds of the temple.

"No time like the present, let's get started."

Peter only beamed, being jittery with excitement at the thought of having an actual teacher help him master this new power.

This was too awesome to put into words.

He would not let his new teacher down.

**AAAAAANNNNNDDDD DONE.**

**That was a freaking breeze!**

**J and I knocked this one out in a matter of hours! Holy crap this was an easy one to write.**

**Jebest4781: We had gotten this done rather quickly if I'm being honest. One of those rare days of doing it all in one sitting rather than multiple days. Wish this was possible more often, but that's not meant to be.**

**FMW: Yeah, I wish that we can have consistency like this but I know that it's never always going to be like that so we'll take the chances that we can get whenever we do get these literal lightning writing moments.**

**Whew, well that was crazy awesome still that we got down.**

**OH, be sure to check out my DeviantArt account under the same name, just slightly different.**

**FreeManWriter is how you search it up and it has multiple cover posters that focus on arcs that are already out. Just giving you a visual of sorts of what's to come in the arc so to speak.**

**Other than that, I'll see you all later folks.**

**Rate Read and Review and as Always Have Nice Day.**


	39. Conflict of Ideals

**Rate Read and Review and as Always Have Nice Day.**

Avengers Infinite Wars Chapter 39: Conflict of Ideals

"I take it you had a busy time on Mandalore." Steve remarked as he stood with Matt Murdock within the storage room of the Coronet, a New Mandalorian liner they currently resided in.

Matt shrugged. "I figured it would get hectic, though not to _that_ degree."

"Well, when you're dealing with people that are all about a warrior's lifestyle…" Nat left the statement unfinished, though it was enough as it is.

"What can you tell us about this Duchess Satine?" Steve asked, leaning back against a large crate within the storage room of the ship.

"She has her opinions and beliefs." Matt said candidly. "And isn't afraid to challenge them. A pacifist through and through."

"Ah, the people that want to run _us_ out of work." Natasha joked; nudging Cap who scoffed though had a smirk present.

Matt then tilted his head to the side. "Mr. Skywalker."

Nat and Steve looked over to Anakin who was approaching them.

"You don't have to call me that, Murdock." Anakin said with an amused smile. "Just Anakin will do."

Matt only nodded in acceptance.

"What's the word, Anakin?" Steve inquired.

"Just debriefed the boys." Anakin thumbed to the clones behind him. "Leaving Echo down here in charge of this one. Last thing I need is to have Hevy to go gung-ho on us all."

Steve chuckled knowingly, familiar with Hevy's tendencies to rush into battle with guns ablazing by this point. What really "tickled" him, as people say these days, was the marking of his shield on Hevy's left pauldron. Told him that it will undoubtedly protect him from anything.

Like that would work but who was he too deny Hevy that idea.

The group heard a few beeps and whistles, looking down at Anakin's personal Astromech droid R2-D2.

"Yeah, go ahead R2, you can start making your rounds." Anakin said. "Come on guys, The Duchess requested a meeting with us."

"This should be interesting." Widow noted, entering into the elevator with Kenobi, Rex and Cody already waiting for them inside.

"It's good that you're here with us, Steve, Natasha." Kenobi regarded them both.

"Ah, I see that I wasn't enough, I take it." Matt said blankly, making Obi-wan smirk at the lawyer for a brief moment a thought went through his head and he crossed his arms and stroked his beard.

"Everything alright, Obi-wan?" Steve asked, easily picking up on the Jedi's change in demeanor. "You look anxious."

"Is it about the Duchess?" Matt asked with Obi-wan's silence all but confirming it for them.

"The duchess couldn't be in safer hands." Anakin assured.

"Yes, I know." Kenobi said distantly, making the others exchange looks.

"Then why…" Anakin raised a brow.

"Never mind." Quickly said the general. "It's all in the past."

"Oh? So you're close to her?" Anakin said

"I _knew_ her. A long time ago." Obi-wan shot back defensively.

Anakin was befuddled by his former Master's response yet the gears clicked in place as soon as he saw the looks on the Avengers' face. A small mischievous grin grew one that Nat returned with Steve rolling his eyes good naturedly.

Matt was silent and unresponsive, ears picking on strange sounds coming from back below yet he couldn't identify them.

All these sounds were new to him and he still needed a bit more time in adjusting to them and discerning what it was he picked up on.

Meanwhile, up in the lounge area of the ship, Duchess Satine sat upon an elevated platform regarding the assemblage of Senators before her.

"War is intolerable!" Spoke the Mandalorian duchess. "We have been deceived into thinking that we must be a part of it. I say the moment we committed to fighting, we already lost."

Tal Merrik, a senator under Satine, grabbed a drink from a tray before addressing the Duchess. "Excuse me, your Grace, are you suggesting we oppose the war on humanitarian grounds?"

"I'm going to oppose it as an affront to life itself." Satine vehemently stated. "As the designated regent of 1,500 systems, I speak for thousands of worlds that have urged me to allow them to stay neutral in this war."

"And yet some might argue that the strongest defense is a swift and decisive offense."

Everyone turned to the newly arrived Jedi Knights and Avengers that have now entered the room.

Obi-wan went up to the steps, Satine's eyes upon his before he inclined his head respectfully.

"You are quite the general now aren't you, Master Kenobi?" Satine said plainly.

"Forgive me for interrupting, your Highness, I meant no disrespect."

"Really? Senators, I presume you are acquainted with the collection of half-truths and hyperbole known as Obi-wan Kenobi?" Satine said with a slightly condescending tone.

"Your highness is too kind." Kenobi said amicably.

"You're right. I am." Satine said somberly.

Anakin and the Avengers unknowingly looked between the Duchess and Jedi General back and forth several times. They could tell there was something more between them.

Obi-wan cleared his throat and gestured behind him to his companions.

"Allow me to introduce my fellow Jedi, Anakin Skywalker."

Said Jedi stepped forth and bowed slightly. "Your servant, my Lady."

"Accompanying us are Natasha Romanoff, Captain Steven Rogers and Matthew Murdock of the Avengers."

Each Avengers stepped forth with the Duchess regarding each of them.

"I am already familiar with you, Mr. Murdock." Satine said kindly enough. "But as for your colleagues. If I were to take a gander, these are _the_ Avengers I have been hearing so much about."

Steve and Natasha exchanged glances.

"And what have you heard about us, Duchess?" Natasha asked respectfully.

"That you are different from anything that has come before. That you all have a set of skills and abilities that rival or even outclass that of Jedi." Satine listed off. "Is it true that there is one amongst you that can enlarge himself to the size of buildings?"

"Scott?" Steve said the Avenger she was referring to. "Yeah, that was… quite a sight to see."

"So it is true then?" Satine was clearly interested. "And pray tell, what do you use these astonishing abilities for?"

"For the protection of others." Steve said with a fierce, unflinching gaze. "We as a team fight the battles that no one person can. We fight so other people don't have to."

The other senators gazed upon Steve and the other two Avengers with a sense of impressed approval with Satine somewhat sharing in those sentiments.

"And what exactly is it that you fight to protect people against?" Satine questioned challengingly.

"Tyrants, demagogues, crazy gods from other planets with the intents of conquest of our planet, evil super robots that want to _end_ our planet." Natasha listed off casually. "You know, those sorts of things. Kinda like Jedi but not really."

The other occupants within the room could only stare on with slight bewilderment save for one Twi'lek Senator who grinned approvingly at the trio. Steve spotted him, recognized the man and nodded in greeting with the Twi'lek returning the gesture.

Anakin chortled silently yet Satine was slightly put off.

"I remember a time when Jedi were not generals but peacekeepers." Satine directed this line more so at Obi-wan then at Anakin.

"We are protectors, Highness. Yours, at the moment." Anakin pointed out. "We fight for peace."

Satine softly scoffed. "What an amusing contradiction."

"It is no contradiction, Duchess Satine." The Twi'lek Senator spoke up. "I myself am all too familiar with that concept."

"Be that as it may, Syndulla." Satine said with a slight frown. "Do you not believe that if the Jedi are Peacekeepers, then why resort to a war for that belief?"

"What Master Skywalker means is that we are acting at the behest of Your Highness to protect you from the Death Watch and the Separatists who don't share your neutral point of view." Kenobi cut in.

"I asked for no such thing." Satine sharply said with a slight glare.

"That may be so, but a majority of your court did." Obi-wan countered.

To say that the air was now tense would be underselling it.

"I do not remember _you_ as one to hide behind excuses." Satine said with a small sneer.

"I do not remember _you_ as one to _shrink_ from responsibilities." Kenobi shot back, with a slight twinge in his tone

Wanting to defuse the situation, Cham Syndulla stepped in between the arguing pair. "Enough. We are not here to start a heated argument that accomplishes nothing. Duchess Satine and General Kenobi have proven there are two sides to every dilemma. Let's just leave it at that and leave it to the Senate vote"

"I think a multitude creates discord, not good council." Satine said with Cham smirking in mirth.

"You have no idea how right you are, Duchess." Cham remarked. "All the same, we have to have politicians do something in their free time."

From behind Cham, Obi-wan muttered out his own opinion to Anakin and the Avengers.

"There may be two sides to every dilemma, but it seems the duchess only favors hers."

"Really?" Widow said with a wry look. "Couldn't tell ya from lookin'"

Meanwhile, down below in the storage level. The Domino squad along with several other clones continued their sweeps as they checked in with one another announcing cleared areas.

"Alright, Mixer, Redeye, head over to sector 6." Echo instructed. "Fives and I have sector 2."

The two followed orders, reaching a fork in the hallway.

"I'll check out the South quadrant." Redeye said.

"Careful over there, it's dark." His Clone brother teased.

"Ah, shut up, Mixer."

What they didn't see or hear was the pair of sharpened legs pushing itself out of a large crate. None heard it but Matt Murdock who tensed at the unfamiliar sound.

Steve saw this and placed a hand on his shoulder. "Matt?"

The Lawyer only shook his head. "I'll talk to you in a moment."

Steve frowned but nodded, allowing Matt to do what he does best. He looked back to see his Jedi friend engaging in another debate with the woman that he clearly has some history with.

"A Republic military presence is the only sure defense against the Separatists." Kenobi argued.

"Even extremists can be reasoned with." Satine said, now raising up from her seat.

"Perhaps, if one can be heard over the clanking of their battle droids." Obi-wan went over to her platform with a more irritable expression.

"Ah, the sarcasm of a soldier."

"The delusion of a dreamer."

"Are you two done?" Cham said with an amused look, one shared by the other Jedi in the room and the Avengers.

It was not every day one was able to witness a more irked Obi-wan Kenobi.

"Damn… just need to lock these two in a room together…" Nat muttered to Steve and Matt with the former chuckling slightly yet the latter had a more intense look to him.

Tal Merrik had then decided to step in between the two "Duchess, Master Jedi, it's been a long trip. I think we could all use a little rest and refreshment."

"Duchess Satine." Matt stepped forward, hands grasping his walking stick as he directed his gaze at the Mandalorian ruler. "If I may ask, why is it that you are so adamant against this war? Against the idea of conflict as a whole?"

Satine blinked, finding herself rather caught off guard by the sudden question yet she managed to clear her throat and recover.

"When you have suffered and seen the horrors that have been responsible for such needless amounts of death and chaos, you develop an aversion to the idea of war." Satine stated with her chin raised.

"And believe me when I say this," Steve had now spoken up. "What you say has merit but that is too narrow minded.

"Excuse me?"

"War is not something that can be so easily categorized nor is it so simply defined." Steve said with an edge to his voice. "There are times where war is unavoidable and where extremists can't be reasoned with whatsoever."

Satine didn't respond, allowing Steve to go on.

"Take for example this Death Watch who opposes you." Steve said. "How do you reason with extremists who are hellbent on returning to the ways of old that utilize terroristic tactics to get their point across? Innocent people are dying because of it."

"I never wanted such a thing to happen." Satine argued back. "They crossed the line; I understand but we can still-"

"You crossed the line first, ma'am." Natasha interrupted. "You squeezed them, hammered them to the point of desperation and in their desperation they turned to the CIS."

"I have never intended to do such a thing." Satine said defensively. "I only wish for peace. I had seen enough of my people die for our ancient ways. I did not expect them to resort to terrorism against their own people."

"Terrorism is complicated, Satine. Mostly wanting to have what their target can't fully provide, making them drastic." Natasha stated. "In their case, they want things back to what they once were. Simpler, familiar times where they don't have to be persecuted for their beliefs."

"So they choose to remain to be viewed as warmongering blood thirsty fools then?" Satine asked with a sharp look. "How can anyone wish for that on themselves? I don't understand why you can't see that."

"With all due respect, Duchess, perhaps these are people _you_ don't fully understand either."

"They are Mandalorians." Satine said passionately. "Am I not a Mandalorian?"

"You are an extreme reaction to the Mandalorians to the point that the only planet that recognizes your rule is the home planet of Mandalore itself." Matt countered. "From what we have learned, it is only your planet that recognizes your government unlike the rest of your system."

"But there has to be a way without bloodshed." Satine was not about to falter. "Enough has been shed as it is."

"Duchess, if I may." Natasha began slowly walking towards her. "Ya see, a long time ago, I was on an assignment with several agents in this third world country back on Earth. We were investigating the local government, who were trying to buy the loyalty of tribal leaders by bribing them with precious stones." Natasha stood in the center of the room now. "But their caravans were constantly raided in a forest in the northern provinces by bandits. To effectively complete the mission, we had to look for the disturbance in order to find proper connections to help overturn the leaders of said government. For months, we never met anyone who traded with the bandits. One day, I saw a child playing with a ruby the size of a large fruit. When I brought it back to command, we came to realize the bandits were throwing them away."

This left the room utterly silent.

"So why steal them?' Anakin found himself asking on the behest of the assemblage of people.

"Oh because they thought it was good sport. Because some people aren't looking for anything logical like money or peace or even a compromise. They can't be bought, bullied, reasoned or negotiated with. Some men merely want to watch the world burn." Natasha's eyes bore into the Duchess. "These men… these Death Watch… they are not like the bandits I had encountered before. But if you continue down this path, these are the results that will plague you one day."

The silence that permeated the air was palpable to say the least. A silence that was broken by Matt Murdock tapping his cane lightly on the ground to gain everyone's attention.

"There's something many throughout life itself wishes to happen. Given the current case, it would be galactic peace, where everyone could be happy. No one to ever suffer life's problems such as famine, poverty and of course war." Matt sighed as he "looked" at those around him. "But therein lies a problem in that conflict must happen for everything to move forward in order to make things better for all. It's a great goal but should not be a means to the end. If progress does not occur, then everything becomes stagnant and no one wants that."

"But if you are to prevent such progress then you will be met with severe opposition and threats beyond your control."

"Are you implying that it is the fault of the Duchess for men like Death Watch to rise?" Merrick brought up. "I'll have you know that the Death Watch has been in existence for quite some time now, well before the current standing government the Republic recognizes to this day."

Matt only shook his head. "I'm saying that this is the result of cause and effect. Causality, if you will for short."

The occupants in the room were silent as the blind lawyer gave his reason. "Causality is a universal concept and no one can change it. Always occurring whenever people start moving forward in order to progress with one's beliefs, ideologies, goals, etc. The Death Watch comes to mind as of right now. For that brings in challenges, which incites conflict. And yes I know conflict breeds catastrophe, but… but despite what catastrophes occur, people hope they can work together to make things better. So if one were to wish to end all of that, then what will people learn from all these problems. Not to mention that there will be no confidence whatsoever in humanity… apologies, sentient life for asking for that wish. Everyone fights against their problems to make themselves better."

"We can't always rely on such barbaric mindsets for the sake of progress." Obi-wan, surprisingly cut in.

"It's not just about barbarism, Kenobi." Steve politely stated. "This is about something that is an inevitability. What Satine is doing, while noble, is too sudden and radical to the point of view of those that are familiar to thousands of years of a single mindset. There may be multiple perspectives on it, but for centuries, I've been told that the Mandalorians are a warrior's culture. To suddenly switch to peace and pacifism in an abrupt and short amount of time would only lead to extreme clashes, not compromise."

Matt then shook his head. "It's not just that, but a reality without pain or death or actual problems would eventually bring chaos from the facade order. Sure… it's an idealized dream many have sought for, but it causes confusion and everyone would want to change that. It's unnatural and unsettling for any living, breathing being out there. But if everyone was given -I don't know- immortality so quickly and easily, they'd stop in their potential all together. Should that happen, everyone would be too contemptuous with what's been given to them, making their lives meaningless. I believe you have not offered them a proper means of changing their outlook to align with your own. From what I have been shown so far, you have offered no alternatives other than your own. Either you adhere to the pacifistic ways or simply be banished. And judging from the Mandalorian nomadic culture, this did not present them with much of a challenge or alternative."

The lounge chamber was quiet, leaving a tense feeling all around. The invited senators digesting the recent discussion, contemplating on what roads to carefully tread on what actions they'll do for the duration of their political careers. Even being reminded on such topics made a few uneasy.

Satine stared hard at the Avengers, silently clasping her hands behind her back and moving to exit the room.

"Well… that was certainly… something." Anakin commented wryly. "Where did you all pull that one out of?"

"In my kind of life and what I've been through, one needs to be very insightful; even if it's going into certain uncomfortable territories." Matt said plainly.

"Lawyers." Nat rolled her eyes with a small grin.

"You certainly know how to put on a show." Obi-wan's dryly.

"It comes with our line of work, Mr. Kenobi." Matt said, slightly straightening out his tie.

"Ah, we're going with formalities now?" Kenobi remarked with an unamused look in his eyes which served to make Anakin chortle at his expense.

_-Scene Cut-_

While this heated debate went on, the clones continued their sweeps below with the luxury ship entering hyperspace.

The Avengers and Jedi conversed within the room that Anakin and Obi-wan shared for the duration of this trip.

It was a bit awkward between them all, Obi-wan being unusually silent with all eyes on him.

"What? Why must you all look at me like that?" Kenobi said aloud, finally addressing the prolonged gazes.

"So~" Nat began. "What's the deal with you and headdress?"

"It's nothing." Kenobi attempted to brush off with his former padawan scoffing.

"Come on, master. Don't avoid the subject cause we know that's not like you. What's the history you have between yourself and Satine?"

Obi-wan didn't respond at first, opting to remain silent.

"Your heart rate spiked there for a moment, Obi-wan." Matt pointed out, making the Jedi Master tense up.

With a defeated sigh, Obi-wan acquiesced to their request.

"An extended mission when I was younger. Master Qui-Gon and I spent a year on Mandalore protecting the duchess and her family from insurgents who had threatened her world. They sent bounty hunters after us. We were always on the run, living hand-to-mouth, never sure what the next day would bring." He said with a faraway tone.

"Sounds romantic." Anakin quipped, earning a wry look from his master with Natasha and Steve chuckling. Matt only smirked slightly.

"To you it is." Kenobi said.

"Well, what's not romantic about it?" Nat asked with a small grin. "Sounds like a typical cliché romance film from Earth. Boy is a bodyguard who is charged with protecting a girl. Girl is resistant to boy at first before they fall in love."

Matt picked up on the spike in Obi-wan's heart rate once more, though remained silent.

"A civil war killed most of Satine's people, hence her aversion to violence. When she returned, she took on the difficult task of rebuilding her world alone." Kenobi went on, unperturbed by Natasha's comments.

"You didn't stay to help her?" Steve asked.

"That would have been problematic. My duty as a Jedi demanded I be elsewhere." Obi-wan stated plainly.

"Demanded? But it's obvious you had feelings for her. Surely that would affect your decision." Anakin vehemently.

"Oh, it _did_." Obi-wan said, not denying it one bit. "I live by the Jedi Code."

The Jedi Master did not miss the looks of disapproval shared by the Avengers.

"Of course. As Master Yoda says, 'a Jedi must not form attachments'." Anakin said in a rather bitter tone, one that the Avengers did not fail to pick up on.

"Yes. But he usually leaves out the undercurrent of remorse." Obi-wan admitted.

"Then why don't you try?" Natasha asked. "Why run from attachments?"

"It would only lead to suffering." Kenobi stated. "The Jedi Code states that attachments would only lead to conflict within one's self and can lead you down to the path of the dark side."

"Sounds contradictory in all honesty." Steve said with his arms crossed. "How can you forbid attachments yet emphasize compassion and care?"

"Our compassion and care is to be directed to all and not a singular individual." Obi-wan countered. "Attachments can get in the way of that notion."

"Boy you guys are lucky Tony isn't here." Natasha stated with a flat look on her face. "If he was, he'd eviscerate the whole order if he could. And he'd probably mess with you all just cause."

"Sounds like it would be fun to see." Anakin said with a grin.

"Anakin." Kenobi gave him a disapproving look with the Jedi Knight merely shrugging it off.

"What? They gotta lighten up sometimes." Anakin said unashamedly. "All these rules and restrictions can come back to bite us you-"

"Something's wrong." Matt suddenly spoke up with a sharp tone. "I just heard a clone trooper…. His heart rate stopped entirely."

"What?" Anakin said in alarm. "Are you certain?"

Steve instead held up his wrist comm. "Captain Rex, Commander Cody come in."

"Yes Captain Rogers?" Rex responded.

"Call in all Troopers, make sure they're all accounted for." Steve ordered with Rex undergoing the order when…

"Redeye, do you copy?"

The silence was all they needed to hear.

"We need to get down there." Obi-wan said, moving to leave the room when Anakin held out his hand.

"I'll go, Master. If there's something dangerous down there, the clones and I can handle it."

"Mind if I join you?" Steve stepped forth to join Anakin with the Jedi nodding. "Nat, Matt, think you two can hold down the fort up here with Obi?"

"We'll do our part."

"What he said, Steve."

With a nod, both Steve and Anakin departed with Nat looking to Obi-wan.

"So what now, Obi?"

"Now we must do our part in keeping the senators and the Duchess safe." Obi-wan said as it was the most obvious thing to do.

As the Jedi with his two companions departed to meet with the senators and Duchess, said group of people were currently sitting down to have dinner.

Among the Senators, Cham Syndulla sighed to himself as he stared at all of these luxury and exquisite foods and compared them to the scraps and rations he had eaten back on Ryloth not so long ago.

It was still a jarring experience to say the least for the Twi'lek war hero who was more used to fighting on the battlefield for his people rather than debating for them. But he wasn't just here for himself. He was here for his beloved wife and daughter, using the influence he has garnered to shape the galaxy into a better place.

"Syndulla."

The Twi'lek blinked, glancing over at Satine who was looking at him curiously.

"Is everything alright? Is the food to your liking?" Satine asked politely.

Cham gave her a slightly strained smile.

"Just getting used to all this still, Duchess." Cham admitted. "Still not used to all this pomp and circumstance."

Satine opted to respond when the door to the dining room opened and in walked Obi-wan with Murdock and Romanoff.

"I beg your pardon, Senators. Our men are investigating a situation below decks. I respectfully ask you to wait here until it is settled." Kenobi informed all present making them slightly nervous yet now with the Jedi and two Avengers present, it seemed that things were under control.

For the moment.

Down below, Steve and Anakin arrived to see Rex, Cody and the rest of the Clones all assembled at the front of the elevator.

"All right, men. What's the problem? I'm missing dinner."

"Any sign of Redeye?" Steve asked.

"We're not sure yet, sir." Rex stated. "Mixer here last saw him but we haven't heard from him since and we can't find him."

R2 began to let out a series of beeps and whistles.

"What's the matter, buddy?" Anakin asked his faithful astromech.

The Droid responded with a concerned set of beeps with a whine.

"I know, I know, but I'm here now. Use your scanners. See if something's out of place."

R2 had a small compartment on his domed head pop open with a small satellite looking device rising up as he began scanning out the area. They followed after the Astromech with Steve gazing up at the rather darkened ceiling.

"This isn't ominous at all." Steve commented with his eyes still up, Anakin glancing back at him directing his gaze upward a moment later.

"Yeah… this lighting is weird, isn't it?" Anakin noted.

"Sir."

Both Steve and Anakin looked ahead to see Rex, Cody and the Clones standing before a large empty crate.

"Well, do we have here?" Anakin muttered.

"Looks like the contents of this box are missing." Fives said aloud.

"Or it got up and walked away." Steve stated with Anakin nodding in agreement.

"All right, fan out. Separate squads. I'll contact Obi-wan." Anakin ordered, holding up his wrist comms.

Echo stood next to Captain Rogers, noticing the slightly concerned expression he held.

"Sir?"

Steve didn't respond at first. "Where did Redeye go missing?"

"I last saw him, sir." Mixer, stepping forward after hearing this question.

"Lead on then. Echo, Cutup, with me."

Steve left with the trio of Clones whilst Anakin was speaking with Obi-wan.

"Anakin, what have you found?" Obi-wan asked from the dining room.

"There's a large open container and the contents are missing." Anakin said, looking back to the empty crate with the Clones surrounding it. "Steve went off with three of the Troopers to find our missing man."

Kenobi thought over the information, nodding a moment later. "Keep things quiet. I'll stay with the senators."

"Got it." Anakin said, turning back to the Clones. "Rex, Fives, you're with me. Cody, divvy up the men and search the area. Watch your six."

"Yes sir." Cody said, getting right to his orders as he divided up the clones.

Steve, Echo and Cutup followed after Mixer, arriving at the fork in the path where he split from Redeye.

"This way." Mixer said, going in the direction Redeye went off to.

The group soon reached a sort of dead end though Cutup kicked something on the ground. Glancing down, he saw a blaster rifle.

"Found something." Cutup said, picking up the rifle for the others to see.

"We found our rifle." Echo muttered. "Question is…"

"Where's our missing man?" Steve finished for the clone when they heard a large commotion back in the direction of Anakin and the other Clones with blaster fire echoing from there.

"Let's move." Steve said with the group running back from where they came from.

They ran back around in time to see the Clones gunning down an arachnid-like droid that fell over with its red eyes dimming.

As soon as they arrived, Mixer saw something out of the corner of his eye and cried out in vain as another one of those multi-legged droids appeared from above and tackled him to the ground.

The clone struggled with the droid, being relieved of it a moment later as Steve grabbed the droid and pulled it off the Clone. He threw it away with the droid skittering about to maintain balance.

"The lift!" Anakin abruptly cried out with several heads turning towards the elevator door.

There, they saw another of those droids getting the door open and quickly clambering up the shaft.

"Dammit." Steve said aloud, throwing his shield at the droid that was still here and active.

Anakin quickly contacted his Jedi comrade. "Obi-wan, there's assassin probes down here. One made it up the lift. I'll hold the others here."

Up with Obi-wan and the others, Daredevil initiated his suit with Black Widow whipping out her electric batons.

"Quickly, secure the lifts!" Kenobi ordered, igniting his lightsaber just as the doorway to the dining room opened.

The senators moved back with Cham pulling out a blaster pistol he had hidden on him.

The Assassin droid entered the room and swatted aside the guards before it had its legs swept aside from Daredevil's extended Billy club. It attempted to rise back up to the ground when Widow quickly jabbed her batons at its head with the electricity causing it to jolt about.

Not a moment too soon did it have a lightsaber embedded in its largest red optic, slumping over a moment later.

Yet as soon as it hit the ground, from the top of its head came more smaller assassin droids that all made a beeline for those present within the room.

Cham was the first to act, firing upon the many mini-droids crawling all over the place.

Black Widow attached her batons together to form an electrified bo staff which she swung in a wide sweeping arch.

Matt used his Billy club in a similar manner as his fellow Avenger. Knocking whatever mini-droid came remotely close while he defended the other senators.

Rushing across the dining room, Satine pulled out what appeared to be a small blaster from her sleeve. Pulling the trigger, a small electric bolt was fired. Once landing on one, many mini-droids were electrified due to how close they were. Seeing this, Obi-wan noticed the weapon in the Duchess' possession

Deflecting and slicing through the small army of mini-droids, Obi-wan voiced an inquiry to Satine. "Do you always carry a deactivator?"

"Just because I'm a pacifist doesn't mean I won't defend myself."

"Now _you_ sound like a Jedi."

Down below, Anakin, Steve and the clones were experiencing the same problem with the little spider droids clambering all around them.

"Watch it!"

"They're everywhere!"

"Agh! Get 'em off!" Mixer cried out as one got beneath his helmet. Fives saw this and quickly grabbed him and pulled his helmet off in time to see the droid on his head.

Mixer grabbed the little droid and tossed it away with Anakin slicing it in two with his lightsaber.

Steve used his shield to swat aside the little droids, catching any that jumped or climbed on him with R2 utilizing an electrizer to take out the droids as well.

The droids were all soon taken care of with Anakin deactivating his saber.

"Nice work everyone." Anakin said, looking to R2. "You too buddy."

R2 let out triumphant beep.

"Assassin droid? How did that monster end up in the hold?" Rex asked aloud.

"There was that empty container." Steve pointed out with Anakin frowning in thought.

"So the better question is, who smuggled them onboard?" Skywalker asked.

Back with Obi-wan, he had picked up one of the deactivated droids to inspect it.

"Just like that swarm of venom-mites on Draboon, remember?"

"How could I forget? I still have the scar." Satine remarked with a small smile.

"Begging your pardon, Duchess. I distinctly remember carrying you to safety." Obi-wan said with a bit of a strange tone.

"I meant the scar I got after you fell and dropped me." Satine said slyly.

"...Oh. Yes." Kenobi muttered.

"Oh… my God. Could they _be_ any more in love with one another?" Nat asked with a dry voice next to Matt who didn't respond yet the growing smirk he had was enough of an answer.

As the dining hall was getting cleaned up of the mess, Anakin showed up holding a datapad. Seeing his former padawan, Obi-wan made his way over to see what was going on, learning why he was here instead of calling him over the wrist-com.

His answer was not looking good as the Jedi general was presented with the data-pad. Reading through the contents, a grim look marred his features.

"One of our four distinguished senators appears to be a traitor." Anakin stated.

Obi-wan merely nodded before hearing a faint noise behind him. Looking over, he saw Matt snatching one of the mini-droids off the ground before it could escape.

"It looks like one of our little visitors is still alive." Kenobi then handed back the data pad. "I have an idea how to expose the turncoat. Return to the bottom of the ship. Destroy the last assassin droids. I'll find out which of the senators is the traitor."

Anakin nodded, quickly heading back down with Natasha joining him to aid in the search. Not long after, the Senators soon had themselves seated back around the table. Only Matt remained with Kenobi, the two sharing a look.

"You're not eating, Syndulla."

"Eating this… luxury food is sadly not for me, Senator Merrik." The Twi'lek senator looked over to Satine and saw she wasn't eating as well. "Is something wrong, Duchess?"

"Forgive me, but after what happened, I have no appetite at this time." Satine said with a downtrodden tone.

"That's to be expected." Matt spoke up, still suited up. "It was after all a bit of a harrowing moment.

"Maybe it would be best if we forgo continuing dinner and return to our quarters for the rest of the trip to Coruscant." Merrik suggested, ready to stand back up.

"Just a moment, senator." Obi-wan spoke up, holding something that was hidden beneath a cloth. "I would think that leaving before desert would be rather unbecoming when having dinner with such fine, upstanding individuals."

Without another word, Obi-wan removed the cloth to reveal the mini-droid that had been caught by Daredevil earlier.

Many of the senators shifted about uncomfortably at the sight of the droid.

"You see, Mr. Murdock here caught this little one scampering about the dining room hall." Kenobi stated. "Yet where it was found was quite unusual."

Turning to the blind lawyer, Matt picked up from Obi-wan's statement.

"When the droids were attacking, emotions were running high on top of adrenaline." Matt began calmly, slowly walking around the table with Kenobi doing the same on the other. "Everyone's heart rate was accelerated and there was a clear sense of panic considering how sudden this attack was."

He heard the man's heart rate elevate.

"All but one of the senators remained calm." Matt said as Obi-wan held up the mini-droid next to the Rodian senator.

Satine saw this and grew angry, rising from her seat.

"This is borderline torture."

"Now, now." Matt said placatingly. "The situation is well under our control. Now, where was I, ah yes, the Senators." He stood behind Cham's seat. "One may suspect Syndulla in the beginning yet many factors detract from this idea. His readiness to fight back stems from his time fighting in the war as well as having no prior relations to the Duchess nor Mandalore until this very meeting that had been arranged by the Senate."

He went over to Merrik just as Obi-wan rounded over to Satine.

"However, one man in particular remained relatively calm all the while with an air of assuredness that he would not get attacked by these little droids." Matt stood directly behind Merrik's chair with Kenobi now next to the senator while holding up the trapped mini-droid.

"Strange." Obi-wan said. "It appears that this droid likes you, Senator Merrik? Any reasons as to why?"

Merrik's eyes darted about rapidly.

"Is everything alright, Senator?" Matt inquired with a slightly taunting tone. "You seem a bit troubled now."

The Senator then laughed snidely a moment later.

"Really, Mr. Murdock, you're quite clever." Merrik shoved his chair back as hard as he was able to while swatting the contained droid up into the air.

Daredevil had tossed aside the chair though was not quick enough to stop the prince from getting to the Duchess and wrapping his arm around her neck while holding up a blaster to her head. Cham had attempted to get up out of his seat yet Merrik shot the Twi'lek in the leg, causing him to fall to the ground.

The smaller assassin droid ran about, having jumped upon the Rodian senator yet it was quickly dispatched by Obi-wan who looked over to see Merrik backing out of the room with Satine as his hostage.

"She'll be coming with me." Merrik said aloud, the door closing as he exited the room.

Obi-wan held up his wrist comm as he and Matt followed after the man.

"Tal Merrik is the traitor and he's taken Satine hostage." Kenobi informed Anakin, him and Matt now running through the halls.

"This way." Matt directed Kenobi towards the front of the ship.

"Copy that, but I've got problems of my own right now." Anakin grunted out, slicing through yet another slew of smaller Assassin droids.

Behind him, Black Widow and Captain America were dealing with their own small army of mini-droids with the large carrier having been destroyed already.

"Cody, Rex, what's your status?" Anakin spoke into his wrist comms.

"All quiet over here, sir." Reported in Cody as both he and Rex rounded a corner. About to traverse further, the Clone Commander spotted a helmet lying on the ground. "Wait a minute…"

Cody cautiously turned the helmet to view the interior, seeing a small mini-droid inside that pounced on the Commander. Several more mini-droids appeared, attacking the two high ranking Clone officers as they swarmed around him.

Thankfully, Anakin appeared right around the corner with R2 as he sliced off the mini droids with the Astromech shocking the others off Rex.

"Thanks little guy." The Clone Captain said with an appreciative nod.

R2 chirped in appreciation as the two clones rose to their feet.

"Well, we found the little ones." Said Skywalker. "What about the mother?'

"Haven't seen it."

From right behind them, a metallic shriek was heard. Turning around, they were too late as the mother droid pounced out from the darkness and tackled Captain Rex into a more open area. It brought two of its front legs up and poised to strike him down.

Rex grabbed both sharp legs from impaling him, kicking the droid off of him. The droid scrambled upwards on the wall when a disk was flung at its legs, cleaving right through them. The disk returned to its owners awaiting hand as the Clone Captain took advantage of the opportunity given to him by Rogers.

Jumping atop the droid, Rex had his blasters aimed right onto the entry points for the mini-droids and unloaded a volley of bolts right into it. The assassin droid sparked as the optics soon died out.

He looked back to the others with a satisfactory nod, one shared by the others.

"That takes care of that."

On the bridge of the Coronet, the crew consisting of Republic guards were stationed throughout the chamber. Working the controls and maintaining their trajectory towards Coruscant via hyperspace. Everything was normal up to this point, even when they were placed on high alert earlier from the assassin droids being present on the ship.

The occupants of the bridge minded their own business when the door leading into the chamber opened up. Some expected it to be a guard coming by or perhaps someone else. Yet to their surprise it was Senator Merrik as he held Duchess Satine in a hostage hold.

Some of the guards were about to respond accordingly, but Merrik was too fast for them with his already drawn out blaster. In quick precision, he fired upon the guards before aiming his weapon at the defenseless captain.

"No, please, I beg-"

The man was silenced with a point blank shot to the head.

"Monster! You're a horrid monster!" Satine cried out, horrified by the death of the guards and captain.

"Get used to it." Merrik snarled. He stepped into the center of the bridge and activated a transmission.

" _Death Watch Command."_ Pre Vizsla greeted the sight of the Duchess and turncoat Senator.

"Tal Merrik here."

" _Senator Merrik. It seems you've completed your mission."_ Pre noted with approval.

"Yes, sir. I have the duchess, but I'll need help getting her away." Merrik said. "There are two Jedi and Three of those Avengers on the Coronet. This may prove problematic."

"Rest assured, Merrik, reinforcements are on their way." Pre's tone was foreboding. "Our esteemed allies of the Confederacy have generously donated someone of equal capabilities to those Jedi and Avengers that concern you. Be ready to exit hyperspace so they may come accordingly."

With the transmission ended, Merrik held the Duchess tighter as he worked the controls to have the Coronet abruptly depart out of hyperspace. From there, he sent out a signal for the CIS so they may board the ship.

Back with Obi-wan and Daredevil, they encountered Anakin and Widow running towards them down the same hall.

"Did you find them?" Kenobi asked straight away.

"No, but I've stationed troopers at every escape pod." Anakin said. "Steve is with them, making sure nobody gets past."

"Merrik will try to signal his allies for help. We have to find him." Kenobi stated as they entered a lift within the corridor.

"He already has." Matt stated, his hearing having picked up on the conversation between Merrik and Pre. "We have enemies incoming as soon as we're out of Hyperspace."

All present were only silent as they rode upon the lift to their destination.

That was until Anakin broke the silence. "This may not be the time to ask but were you and Satine… ever…"

"I don't see how that has _any_ bearing on the situation at hand." Obi-wan said in an aggressively defensive manner. Anakin blinked as he caught the eye of Nat and both shared an amused grin

The moment they exited the elevator, they felt the Coronet shake with a resounding alarm soon after, signaling to everyone on board that they were being attacked. Many clones went into battle stations, rushing through many hallways to stop their attackers.

"Looks like they're here." Natasha stated.

"We'll take care of this, Obi-wan. You? Go find your girlfriend." Anakin said, running off with Matt and Nat.

"Right. Uh, no, Anakin, she's not my…" Obi-wan knew it was pointless, running off to find Satine.

In one corridor, a mixture of Mandalorian guards and clone troopers were holding down the line against the small battalion of Super Battle Droids.

Steve led the defense, throwing his shield as the Vibranium disk bounced around the hallways and cut through the droids like butter. The Clones behind him with the Mandalorian guards advanced when suddenly something slammed into one of the guards.

Something large, elongated and made up of nerves. It crushed the guard to death in an instant, the limb retracting back to where it came from.

"Hello, meat." Snarled the large hulking mass of the Gen'Dai bounty hunter Durge.

"Oh shit, it's that guy." Steve muttered. "Fall back! Fall back now!"

Captain Rex fired at the bounty hunter, trying to keep its attention on him while the others retreated.

"Anakin." Steve called him in. "We have a serious problem on our hands."

"What is it?" Anakin replied in concern.

"Durge is on the ship."

"WHAT?!" Anakin was completely caught off guard by this little tidbit.

"That's wonderful." Nat remarked sarcastically. "How the hell are we gonna get rid of this guy?"

"Captain Rogers, we can't have him running rampant on the ship." Captain Rex said aloud.

"What do you have in mind?" Steve said, narrowly dodging a large fist that left a sizable dent in the wall that he hit.

"We need to get him off the ship." Rex said, firing at Durge's head which caught the attention of the large monstrous bounty hunter.

Understanding what Rex was hinting at, Steve nodded and threw his shield at the Gen'Dai with Durge snarling angrily, swiping at him with Rogers barely making it past these manic swings.

"Move, move." Steve barked out to the guards and clones, the ensemble running away towards the escape pods.

Steve had sent the message for Anakin, Nat and Murdock to meet them there while trying his best to evade Durge and keep his attention on having him follow after them.

Meanwhile…

Reaching the bridge, Obi-wan ignited his lightsaber as he stared down the turncoat Senator holding Satine in a tight grip.

"Come in, Kenobi. You're expected." Spoke Merrik.

"Tal Merrik, you are under arrest." Said the Jedi. "Release the duchess."

It wasn't going to be that easy for the Jedi. For the briefest of moments, he thought Merrik still had a blaster out. If Merrik did, then Obi-wan would've used the Force to pry it out of his grasp and take care of things accordingly. Yet that wasn't the case as what was within his hand was not a blaster, but a detonator.

"Hmm, I took the precaution of wiring the ship's engines to explode. I press this remote, and we all die."

Satine struggled to free herself from Merrik's hold, but he was a bit too strong for her. Looking at the Jedi general, she made a request. "Obi, if you have any respect for me you will not take such risks with so many people's lives at stake."

"Satine… Don't."

All Obi-wan could do was watch Merrik pulling Satine out of the room before carefully moving backwards to keep the Jedi in his line of sight. Not wanting to lose them, Kenobi gave chase.

All the while, Anakin, the Clones and the Avengers were now fighting maniacally in an enclosed space in an attempt to get Durge into an escape pod to jettison him off the ship. The Gen'Dai bounty hunter was running rampant, having killed a dozen clones already with several Mandalorian guards.

He wasn't giving any quarter, only focused on killing all these Clones and Mandalorians. That's what the Count promised him when he enlisted himself into the Sith's services.

"He's just gonna destroy the ship if we don't get him off _right now."_ Matt stressed, his enhanced hearing picking up on the damage that this Durge figure is causing.

"Get an escape pod ready." Anakin ordered with a Clone improvising as he aimed at one of the control panels of an escape pod.

Steve moved forward and began to rapidly throw his shield at the Gen'Dai, the disk bouncing off the bounty hunter with every strike. Nat was using her own set of blaster pistols, the other clones joining in.

The overwhelming display of power momentarily startled the Gen'Dai which was all Anakin needed to see. Stepping forth with his arms raising up into the air, Skywalker felt the Force flow through his being within every cell of his body.

With a grunt, Anakin unleashed a powerful Force push that shoved the bounty hunter straight into the opened escape pod. Quickly closing it telekinetically, he used the force one last time to initiate the launch that sent Durge out and far away from the ship.

The group slumped over slightly in exhaustion until they heard blaster fire down the corridor, around the corner.

"Anakin." Steve spoke up. "You head off and find Obi-wan. We'll deal with this."

Anakin only nodded, running off to where his master may be.

Navigating his way through some hallways, Merrik came across one of the CIS drop ships still pierced into the Coronet's hull. With him still staring down Kenobi, the turncoat Senator activated his wrist-com and spoke towards his Death Watch allies.

"This is Merrik. Stand by to disengage." Said Merrik before turning towards his hostage. "Say farewell, Duchess."

"Obi-wan, it looks like I may never see you again." Satine said with worry in her eyes. "I don't know quite how to say this but… I've loved you from the moment you came to my aid all those years ago."

Merrik looked at his hostage with a look of bewilderment before groaning in annoyance. "I don't _believe_ this…"

If Obi-wan were to be honest, this was a rather awkward predicament as he didn't know what to properly respond back to her.

"Satine, this is hardly the time or place for…"

He was silenced upon seeing her eyes. Gazing into them, he could see the utter sadness and love as they bore straight through him. Memories of their time together all those years passed rushed through his head. The joyful times, the saddened times and the times they were alone together as their feelings blossomed into something more than just a close friendship.

"All right. Had you said the word I would have left the Jedi order."

Despite the circumstances, Satine felt utter happiness when hearing the genuine words coming out of Obi-wan's mouth. Yet the mood quickly died with her captor speaking up.

"That is _touching_. _Truly_ , it is." Mocked the traitorous senator. "But it's making me sick, and we really must be going."

Satine looked at Merrik in an affront manner, growling at him. "You have the romantic soul of a _slug_ , Merrik."

With that, she quickly lifted up her foot and slammed the heel into the top of his foot. The force and pressure behind it slammed into the Senator's toes, possibly breaking them in the process.

"Ow! You-"

The distraction paid off, giving Satine the chance to break free from her captor's hold. In a fluid motion, she snatched the blaster out of Merrik's grasp and stood a few feet away. Both the weapon in her hand and the lightsaber in Obi-wan's were aimed right at the turncoat.

"And _slugs_ are so often trod upon."

Merrik looked towards both the Duchess and the Jedi, scoffing soon after as he bit back the pain he was feeling from his aching foot. "Interesting turnabout, but even if I do not deliver the duchess alive to the Separatists, I still win. The second I'm away, I'll hit the remote and blow the Coronet to bits."

"I will not allow that." Proclaimed the Mandalorian leader.

Merrik saw Duchess tremble, trying her best to keep the blaster in her grasp steady. She seemed fine knowing how to wield it, but merely using it was conflicting with her.

"What will you do? If you shoot me, you prove yourself a hypocrite to every _pacifist ideal_ you hold dear." Merrik then looked at the Jedi before him. "And you, Kenobi. You are no stranger to violence. You'd be hailed as a hero by everyone on this ship… _almost_ everyone."

Obi-wan glanced over, knowing Merrik's words to be true. If he took down the turncoat here and now, in Satine's presence, he would lose whatever affections she held left of him.

"Come on, then. Who will strike first and brand themselves a cold-blooded killer?"

It was upon these words did Merrik soon let out a painful gasp as a lightsaber was plunged through his chest. He let loose of the remote as it fell towards the ground. Before the detonator's button could connect with the floor and destroy the Coronet, it was caught.

Seeing the dead senator falling to the ground, Satine snapped out of her focus and looked at the blaster in her grasp. She quickly tossed it aside as her hands still trembled.

Kenobi looked at the new arrival and let loose a frustrated sigh. "Anakin…"

"What? He was going to blow up the ship." Said the Skywalker nonchalantly, deactivating his lightsaber.

When Obi-wan put away his weapon, he looked over to Satine as their eyes met. Silence surrounded them as they seemed lost into each other's gazes. Seeing this, Anakin had to step away to give the two a bit of respectful privacy.

"Obi-wan… I…"

Whatever Satine tried to say next died in her throat with a flurry of steps came towards their location. It didn't take her to look to know reinforcements had come to see if she was safe and sound.

"General Skywalker," spoke the clone commander, "the last of the droids have been defeated, sir."

Anakin bit back a growl of annoyance as the clones practically ruined a tender moment between his former Master and the Mandalorian Duchess. "Very good, Cody."

Both Obi-wan and Satine looked at each other before the Duchess broke away, not wanting to look at the Jedi any further. "I must get back to the business of diplomacy."

"As you say, Duchess. Some other time."

Hearing Obi-wan's words as she departed made her heart ache. They both had to do what needs to be done now. Nothing more, nothing less.

Duty comes before love. And this was clearly the saddened case for these two star-crossed lovers.

_-Scene Cut-_

After some time cleaning up the mess onboard the Coronet, the ship eventually made it back to Coruscant. The trip was not as it was intended to be with all of the death and destruction happening onboard the ship, but everything went out alright in the end… for the most part.

Docking at their assigned platform, the Coronet lowered the ramp for many of its passengers to unload and go to their intended destinations. And greeting them was Chancellor Palpatine with an armed escort some feet behind him.

"A job well done, Master Jedi."

Obi-wan politely bowed a little to the galactic leader. "Thank you, Chancellor."

"Your Excellency." Said the Skywalker as other passengers came flowing out.

While the other senators greeted the Chancellor before heading off, Cham Syndulla hanged back a little longer to give a thankful nod to the Jedi and Avengers before catching up with the other politicians.

It wasn't long after when Satine approached Obi-wan with many of her guards standing around her.

"How ironic to meet again, only to find we're on opposing sides."

Obi-wan could hear the masked pain in her voice. She hid it well with the layer of tiredness from what happened earlier. All she could do now was wear a small smile as she gazed at him.

"The needs of your people are all that matter. They couldn't be in better hands with _you_ to guide their future."

The Duchess' smile grew a little more from his genuine sincere words. She even chuckled a little. "Kind words indeed from a _mindful_ and _committed_ Jedi." She gazed at his face as her smile died a little. "And yet…"

"What?"

"I'm still not sure about the beard."

This utterly confused Kenobi. "Why? What's wrong with it?"

She brought a hand and ran it through his neatly trimmed beard, making him fight the urge to lean into it. "It hides too much of your handsome face."

Satine pulled away, leaving with a teasing grin as she walked away to get to the transport carrying the other politicians.

"What was that all about?" Anakin asked in bewilderment.

"I think there's still that spark that Obi-wan is oh so trying to deny." Nat stated, nudging the master Jedi who for once appeared slightly flustered.

"If only I had a camera right about now." Anakin said with a grin, making Obi-wan frown, only to serve in making the others laugh at his plight.

Anakin, chuckling, placed a comforting hand on his former master's shoulder.

"She's a very remarkable woman." He said softly.

Giving his former Padawan a wry look, he sighed a moment later with an agreeing nod. "She is indeed."

They watched as the Duchess and her entourage departed from the platform, entering a transport ship to take them to the senate building.

"Hey guys!"

Blinking, all heads turned to see none other than Spider-man swinging towards them being joined by Falcon and Quicksilver, who was carried by the avian Avenger via arm grab.

"Sam?" Steve said aloud in surprise. "What are you guys doing out here?"

"And why do you guys smell dirty?" Daredevil's nose scrunched up.

"Oh… well about that." Peter rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. "We've been busy so to speak and it's a bit of a long sto-"

"Save it for later." Anakin said, holding up his hand. "Quite frankly, I figure we could all use this time for some rest if you don't mind the suggestion."

"Agreed." Resounded some of the present Avengers.

"How was the trip?" Sam asked.

"We'll tell you along the way." Natasha soon picked up something from her nose and it was coming from the Sokovian. "And is that perfume on you, Pietro?"

"M-maybe."

**Alright, there's another one.**

**So this week in writing has been… rough so to speak but I'd rather not dwell on it.**

**So there's much to be done in the coming chapters, with the Mandalore plot coming to an end in the next chapter while focusing on things to come.**

**There's a lot I wanted to do for this chapter but that would have prolonged it unnecessarily so that's being saved for the next chapter.**

**Not much to say really cause there's so much to do.**

**Rate Read and Review and as Always Have Nice Day.**


	40. Never as Simple

**Much to fulfill in this chapter that I need to do.**

**It's a bit of a milestone for me cause… I've worked on many chapters on my stories but this is one of the ones that I know for sure will reach triple digits of Chapters. Think on this, there are still SEVEN arcs I need to do until we get to Season 3. And even though certain arcs only dictate one chapter at times, with everything that I've planned out thanks in no small part to Jebest co-writing with me, I know that without question that it is a more than likely chance arcs involving a single chapter are gonna become less and less as time goes on.**

**Without question, there's maybe only one arc in the seven planned out for this season that only has one chapter and you guys may have a guess as to what it is but it will more than likely be a long one.**

**But now, with 40 chapters in, it's time to truly begin to shake things up. I've had small instances here and there but now? Now things are gonna be shifting.**

**So without further ado…**

**Rate Read and Review and as Always Have Nice Day.**

Avengers Infinite Wars Chapter 40: Never as Simple.

Matt, Cap and Widow were gone for the time being.

Scott and Hope were with Mr. Rhodes, working on their equipment while looking out for… they still hadn't decided on the name of the baby-Yoda that constantly waddled to their rooms. Was it Kevin? Or had they chosen Dylan? Maybe it was Jake. Whatever the name was, those three were busy.

Pietro had left earlier. Something about a date.

'A date.' Peter mused internally. 'With an alien. Might as well be Star Trek by this point.'

Ahsoka and Barriss were somewhere in the temple but he couldn't find them.

And Sam was… also somewhere.

Which means that it left Peter all to his own devices for the time being.

So then, what to do?

The young web-head was perched high above the Jedi temple, overlooking the entrance to the grand structure. Before him was the city planet that the Avengers called their temporary home since arriving here. He was suited up with his mask in hand.

Were they in their home galaxy of the milky way?

Or somewhere else entirely? Was it another galaxy or… another universe.

The aspect of the multiverse was certainly something that greatly intrigued him as it did in terrifying him. In theory, the multiverse was one that was a realm of infinite realities and possibilities where anything and everything that can happen _does_ happen. So to be in it wasn't something that Peter would like to assume.

Not really ready for something like that.

Shaking his head, Peter gazed at his mask before slipping it on over his head. He jumped forward and fired a web line, swinging away at full speed.

If he was gonna be here for a while, might as well get to know the planet a bit better. Sounds a lot better than just sitting around in a temple of emotionless monks.

It was a bit of a refreshing feeling really, swinging around the buildings of Coruscant. He should honestly do this more often whenever he was here and not out in the middle of a battlefield or looking for the other missing Avengers.

Just thinking about them made him hope that the Prince of Wakanda was alright. Brief as their time spent together was, the guy used his powers to help him and Matt try to get the enhanced criminals that had come to New York out of there.

And now he was out there, somewhere lost in the stars. Then there was also Wanda Maximoff and Vision that were _still missing._ The Avengers had been here for some time now, with their suits telling them that it was only a few days away until Christmas and New Year's back home.

Just thinking on all this matter made Peter cringe internally, stuffing those thoughts down for the time being.

Right now, he just wants to swing around for a bit and possibly clear his head… and maybe run into some trouble to keep himself busy but that was coming from the back of his mind.

Doing a triple accel spin in the air, Spider-man certainly had the attention of any and all who spotted him with some openly pointing him out. They were rather astonished to see someone like that jumping and weaving through the many flying speeders and ships while swinging around with such ease. Some assumed him to be a Jedi.

With the fancy moves and such on top of the seemingly easy grace that seems to allow him to perform such feats was the only plausible idea.

For Spider-man, it was as easy as breathing.

When he first got these powers and began web swinging, it took him some trial and error, none of which involved slamming face first into a few billboards…

Ok, maybe one or two… three tops.

Landing on a terrace with civilians all jumping back in slight shock at his sudden appearance, he rose up to wave at them.

"Sorry 'bout that, guys." Peter said sheepishly. "Just passing through, no need to worry. Avengers business."

At the mention of the Avengers, some were curious, others gawked while some were confused. It was clear that the Avengers were beginning to garner more and more attention across the galaxy with their actions.

Naturally, there were some that were unaware of them but over time, they would hear the team name.

Still, for some to see one of these Avengers that have been all over the holo-net in person was certainly a surprise. And what bizarre clothing this one wore. It looked like tight spandex.

Spider-man was looking around, ignoring the looks he was receiving until his lenses widened with a smile blooming on his face. With a small chuckle, he jogged over to a small booth where its owner was currently serving up a few people some of his own original recipes.

"Hey Garun." Peter said aloud, waving his hand at him.

The Twi'lek he had met when he first arrived on this planet jolted at the sound of his name and turned to see a brightly colored individual walking up to his booth. Blinking, a grin began to grow on his face upon recognizing the one who had saved him a few weeks ago from those damn thugs that had been harassing him for months.

"Well, well, if it isn't my personal hero." the Twi'lek said boisterously. "How've ya been, Spider-man?"

"Oh you know, the usual." Peter said with a shrug.

"Sorry, to say kid, but I wouldn't know your definition of the _usual."_ The Twi'lek said in a dry tone, making Peter chuckle.

"True enough. Good to see you're doing well, Garun." Spidey said, leaning against the food stand. "I'm surprised you still remember me to be honest."

"How can I forget the brightly colored weirdo who saved my life?" Garun asked with an amused huff. "Hard not to forget someone like you."

"Well that's a backhanded compliment if ever there was one." Spider-man muttered with Garun chortling.

"So what can I do for ya, kid?" Garun inquired. "Feeling a bit peckish today?"

Peter shrugged. "Not yet. Just wanted to get out for a while to be honest."

"I can imagine." Garun nodded understandingly, while cooking his next order. "Saw you on the holo-net recently. You were deployed to Geonosis again."

"You saw that?"

"Hard not to." Garun remarked with a shrug of his own. "All that's ever on the holo-net is news of the war, one after another with its updates. Though I've been hearing more and more about these _Avengers_ that have been out there on the field with the Jedi and the Clones. The Chancellor has been talking a lot about you guys personally."

"Huh, didn't know that." Peter murmured underneath his breath. "What does he say?"

"I dunno." Garun admitted. "Don't really pay attention all that much to begin with. Just hear your names and all."

"Right." Peter nodded. "So, got any new grub this time? Got credits now to pay for it."

Garun smirked. "Well, been experimenting with a new porg recipe if you're willing to try it out."

"Sure thing." Spidey stated. "Anything is better than some of the rations I've had to eat."

The Twi'lek nodded, beginning to cook for the web-head.

As time went on between the two, Peter and Garun chatted with the latter informing the former about a greater amount of detail in regard to the planet of Coruscant.

Turns out, this entire planet was a genuine metropolis, built upon layers and layers of levels that continuously added to the city. When asking about the planet's surface, all he got was a light laugh about how he was unsure if Coruscant even had a surface other than the thousands of levels of cities.

That was certainly astonishing to say the least.

He had been so busy with learning of the Jedi, the galaxy's history as a whole that he actually hadn't had time to learn of the planet he currently resided on with the other Avengers. To think that there were 5000+ levels of city on this planet was crazy for him to comprehend.

What was the bottom like?

These thoughts and conversations dominated the time he had spent with Garun until…

"There you are." Said a familiar voice from above.

Blinking, both looked up to see none other than the Falcon flying down to them.

"Hey, Sam, what's up?"

"What's up? Where'd you go and run off to?" Sam asked, landing in front of him with his arms crossed.

"You know, around. Had to get out of the temple at some point."

Sam would argue against that but quite frankly, he had been itching to do the same if he were being honest with himself. All this travelling and fighting on other planets wore him out at times.

"Alright, so what are ya doing out here anyway?" Sam asked, looking to the Twi'lek vendor.

"Oh you know." Peter shrugged, holding up his meal. "Just eating the local cuisine."

"Huh… is it any good?"

Peter turned to Garun who got the hint and pulled out another prepared food tray and held it out for the aviator.

Sam was about to take the food when the telltale sounds of Coruscant sirens blared. The two Avengers looked up to see a few ships speeding by with Coruscant police and even two LAAT gunships flying after them.

"Whoa." Peter blinked. "That looks serious."

"Yeah." Sam said slowly. "It does."

The older Avenger turned back to the young vigilante hero and it was clear for him to see that he was rather anxious right about now.

"If it means so much to you-"

"Oh good, thanks!"

Without another word, Peter fired off a web line into the sky. In a quick moment, he leaped into the air as he soon swung towards where the action was located.

Sam blinked before he himself couldn't help but shake his head with a grin on his face.

"Crazy kid."

Throwing his arms out, his wings folded out and his pack thrusters flared at full force. Rocketing up into the air, Falcon flew after Spider-man at full speed with the two now in pursuit of the action.

Sam had to admit to himself.

This sure was better than just sitting around in the Temple doing nothing all day.

_Earlier in the day..._

Pietro Maximoff can say that very little could make him speechless.

He lives a crazy and hectic life after all. From taking on giant robots to showing up on alien worlds now, Quicksilver could say very little surprises him.

"Well, I do say Mr. Maximoff, I did not think you would be able to pull off such a dashing look." Chuchi said with a small smile and light blush dusting her cheeks.

For the Sokovian, this was the first time he was wearing anything _this_ fancy in his entire life. The galactic equivalent to a really nice Earthen suit if he were to compare. It was clearly odd for the life of him as all he wore in the past were all sorts of simple civilian attires to his Avenger uniform.

Now this suit he wore was actually a gift he received from Cham Syndulla of all people.

When the Twi'lek resistance fighter turned senator came to Coruscant, the man needed a new wardrobe in order to fit better with his new position. And while the senator could go by himself, he decided to drag Pietro with him in order to help give him a suit to repay for his help on Ryloth.

Ever since receiving the suit for final touches, the Sokovian never wore it since… well until now.

"Pietro?" Chuchi's voice cut through his stupor.

The speedster shook his head, trying to form words through a jumbled mess of emotions before at last blurting out…

"Sorry. It's just that… you look beautiful." Pietro bluntly stated.

Riyo's eyes widened at that before she blushed profusely with a small smile worming its way onto her expression. Giving him a beaming smile a moment later, the shorter Senator approached the Avenger and hooked her arm around his own.

The Pantoran currently wore a slim purple dress with several nice stitching's along the edges. It went over her shoulders and dipped a little down her neck, front and back. And she wore some simple accessories around her wrists and one hanging around her neck.

"And you have a great way with words, Pietro." Chuchi said with a cheery tone, making Pietro grin weakly.

"I try." Pietro shrugged, turning his gaze up at the clearly decadent and ultra-fancy restaurant before him. "Geez, what is this place?"

"My dear friend Padme suggested I try this place out." Chuchi said, moving forward with Pietro walking with her since they did have their arms linked.

Pietro internally gulped to himself. He had a good number of credits with him right now but even he was unsure if they were enough to cover the expenses of this place. It looked _way_ too pricey for him.

The front usher saw Chuchi and nodded with a smile, gesturing towards a waiter for them to follow to a personal booth next to the window that overlooked the senate building.

Seating themselves, the Pontaron Senator let out a tired sigh.

"I do admit, I'm certainly glad to be out of that stuffy office for the day."

Pietro scoffed lightly. "Stuffy? That office is the size of a two bedroom apartment. All those offices are."

"Well, I'm in that room almost every day." Chuchi said knowingly. "It does get dull after a while, seeing the same room over and over again with hardly anything interesting happening."

Pietro couldn't argue that. "True. Hope you haven't been _too_ busy."

"Asides from the usual senate meetings, you mean."

"Yeup."

The Sokovian glanced at the menu and did his best to translate what is written from the galactic "basic". He could order the same thing she was having, but he could end up having something he might not enjoy eating at all. It sounds cute to do, but in reality it wouldn't go anywhere at all.

"Been meaning to ask, but have your people elected a new chairman yet?"

"They have, fortunately."

"That's good. You were getting stressed out as of late, taking up those duties."

"Yes, was honestly counting down the days for when the elections ended so I may properly relieve those duties to Chi Cho's replacement."

"And who would this lucky man be?"

"Baron Papanoida." Riyo took a sip of her drink. "He's quite respected and will do all he can to make things better than what Chi Cho had done."

"Right." Pietro nodded. "Heard from Sam and Steve about that mission he had with you and that other Chairman guy."

"Yes… not a great moment, but it had to be done as my first act as senator."

Pietro hummed in thought. "I don't think I would ever be one for politics. Don't have the mindset for it."

"With what you've been doing these past few weeks, it shouldn't be that surprising." Chuchi said, her tone showing signs of approval. "Rushing into the heat of battle while protecting the troops and Jedi of our Republic. Your actions on Ryloth have also gotten coverage."

"Just didn't want to sit by and let all that happen, you know. Already dealt with a similar scenario once. Didn't want to see that happen on a more escalated scale."

"Yes, you told me about that." Chuchi said, giving a nod to a waiter who poured her an alcoholic beverage. "Sokovia was it? Your home."

"Used to be." Pietro said, crossing his arms and leaning them against the table. "But you already know that."

"Yes." Chuchi nodded. "And this Avengers Headquarters. What is that place like?"

Before Pietro could respond, the waiter came by. "Hello."

"Hello." Said the Avenger.

"Greetings." Spoke the senator.

"Are you two ready to order?"

In fact they were. They gave their requests before the waiter went off. Once gone, the Sokovian remembered his date's question, giving his response right there.

"The Avengers Headquarters used to be a large business tower until my sister and I joined the Avengers. It then moved to this one facility at this far off warehouse location Stark's father once owned."

"Really? A warehouse?"

"It's far better than what you're picturing, I assure you."

"Wasn't there a better location than that?"

Pietro thought for a moment. "I believe Stark was planning on having this one enormous family estate of his redesigned into another Avenger base before we ended up here."

The two shared a long conversation and dinner, sharing laughs and small contemplative moments as they both regaled each other with more stories about each other's pasts. Pietro continued to tell her more and more about the mixed bag that was Earth while she answered his questions on the galaxy to the best of her ability. They had had these conversations a number of times up to this point already, Pietro speaking with Chuchi whenever he or she were both on the planet.

Anytime he was not, Pietro made sure to contact her whenever he believed she needed someone to talk to and more often than not it turned out to be true. Chuchi at one point had even noted jokingly that he always seemed to know just when to call when she needed someone to cheer her up or brighten up her day. She joked that maybe he had developed the foresight some Jedi had in regard to her specifically.

Pietro only jokingly stated that it was all natural intuition and instinct.

They were eating dessert up to this point now, the two having been here for nearly two hours up to this point.

"I must say, Pietro." Riyo gave him a kind smile. "You never know how much you need time like this but you have certainly given it to me."

"I've been told by Wanda that I need to slow down instead of rushing past everything."

"I can imagine." Chuchi giggled at the mention of his sister. She hesitated momentarily. "Has… has there been any word in regard to your sister or those other two people that you and your team are looking for."

Pietro slumped slightly, shaking his head.

"Sadly no, Riyo." Pietro said glumly, looking out at the window of the restaurant. "My sister, along with Vision and this Prince guy are still lost out there somewhere in this galaxy and we have no clues or ideas where they might be."

Seeing his mood dampen, Chuchi reached out and placed her hand over his own, making him look at her.

"You will find them. You'll find your sister." Chuchi assured. "I know you will."

The corners of Pietro's lips curled upwards, slowly turning his hand over so he may properly grasp hers.

"Thanks, Chuchi." Pietro said with a warm tone, squeezing her hand which in turn made her face turn a deeper shade of blue.

They both sat there, gazing only at one another…

_***VRRRMMMMM*** _

_***THWIP THWIP*** _

_***SSSHHHVVVRRR*** _

Both turned their heads at the sight of several ships flying by being that of a civilian variety with LAAT gunships and Coruscant guard vessels in hot pursuit.

And on their heels...

Chuchi's eyes squinted. "Aren't those-"

"Yeup~"

Falcon and Spider-man were chasing after the action.

Riyo looked back to Maximoff and saw the look on his face as his eyes were locked on to the two Avengers that were getting further away.

She blinked but it didn't take long for her to recognize that look on his face. And she also knew that it was also high time she got back to the Senate as is with what is to come in the senate meeting today.

"Go on." Chuchi said, making him look at her.

"What?"

Chuchi nodded her head in the direction of his two comrades. "Help them obviously."

"You sure? I don't want to be rude and-"

"I'm fine, Pietro."

The Sokovian fidgeted in his seat, thinking it over. Looking back between his date and the window.

"B-But what about-"

"I can handle a small bill like this, Pietro." Chuchi said. "You on the other hand…"

Pietro's face cringed. "Are you sure?"

The raised eyebrow she gave him was all he needed to see. Much as he loathed to go against the gentlemanly lessons that his father and Clint had taught him, right now, there were more pressing matters at the moment.

"I'll pay ya back, somehow. I promise."

In a blur, Pietro ran off leaving Riyo alone at the table.

She sighed soon after. The Senator was about to signal the waiter over so she may pay for the meal when she suddenly felt a rush of air caressing her face.

"Oh, almost forgot something."

"Forgot wha-"

She suddenly felt something pressed against her cheek. Turning over, Riyo saw him pull away with a smile on his face before disappearing in a blur once more.

As he left, the Pantoran Senator still had the feeling on her cheek. Bringing her fingers to the spot, she realized what her date just did, making her blush a deep blue. And without realizing, she started to smile.

Rubbing her cheek with a flutter in her heart, Chuchi stood after paying the bill and departed from the establishment a few minutes later.

_-Several hours later-_

" _Heroism on Coruscant!"_ Spoke the newscaster. _"In a stunning display of action, the Avengers known now as Quicksilver, Falcon and Spider-man were seen today within the cityscape of Coruscant assisting the police and guards of the planet in apprehending a large group of marauding criminal that have been seen harassing the people of Coruscant. With their astonishing skills and powers, the three Avengers were quick to help the men and women that keep the planet safe in stopping these violent criminals from enforcing their will upon the innocent populace any further."_

" _This news broadcast brought to you by Calamari fla-"_

"You boys have sure been busy." Natasha said, arms crossed with an expectant look at the three that were the headline of the holo-net news on Coruscant. Currently, six Avengers stood within the personal chambers that the Jedi had given to them.

"In my defense, these two did most of the work." Admitted the Sokovian, thumbing at Falcon and Spider-man.

"Well, least you were… productive." Matt stated making Rogers huff in amusement.

"How long did it take for you guys?" Steve asked Sam, his "wingman" giving a so-so hand gesture.

"Bit of a chore catching up to them, but once we did, it didn't take long." Sam said. "Then Pietro showed up and it was a clean house in a few seconds."

"Good to hear." Steve nodded.

"And what'd you guys do?" Pietro asked.

The look that Matt, Nat and Steve all shared was enough.

"Boy… the flight back…" Natasha began.

"That bad, huh?" Sam said expectantly.

"Oh you know, assassination attempt on a major political figure. Droids attacking our transport." Nat listed off.

"Was there anything else?" Peter inquired.

"Durge was there."

"...You serious?"

Nat only pulled up her left sleeve as far back as the material allowed, yet it was enough to show half of her bruised armor.

"That was one of the luckier hits that didn't shatter my arm and body." Nat said wryly, rolling her sleeve back down.

"Jesus." Sam murmured.

"Well, much as we're done for the time, figure that our Jedi allies and our newest… friend may have their hands full for the next few days." Matt said plainly when his head looked down next to Nat.

Nat soon felt something small brushing her leg. Looking down, she saw the young Yoda child looking up at her.

"Still odd to see him sneak up on me of all people."

"He does that to everyone." Pietro remarked.

Nat picked up the little kid and went to take him back to his room. As she did, she didn't notice the child closing his eyes, placing his small hands onto the spot where the bruise on her left arm was located.

"What's the matter little guy?"

The baby only grunted, leaning its head forward as its little clawed hand pressed itself more onto her bruised arm.

"H-hey, hey." She was about to remove his hand when moments later, the bruise slowly disappeared as if it never formed there in the first place.

Bewildered, Nat quickly adjusted the child and carefully pulled her sleeve up as much as she was able to.

Her eyes widened briefly, seeing the bruise was gone.

"Nat?" Steve saw her not moving with the child in hand who now appeared to be entirely knocked out. "What's the mat-"

"It's gone."

"I'm sorry?"

"It's gone."

"What's gone?"

Nat showed her flawless skin where her bruise once was. "The little guy; he put his hand on my arm and the bruise was erased."

"Huh… Well that's… something. Must be another one of those Force abilities or something." Steve mused. "I do remember Peter and Rhodey talking about Barriss having the ability to use the Force to help with injuries and speed up the process. Said that it was a rare talent among the Jedi."

Looking down, she ruffled the sleeping green child's head. "Thanks little guy."

_-Scene Cut-_

A day has passed since the Duchess of Mandalore had arrived in Coruscant. What was once a bright sunny day was now darkened with thick clouds hanging overhead. One could think it was rather foreboding, as if something was stirring on the horizon.

Inside of the Senate Building, a meeting was currently held with many senators and representatives in attendance. The large circular room with its repulsor pods filled to the brim with over 1000+ delegates and representatives from all corners of known galactic space.

In the center of all these senators and delegates, the lone platform elevated for the Chancellor to stand upon as he addressed the thousands of politicians for the matter concerning the latest developments with the Mandalorian people.

"It grieves me to say it, but Death Watch is now a significant, deadly threat." Said the Chancellor as he held the attention of the senate.

No sooner had he finished that opening statement did Satine's repulsor pod float and come in close to the central one.

"Mandalore is making great strides to find the leaders of this terrorist movement." Spoke the Mandalorian Duchess. "They are not powerful enough to destabilize our government. We will resolve this _without_ conflict. If the Republic gets involved in our affairs, it will only lead to further violence. Thus, I shall reassert our position of neutrality."

"Talk of an idealist." Said Mas Amedda, a Chagrian who served as the Vice Chair to the Chancellor.

"No, those are the words of a pacifist and a people who have chosen nonviolent action." Was Satine's defensive plea.

"That may be so, Duchess. However, this message was delivered to my staff just this morning." Palpatine said, gesturing his Vice Chair to insert a disk into the console. "I think you shall find it most _illuminating_."

Moments later, a hologram was projected onto every hover station within the meeting hall. Someone Satine recognized with the reaction she held.

The man spoke in a calm but clearly concerned tone as the message played out before the senate.

" _The actions by our government have taken us into a period of civil war. To acknowledge it would be to invite panic in the streets."_

Coming up beside Satine's repulsor pod platform, Padme spoke to her. "Duchess, do you know this man?"

"Yes, Deputy Minister Jerec. He's a dear friend." Satine stated in a tone of disbelief.

" _And so we hid the truth from our people. And finally this government knows it is more than a mere possibility, more than eventuality. It is here."_

"STOP!" Satine yelled out, causing Mas Amedda to pause the holo-message. "Deputy Minister Jerec is an honorable man. He would never commit such lies to the record. The Mandalorian government holds no secrets from its people."

"If only that were true." Said the Chancellor, giving his Vice Chair to resume playing the message.

" _Death Watch is far stronger than we once thought. If we are to combat them effectively, we must have Republic assistance. Instead, this government acts out of pride and rejects the help of the Jedi."_

"It's not true. It's not true!" Satine argued back fiercely with her fists clenched with angry defiance.

" _The Duchess Satine will ultimately cause our defeat. Make no mistake. Republic intervention is absolutely necessary."_

As the message came to an end, Satine looked directly towards the Republic's Chancellor. "This isn't right. Something here isn't right. I wish to speak to Jerec immediately." The Duchess murmured aloud.

If this weren't bad enough, what was spoken next made Satine's request for neutrality much more difficult.

"Sadly, Deputy Minister Jerec perished this morning in a Death watch bombing on Kalevala."

Hearing Palpatine's words made the Duchess' chest feel tight as it briefly made it quite hard to breath.

"No." Was the only word she could breathe out from utter dread.

"Let us ensure that his death was not in vain. Let us commit our military might to defending the Mandalorian people." Said Palpatine.

Satine soon got out her feeling of dread and mustered much strength to blurt out her response. "Defending? You mean to occupy our home. You would trample our right to self-determination."

"We mean to save your people."

"You will turn our planet into a military target, which will bring the war to us. Mandalore must remain a neutral system."

" _In some way, I would agree with our esteemed Duchess."_

The entire crowd of the Senate went deathly silent as before them was a new projection. The projection of three men dressed in the classic Mandalorian armor that is known throughout the galaxy. The trio of Mando's all held a similar armor set yet each had a distinct design or addition to their suit to stand out enough to be distinguished from one another. The one in the center had a small cape draped over his right shoulder and arm with the symbol of the Mythosaur engraved upon his chest plate. To his left was one who wore standard armor though his shoulder pauldron and gauntlets looked as though they were recently cleaned and Jaig-eyes painted over his helmet. The Mando to the right of the center one had a plainer set yet both shoulder pauldron supported separate curved tusks of the Mythosaur skull.

They faced the large assemblage of politicians, their helmets keeping their faces hidden from them all to see.

"Who is this? How did you get into our systems?" Palpatine demanded, clearly surprised, on this intrusion event.

" _Ladies and gentlemen of the Republic."_ The Mandalorian in the center said, his condescending voice sounding _extremely_ familiar to those who know it. Yet it was different at the same time. _"Hope you don't mind the interruption. I would like to introduce ourselves to you all as the_ **True** _Mandalorians. The True followers and representatives of our people. Not that maniacal death cult nor these weak minded fools that portray themselves as pacifists."_

Satine's eyes grew wide with many in the Senate chamber murmuring to themselves. The Clone Troopers that were stationed in and around the many entrances of the Senate hall chamber began looking at one another in confusion.

That voice… it couldn't be…

" _For thousands upon thousands of years, we, the Mandalorian people have been followers of our ancient warrior traditions. Traditions that had brought the republic to its knees on multiple occasions and also held as the vanguard against certain annihilation. We have been enemies to the Republic as well as allies. That much is not to be disputed."_

The air around the central Mandalorian became intense and dangerous, something the senators couldn't deny that they felt.

" _ **However,**_ _"_ The growl he let out reverberated off the walls. _"You would be wise to remember just who_ bombed _Mandalore into the dust ball that it is today. We remember. We sing the songs of the great annihilation your pathetic Republic had inflicted upon our ancient home world. You,_ Duchess," Satine flinched at the venom this Mandalorian directed towards her. _"Have the audacity to call yourself a friend of the Republic. You spit on the ancient ways of our people. We are not ones of kings or queens, but of individuals who can come from nothing and arise to be the leaders of our people. Our Mandalore."_

Silence reigned as the Senators continued to watch the transmission.

" _Know this. We, the_ True Mandalorians, _will fight the Death Watch in due time. We will lead our people back to our former glory. But if you come picking a fight in our sector, we will beat you back. Not even your clone bred slaves nor your Republic Jedi dogs can take us out. So please, Chancellor, Grand Republic, try us."_

The trio of Mandalorians stood there for a brief moment to let the message sink in, before blinking out.

With the transmission ending, the entire Senate erupted into a large clamor. So many representatives calling out to stamp out the Mandalorian menace just as much as an equal amount not wanting to get into the conflict.

Seeing the chaos around him, Palpatine didn't know if he wanted to savor it or feel threatened by the threat of the new Mandalorian faction. Things were changing further than what he initially planned. All he could do now was keep up his facade and have things play out.

"The vote shall commence in the next session." Decreed the Chancellor as the Senate kept clamoring about.

_-Scene Cut-_

Walking towards her shuttle, Satine felt like everything was crashing down on her.

How did this happen in such a short amount of time? First, the rise of Death Watch on Concordia or really the resurgence of the group followed by those that are calling themselves the _True_ Mandalorians.

Assassination attempts on several fronts in just a few shorts days and now this insanity with the Senate. Jerec's falsified message and the True Mandalorians making themselves known to the Republic with the blatant challenge thrown out to them.

It was amazing she was even conscious right now and not in a bed. If it weren't for her wanting to go to the Ministry of Intelligence to get to the bottom of this right away, she would be doing just that.

As her speeder was making its way, she heard someone running towards her.

"Duchess!" Kenobi called out to her. "Satine, wait!"

As he came in close, Satine's guards whirled around and aimed their weapons towards the Jedi. She held up a hand, ordering them to stand down.

"I just heard what happened in the Senate." Kenobi said calmly, Satine's eyes darting down. "Are you alright?"

Satine couldn't help but smile slightly at the question. "You're sweet to be concerned, but I promise I'll be alright."

"I am concerned. We're…" Kenobi hesitated momentarily. "We're friends, are we not?"

Hearing this made Satine feel… sad. She hoped to hear something other than _that_.

"Yes, _friends_ and… nothing more."

Obi-wan soon realized what he said, making him feel doubt now. He can still remember her confession back on the Coronet with her hearing his. The Jedi general thought they would stay close friends, but it seemed Satine wanting more than that.

Old memories stirred for a brief moment yet he quickly pushed it down. Now wasn't the time for that.

"Satine, as your… friend… I just don't want you rushing in or doing anything that would bring harm upon you."

Satine couldn't help but chuckle. "Obi-wan, I think you and I both know that as soon as I took up this responsibility that my life would always be in immediate danger."

"True… but…"

"And is it no different for you as a Jedi in this war?"

Kenobi knew he couldn't really dispute that rhetorical question.

"Just… Just be careful, Satine."

The Jedi general wanted to say more, wanting to express what he was currently feeling. But he couldn't do it as it might lead to some… unsavory factors and consequences.

Satine couldn't help herself as she gently placed a hand against his cheek. "Ever my eternal knight, rushing to my rescue. When I need you, I know you'll be there."

Boarding her shuttle, the Duchess took her seat with her guards entering soon after. She gave one final look to her old friend as her driver, Aramis, took off into the skies and towards the Ministry of Intelligence.

It was only a few minutes after her departure from the Senate Building did her craft pass by a lone figure wearing Mandalorian armor, bearing the colors of Death Watch, was hiding from the shadows of a skyscraper. Seeing the vehicle passing by, the person pulled out a remote and pressed the button on top.

In an instant, the engines of Satine's speeder became compromised and malfunctioned.

"What's happening, Aramis?" Satine asked in alarm as the shuttle began to shake about violently.

The pilot gripped the controls tightly while trying to keep the sip steady.

"It's the navigation system." Aramis reported.

Noticing the shuttle was descending down with no means of landing safely, the pilot made his decision.

"Get her out of here." Aramis told Satine's guards. "There's a platform ahead. I'll try to get closer."

The guards complied to the order, grasping Satine's form. She struggled to break free, all the while looking towards the driver.

"No, stop! Aramis!" Satine pleaded with her friend only waving at the guards to do their duty.

Maneuvering the ship closer to a nearby platform, Aramis angling the shuttle for the guards.

"Jump!"

As the shuttle got in close, the guards leaped out of the airborne craft and huddled together with Satine in between them all. They plummeted towards the platform with the guards breaking the fall of each other. With them all rolling on out, Satine was soon released from their hold. The moment she got onto her feet; she could only look on to see Aramis crash the speeder into a nearby building as it exploded upon impact.

Back with Kenobi, he stood alone within a meditation chamber of the Jedi Temple with his arms crossed and eyes closed. A troubled expression was clear as day upon the Master.

"Hey Obi, what's eating ya?"

Obi-wan turned to see Colonel James Rhodes enter the chamber, slightly sweating with a canteen of water in hand.

"Rhodey." Kenobi greeted with a neutral tone, something that was not missed by the Avenger.

"Alright, what happened?" Rhodey asked. "Did it have something to do with the Senate meeting today on your girlfriend?"

"G-Girlfri-" Kenobi groaned. "Have you been talking to Anakin?"

Rhodey only snorted. "Come on, wise one. What's bothering you so much?"

Obi-wan didn't reply at first.

"Old wounds?" Rhodey guessed with a more serious tone. "Old feelings."

The Jedi sighed in slight defeat. "You could say something like that."

He felt the colonel pat him on the shoulder. "We've all been there, Kenobi. It's not something new to us Avengers. Or you. Come on. Just talk about it if need be. Sam's really good with stuff like that."

Obi-wan gave the man an appreciative nod. "Thank you Rhodey, but I-"

He paused; eyes glazed in thought.

"Colonel." Kenobi slowly turned to the Avenger. "Is it possible for you and your team to do… a small favor for me?"

_-Scene Cut-_

Within the office of Sheev Palpatine, Duchess Satine was having a sudden meeting with the Republic Chancellor himself.

A sudden meaning that had put her in a rather foul mood when she learned of the results in regard to a particular scene earlier in her day.

"What do you mean, 'no charges are to be filed'? None at all? _Someone_ tried to _kill_ me. The controls on my speeder were _compromised_."

"Sadly, my dear, there is no proof anyone tampered with anything." Reported the Chancellor. "I'm afraid it might've been just an accident."

"An _accident_? And it just so happens to coincide with me defending my home world?" Came Satine's argument.

"I agree with Satine."

Both the Duchess and Chancellor looked towards the Vice Chair as both leading political leaders were partially surprised on what was spoken.

In some parts of her, Satine was feeling a bit of relief, which was voiced. "Well, finally."

"It proves what I've been saying all along. Death Watch is out of control. The Republic must step in and help."

Mas Amedda's statement surprised Satine while Palpatine fought the urge to quirk a smirk by the marginalist of inches.

"No, wait. I didn't-"

"You can't keep them reined in, obviously. So we will." Interrupted the Vice Chair. "And let us not even begin to bring up these _True_ Mandalorians who have so brazenly challenged the Republic in such an open manner."

"This is patently offensive. You can't do this." Said the Duchess.

"Unfortunately, it's up for the Senate now." Said Palpatine. "I'm sure they'll make a reasoned and thoughtful decision."

Storming out of the Chancellor's office, Satine was stressed beyond belief now. All she wanted was to get out of this waking nightmare. Yet she couldn't, only bottling up all these emotions inside, which only wanted to be released.

As what felt like Deja Vu today, Kenobi came rushing towards her side.

"Satine, I just heard about your accident."

Soon some emotions came pouring out, which the Duchess clearly expressed.

"Those two are… Ugh! This government will… UGH!"

Obi-wan reached out and grasped her arm, turning her around so he could properly talk to her face to face. "Satine, please, tell me what happened."

"Ugh, I'm fine. I wasn't hurt. I didn't want to worry you." She said, defensively.

"Well, I'm afraid, on that count, you've failed spectacularly." Kenobi could see the bland look aimed towards him on his attempt to lighten things up. "Sorry." She started walking away, prompting him to follow her. "Satine, please. Look at what happened."

" _Look what happened?_ This attack proves I've upset someone. I must be on the right track then."

"This attack proves your enemies are here even on Coruscant. They are willing to go through a great deal to see you dead." Kenobi then noticed the particular look in her eyes. "You're not going to let Republic authorities handle this, are you? You're not backing down."

"Republic authorities? Certainly not." Satine resumed her walk with her mind focused on her previous destination. "I'm on my way to the Ministry of Intelligence right now to meet my contact."

Concerned for her, Obi-wan gently grasped her shoulder and turned her around as they now looked at each other. "Satine, you need your friends with you, not held at arm's length." She broke away from his gaze, but this didn't mean he wanted to stop talking. "In your quest to be self-reliant, have you decided to cut your friends out of your life? Even… me?"

Satine swallowed an aching lump in her throat as she gritted her teeth. "I… I don't know."

"Master Kenobi, Duchess Satine."

The two looked over and saw Padme Amidala approach them and saw a nervous look on her face.

"Senator Amidala? Is something wrong?" Kenobi asked.

"The Senate completed its vote." Padme began, quickly drawing looks of confusion between the pair of old friends. "They've decided in favor of occupation."

"When did this happen?" Satine questioned in dismay. "The vote was _supposed_ to be tomorrow."

"It was during your meeting with the Chancellor. The unforeseen transmission by those rogue Mandalorians coupled with your "accident" accelerated the Senate's decision. Republic forces are set to leave for Mandalore at sunrise tomorrow."

This made Satine pale upon hearing this. She could only look at Kenobi with her hands tightening into fists. "I was right before… _They_ were right. Counting on the Republic is a mistake."

With that said, she walked away from the Republic Senator and Jedi as Satine had to do things her way now.

As the Duchess left, Padme and Obi-wan shared a concerned look.

_-Scene Cut-_

On a secluded alleyway of Sector GL5, Satine was waiting for her contact to arrive. It's been hours since she spoke to him as she couldn't do a thing at the Ministry of Intelligence. This resulted in her having to use another method.

Wearing a cloak, Satine pulled the hood further over her head so she wouldn't be recognized.

She soon heard someone coming towards her. Satine saw the source coming from Davu, her informant from within the Ministry.

"I don't have much time. They're following me."

He ushered her to walk further into the alleyway, hoping it can throw off his pursuer.

"You've put yourself in great danger, Davu. I will never forget it."

"I had to come. But this is worth it." He said, pulling out a disk from his pocket which he handed over to the Duchess.

"Where did you get this?"

"Buried deep in the evidence facility at the ministry. It was not easy to find, believe me."

Unbeknownst to the two, they were being watched.

"You were right. Someone faked the evidence. The recording presented to the Senate was not the full recording, but this disc _is_. You must show the Senate-"

Before he could say more, the man was shot.

"Davu!" She gasped out loud. "Oh, no!"

She could hear many civilians screaming, who heard the shot. Out of reflex, she pulled out her electronic disruptor and frantically looked around to see where the shot came from. And before she could make a break for it, a security droid appeared some feet away from her.

"We have a shooting in sector GL-5." Reported the droid before scanning Satine's face from underneath her hood. "Subject identified as Duchess Satine Kryze."

This was not going as planned, not by a long shot.

Not waiting any further, she fled the scene as she didn't want to be caught by either who shot her informant or the authorities. Though the latter option would bite her sooner or later with her action rather than turning herself in. But with the heat of the matter, her mind wasn't working properly.

She needed to escape and regroup. The last thing she wanted was to be captured and persecuted for a crime she did not commit.

Running along the sidewalks, pushing and avoiding civilians left and right, Satine had to find the means of escape.

About to turn on one intersection, a series of shots almost came into contact with her head. Whirling around, she looked up on high and saw her attacker and Davu's killer: a member of Death Watch with a sniper.

She more than wanted to pursue the man and question him, but she did not get the chance as security droids were coming after her. Not to mention there were several Republic Clone Guards joining them in hopes of capturing her.

Whirling around, she used her disruptor and fired upon a security droid. It crashed onto the ground, causing her pursuers to follow suit in a domino effect. With the action successful, she rushed further onward and dived into an alleyway.

Looking around, hoping to find another route to take, she spotted a speeder.

For the briefest of moments, Satine thought on taking the vehicle, but chose against it. For one, someone was already boarding it and was moments away from leaving. Two, if she were to take it, it would make things more difficult for any possible charges aimed towards her. And three, she may or may not get far with taking said vehicle.

But things seemed to go her way the moment the speeder took off.

From the alley's entrance, Satine could hear one of the Republic Clone Guards speak out. "Oops, cancel that. The Duchess is escaping in a speeder, heading for section IG-44."

Satine thanked her lucky stars, despite the circumstances.

For a brief moment of reprieve, she ventured further into the alleyway and hid into the shadows. Once coming to a comfortable spot, she hunched over and kept an eye out for anyone coming nearby.

"Obi-wan, come in." Satine said quietly into her comm link.

At the Jedi temple, Obi-wan stood alone within a room when he heard Satine's call.

" _Obi-wan, are you there?"_

"Satine." Kenobi said in relief, turning to face her holo transmission. "Where are you? Mas Amedda has demanded that you turn yourself in."

" _I know. I need you to listen to me."_ She hesitated for a moment. _"I need your help, Obi-wan. The guards are after me here and… and there's an assassin pursuing me. I'm sure of it."_

"How can you be certain?" Kenobi asked in concern.

" _I saw the man with my own eyes. Wearing armor of Death Watch."_

"I see. Where are you now?"

" _I… have no idea. I lost track of where I was going. Last I know, I was in Sector GL5."_

"Stay where you are." Obi-wan stated.

" _I'm not sure that's possible."_ Satine said, looking as though she was hiding behind something. _"Staying in one place would just have me caught."_

"You're right." Obi-wan muttered out. "Then head towards a public square if you can. And keep your comms on so I may track you."

" _Are you sure?"_

Kenobi only nodded. "Satine, please, trust me on this."

" _...Alright. I will."_

"We shall see you soon."

" _Yes… wait, we?"_

"You'll see. And trust me, it won't be Republic authorities."

After what felt like hours of traversing through alleyway after alleyway, Satine was coming closer and closer to a public square. It was a heavy risk getting here, but what other choice did she have.

It was large with four structures that served as either bars, lounges or restaurants. It was semi crowded at this point in the night with Satine weaving through the many civilians of Coruscant. She kept a wary eye out, spotting Coruscant Clone guards and security droids.

Approaching a bench, Satine sat down, tugging her hood to make sure her face remained hidden from the guards and droids.

Within the square, Obi-wan Kenobi had arrived and took a moment to look around. Though it didn't take long for him to spot her.

"Nice disguise." He said to himself with a bemused smile.

She spotted him a moment later, her lips twitch upwards for a moment as he approached her and sat down next to her with both having their backs to each other.

"Seeing you all right is… Well, it's a relief." Said Kenobi.

It was a relief as well, having him beside her again.

"You should turn yourself in. We've both sworn loyalty to the Republic."

"Believe me, neither one of us is breaking our oath." Satine pulled out the disk and slid into Obi-wan's hand. "And this will prove it. I need to get it into the proper hands."

"But the Republic guards are hunting you, which means…"

"Whoever doctored Jerec's message is likely in the government itself."

"If you set foot inside the Senate, they'll take you."

"And the disc will be destroyed before anyone can see it, which is why you must take the disc to Padme."

Seeing some Republic guards coming their way, Satine quickly stood up and took Obi-wan's hand. He was forced to come along with her as they made their way towards an alleyway.

"Where will you be while I'm in the Senate?" Kenobi inquired, the two continuing through the alleyway. "What if they find you?"

"They won't." Satine assured. "I-"

"Guards." Kenobi sharply said, clone troopers entering the alley way from the direction they were headed towards.

Satine's eyes widened, knowing that if they turn back now, it would all but confirm their suspicious nature.

Acting quickly, she pushed Kenobi up to a wall.

"Satine, wha-"

He was silenced. It was rather sudden and unconventional. Not with a hand covering his mouth… but with something else.

Satine slammed her lips against his, pressing her body against him while making sure to wrap her arms around his hooded head and tilted it down to cover both their faces. Hearing the footsteps of the guards drawing closer, she deepened the kiss and moaned. And she kept at this for several moments.

Satine pulled away as soon as the Clones were out of sight and hearing, coughing into her hand as she blushed profusely. She was certainly glad for the more darkened lighting and hood she wore that hid her more embarrassed expression.

Taking a moment to compose herself, she checked their surroundings once again just to be clear.

"Seems we're in the clear now." Satine muttered out. "We need to get moving now, Obi-wan."

…..

…..

…..

"Obi?"

She looked up at the Jedi and could barely reign in her giggle at the sight of a wide-eyed, flabbergasted Obi-wan Kenobi who stood stock still before her.

The strong and powerful general of the Republic, who seemed unbreakable… was apparently broken after a kiss.

'Just like last time.' Satine shook her head in amusement.

The Duchess reached up and lightly tapped his cheek several times, breaking him out of his stupor.

"Glad to see that that old trick still works." Satine remarked with a devious grin growing on her face, laughing a moment later at the reddening expression of the Master Jedi.

_***Thud… beep, beep*** _

Both had their heads turned down to the sight of a thermal detonator rolling up towards them.

In an instant, Obi-wan used a Force Push to send Satine out of harm's way. A moment later, he dived in an opposite direction just as the thermal detonator went off.

_***KABOOM*** _

Smoke filled the area with a loud ringing filled the ears of many within the vicinity. Shaking out of her daze, Satine saw a member of Death Watch coming towards her as he pulled out a blaster. Before he got the chance to fire, Obi-wan charged right at the Mandalorian terrorist as they both fought against each other.

"Satine, go!"

"But-"

"GO!"

The Duchess complied, taking off while momentarily looking back in seeing Kenobi trading blows with the terrorist.

All she could do now was try to get to the Senate Building. If she can, Satine could turn herself in so things can possibly run smoothly than things initially are. All she hoped now would have Obi-wan getting that disk to Senator Amidala in time so Mandalore can be safe.

It was when she almost reached the end of the walkway did she come to an abrupt stop.

The reason? Why seeing four members of Death Watch descend down to the ground, all having their blasters pointed at the Duchess.

Satine was cornered by several Death Watch members, guns trailing on her.

"It's over Duchess." One of the members said snidely.

Satine leaned back, though her face remained defiant even with the fear of what was about to happen present as well.

"Is it?"

Everyone looked up to see a greyish-silver armored man flying straight down towards them with a metal fist clocking the closest Death Watch member in the head. The man felt his head rattle before collapsing onto the ground, unconscious.

A moment later, a silvery-blue blur dashed by with the momentum of the speed striking another Death Watch member away and into the air. The Mandalorian however quickly activated his jetpack, righting himself in the air.

He didn't stay airborne for long as a red and blue force from above tackled him down to the ground and quickly ensnared him in webbing.

One had tried to escape yet suffered a similar fate like his comrade, a winged man from above tackling him down to the ground.

The last standing Death Watch member looked around frantically when two people quite literally appeared by growing up from the ground and punching him on both sides of his helmet. The Mando collapsed into a heap on the ground.

"Duchess Satine?"

Satine looked over and gaped slightly at the sight of one Captain America being accompanied by Black Widow. She then glanced back and saw that it was the entire roster of the Avengers… except for one.

"Sorry it took us so long." Steve said calmly. "We're still learning how to get around the city."

Satine couldn't help but smile kindly at the collection of heroes gathered around her.

"My, my. Being saved by the illustrious Avengers once again."

"You can thank Kenobi." Natasha stated with a knowing smile. "He's the one who called on us to help him out."

"Did he now?" Satine asked slyly, gazing at the Jedi who displayed a truly rare instance of bashfulness. The Duchess then frowned for a moment. "Are there not nine that make up your team?"

"Oh Matt?" Spider-man spoke up. "Uh, he said something about taking care of a separate pursuer."

Satine only nodded silently.

"Believe it would be best if you would come with us, Duchess." Steve suggested, holding out his free hand.

The Mandalorian ruler eyed the group with apprehension.

"Would you rather be handled by Republic authorities?"

"...I'll be most gracious to be escorted by your colorful lot, Captain Rogers."

Up above, high on one of the rooftops of a nearby building, one single Mandalorian let out a sigh of relief at the sight of Satine Kryze being saved once more.

This lone Mandalorian watched as she was surrounded in a protective manner by these Avengers that have been getting so much attention these past few months.

Seeing the Duchess was safe and sound, the Mandalorian was about to take off when she suddenly felt a presence behind her.

"Well now, this is certainly a surprise to find you way out here ma'am." A calm voice said.

The Mandalorian froze at the feeling of an electrified bo staff being held at her neck.

"Don't try anything. Drop your weapons, now."

She cursed herself under her breath. How did this guy sneak up on her so easily? And why did he sound kind of familiar?

"I can feel you're moving towards your blasters." The man spoke up, lightly tapping her shoulder which made her jolt and the shock from the bo staff. "I'd rather not use this on you in full force. Otherwise, it would take too long to wake you up."

She grit her teeth now in anger. Who in the hell did this guy think he is?

In a snap second, she whipped around and held up her right arm. A second later, a torrent of fire streamed out towards the opponent she now saw.

He wore a red and black, form-fitting almost metallic looking suit with a blood red helm that had two small horns on top. Almost making him look like a Devaronian.

The man ducked beneath the fire and swung his electrified bo staff horizontally into the helmet of the Mandalorian. She inclined her head back in time, cancelling the flamethrower.

She quickly took off into the air with her jetpack yet it appeared this man was quite reckless. Running forward, he jumped and grabbed onto her legs making the two plummet down though she quickly utilized her jetpack to keep them steady in the air.

The man held on tightly when his ears picked up on a bunch of heartbeats that were all too familiar to him by this point. Utilizing the advanced systems of his new suit, he contacted the ones he recognized.

"Kindly look up." he grunted out.

She was now trying her best to shake him off, spinning and jolting in the air but the damn bastard just kept his grip on her legs with no sign of loosening his grasp.

Reaching for her blaster, the man's hand shot up to grasp her wrist with the two now struggling in the air with neither being able to get the advantage over one another.

"So~ nice to see you hanging around here, Matt."

She had finally stopped flying around and hovered in the air, looking around from left to right to see that she had not one, but two flying Avengers surrounding her.

"Very funny, Rhodey.." the one clinging to her grunted out. "Now can you kindly help me apprehend her so we can get some answers."

In response, War Machine's shoulder gun activated with it pointing straight at the Mandalorian who was running the numbers through her head on how to get out of this situation.

"If you think you can get away." Falcon said aloud. "Just know that you got another six that can chase you down."

She tightened her fists, taking a moment to gauge her situation once more. She stopped at the sound of a whirring sound, looking over to see the one in the flying armored suit raise his hand with the middle of his palm glowing with energy.

"There is the high risk of me unintentionally shooting your jetpack with you moving around." Spoke the Armored Colonel. "So would you so kindly surrender?"

The pride of the Mandalorian roared, telling her not to do so and fight. But another screamed for survival, making her want to stand down as she needed to keep watch of Satine.

Begrudgingly, the Mandalorian began to descend down to the ground with the two flyers having their weapons trailed on her.

"You know, Matt, you could let go of her." Falcon called out to him.

"I'd rather not take any chances by this point."

"Either one of us can catch you." Rhodey pointed out

"I repeat my earlier statement."

"You are _literally_ a few feet off of a solid surface at this point. Let go."

Matt wordlessly dropped, landing in a crouch and rose up as the Mandalorian touched down before the Avengers. He looked to his side at the Duchess Satine stepping forward with Obi-wan Kenobi beside her.

There was a moment of tense silence as the Death Watch member stared at the blond woman before her before she released a sigh. Reaching up to her helmet, she removed it to reveal red hair, green eyes and a facial structure and look that was a bit too similar too...

"Hello, Satine."

"...Hello, Bo." Satine said after a moment of silence. "It's… good to see you after so many years."

"Is it?" 'Bo' inquired wryly with a raised brow.

Nobody said anything for a moment, all exchanging glances at the familiarity these two girls shared apparently.

"Forgive us, Duchess." Steve interrupted politely. "Who is this woman?"

Satine's eyes bore into the red-haired Bo. "May I introduce you all to Bo-Katan Kryze. My sister."

The present Avengers were quite silent upon this reveal as the two siblings looked back at each other.

"...Well, this ain't awkward at all."

_-Scene Cut-_

The trip back to the Senate Building was relatively easier than intended. With the Avengers having the Duchess in their custody, she wasn't rough handled as she was brought inside for "questioning".

Same can't be said for Bo Katan.

Once the Duchess' sister was brought into view, the Republic guards took her in. She didn't resist at all, unlike her comrades.

Said Death Watch members did not want to give up information on their group, forcing them to promptly resist in their own respective manners. For the majority of them, they used poisonous pills hidden in their mouths and died soon after. The final one almost committed suicide, but Steve was quick to knock the man out so he too can be questioned once the pill was safely extracted from his mouth.

Despite this, the group hastily made their way to the Chancellor's office in order to present the legit holo-message instead of the one shown earlier that day. There was no time to call in an emergency meeting as they hoped Palpatine would overturn the Senate's decision of Mandalore's occupation.

Captain Rogers, Natasha, Murdock, Kenobi, Satine, and Padme (who they ran into along the way) stood in silence as they all watched the real message from Deputy Minister Jerec before Palpatine and Mas Amedda.

" _The actions by our government have taken us into a period of civil war. To acknowledge it would be to invite panic in the streets. Death Watch is far stronger than we once thought. But we have been training for this. We can stop them. But if we are to combat them effectively, we must have the temerity to stand strong in the name of peace. And if we are to do so, we must reject any Republic assistance. Instead, this government will act. It acts not out of pride but for safety. Intervention by the Republic will inflame the opposition. And this is why our government rejects the help of the Jedi. We must listen to the Duchess Satine. If we do not, we will ultimately cause our defeat."_

As the message came to an end, silence filled Palpatine's chamber as he looked towards the people before him.

"There you have it." Padme said with a hint of triumph. "This is more than enough proof that the message was tampered with and falsified in an attempt to challenge and destabilize Satine's rule."

Standing behind them, the Avengers with Obi-wan and Satine watched as Palpatine held a stoic visage for a few moments. He did not respond at first, his expression portraying deep contemplation.

"This does indeed change a great deal of what has been presented to us earlier." Palpatine admitted out loud, hope swelling within Satine when…

"But the decision has been made _and_ still stands." Palpatine said with finality. "The Republic will be occupying Mandalore."

Both Satine and Padme jolted at the statement with Obi-wan looking to the former in worry. The three Avengers stood silently, merely watching the exchange become a bit more intense.

"But you can't! What of what you've seen?" Spoke the Mandalorian.

"Duchess Satine, you are forgetting a crucial detail that in all honesty does not assuage my concerns over your sector." Palpatine said with a firm stare directed at Satine. "While I am thankful and truly grateful that we have a strong supporter of peace and democracy like yourself, you fail to realize the severity of your case. There are three factions of Mandalorians running about within your sector; one of which is supported by the Separatists. The other has made it blatantly clear on where they stand and can prove to be an even greater danger if they are truly like the Mandalorians of old that had plagued the galaxy once."

"But _they_ do not represent _all_ of us." Satine vehemently argued back. "You saw the full message that Jerec recorded, you know we are prepared for this."

"Are you?" Palpatine countered sharply. "It's one thing to be ready for a rogue, splinter faction but _two_? One of which sent a direct message to _all_ of us here while the other had attempted to kill you already on numerous occasions. And let's not forget, it is only your single planet of Mandalore that we know is allied with the Republic. Concordia was shown to harbor Death Watch right under your nose and your capital has been attacked during the visit of Jedi Master Obi-wan Kenobi. As much as you can argue against such matters, this is not something that can be so easily reversed."

"Yes, because you went behind my back the moment you had the chance to get your way rather than upholding the principles you falsely represent, it seems." Satine said with a snide look as she leaned against the table.

Palpatine let out an exasperated sigh, giving her a sympathetic look. "I am sorry, Duchess, but this is _truly_ out of my hands now."

"What do you mean by that?" Satine asked, fists clenched.

Mas Amedda spoke on the Chancellor's behalf. "Because of your _dramatics_ earlier, you have been labeled as 'being on the run'; an odd choice for someone vying for peace."

"But I wasn't." Defended the Mandalorian. "My friend was shot and-"

"Most of the Senate didn't see it that way." Interrupted the Vice Chair. "It doesn't matter as the fleet has already departed to Mandalore to take care of your _problems…_ All in order to hamper you from sabotaging the task at hand."

Satine's visage was crestfallen only to morph into one of pure fury. The glare she leveled at Mas and then at Palpatine did little in getting a reaction out of them both.

"You do not know what you're doing. This will only embroil the Mandalore sector in war. War we had been recovering from for decades." Satine stated, lightly slamming her fist against the table for emphasis.

"Which is what the occupation is for." Mas Amedda said as if it were the most obvious thing.

"Then I hope you realize that as soon as the occupation arrives, the death of innocents will be on your hands and choices." Satine scoffed. "Though I believe it won't bother you all that much considering the war you failed to prevent."

Satine whirled round with her face showing barely restrained fury. Padme remained where she stood with the Chancellor only giving his fellow Naboo senator an apologetic expression.

Kenobi moved to follow after the Duchess with the three Avengers trailing after them though at a more respectful gap.

"What do you make of him?" Steve asked silently.

"He's too much like Pierce." Natasha stated with a frown.

"You too, huh?"

"Pierce…" Matt said aloud. "If I recall correctly, wasn't that the man in charge of SHIELD for a time?"

"Yes, until it was revealed he was actually the head of HYDRA."

"I remember hearing about that over the news last year." Matt said. "A mastermind parading as a man of righteousness."

"Sound familiar?" Nat remarked. "While HYDRA wasn't publicly seen in decades, they were maneuvering events across Earth so one day they can take over. Even planting their agents within SHIELD itself to make it happen as smoothly as possible."

"Fortunately for us, they couldn't work through with a number of us." Said the First Avenger.

"And what do you make of all this then, Captain?" Murdock asked with Steve remaining silent for a moment. "What should we do?"

Steve had his eyes on the Duchess and the Jedi who were in deep conversation.

"We'll need to take our time here." Steve said with a tone brokering no argument. "Our main objective is to find our missing friends and get home first. We're still in unfamiliar territory with this whole republic situation."

"Best to tread cautiously then." Matt stated with nods from both Nat and Steve.

All the while, Obi-wan and Satine were engaged in a heated discussion in an empty room. It would've been done in the hallways, but Obi-wan didn't want to make a scene to make things worse for Satine. Hence he pulled her into the closest room he found with no one present.

"Satine, please, you mustn't act irrationally." Obi-wan said in a slightly pleading tone.

"Act irrationally?!" Satine yelled out angrily. "I'm well beyond that notion with what your Republic just pulled on my people without me even being there!"

"I know, I kno-"

"All that running around, you coming to my rescue, the Avengers helping was all for _nothing_." Satine was barely managing to restrain herself. "Now I have to deal with what the Republic has done to my people."

"Satine-"

"Obi, I have to go home. I need to be there for my people." She stated. "They're going to be worried, scared. I need to halt the unrest that'll rise with the Republic knocking on our doorstep."

Kenobi opened his mouth to speak yet he felt Satine's hand upon his cheek with her gazing at him lovingly, greatly causing him to squirm.

"It's alright, Obi-wan. This was beyond your control." Satine said in an understanding tone which did little in helping Kenobi feel better about the situation.

"I'm sorry…"

"You've… You've done all you could. I appreciate it, but now I need to do things on my own for the time being."

She left the room, making her way to get off world and head back to Mandalore. Her people needed her now more than ever.

Kenobi, meanwhile, could only stand there in silence as he failed in preventing this problem to occur.

As soon as the Duchess had left, the three Avengers that had come with him to the Chancellor's office.

"I take it your conversation didn't have as good as you'd had hoped." Nat said knowingly.

Obi-wan only went over to a nearby chair and sat down with a tired sigh.

"How ya holding up, Obi?" Steve asked, walking over to pat the Jedi on the shoulder.

"Could be better." Obi-wan admitted. "Maybe a night's rest is what I need."

"Maybe." Steve mused. "What of Satine?"

"She has left to return to Mandalore and lead her people." Kenobi answered.

"And the Duchess's sister?" Murdock inquired. "Has she left without her?"

"She is being kept here." Obi-wan stated with Nat nodding.

"Ideally, we hope she can tell us what she knows of Death Watch." Said Natasha. "But that's highly unlikely. It'll take time for that to happen. Something we don't have now."

Matt only hummed in thought. "With what is to come, I feel that a good night's rest is what we could all use right about now."

"Agreed." Steve said. "Come on Obi-wan. You said you wanted more than we did."

"That I did, Captain. That I did." Obi-wan said, giving the good captain a nod as they exited the room and went back to the temple.

It was a long day.

**Whew, another one finished but first things first. Before we get to the author's note.**

_-Training days I-_

Currently inside one of the training rooms, Peter wore a very large helmet. It almost swallowed up his entire head.

"Do I have to wear this thing, Obi-wan? It's too big." Peter complained slightly, tapping the side of the helmet.

"Yes, you have to, Peter."

"Any reason why?"

"Well, if we are to test this spider-sense of yours we must see how and where it can be applied." Kenobi replied simply.

"But I can't see a thing."

Peter attempted to pull the helmet off, but his hand was smacked away by Kenobi's.

"It's better to do it without seeing your surroundings."

"I would've preferred using a blindfold."

"Where's the fun in that?"

Though his expression was hidden, the flat look Obi-wan received was enough to make the master laugh.

"Oh, I don't know. Not having to deal with a clunky piece of headwear, for starters."

"Well it's tradition for one being trained in this exercise, Peter."

"I'm not a Jedi, Obi-wan." Peter emphasized.

"That may be but your senses are proclaimed as one."

"What? How?"

"Well… alright, not exactly. But the familiarity to a sort of warning is one I am familiar with." Kenobi argued. "Even though they are unique to one another, if my hunch is correct, the similarities it shares can help in bolstering your control over this sixth-sense."

Parker was silent for a moment before sighing.

"Alright, let's do this."

Pressing a button on a remote, several probes floated into the air and hovered around the teen Earther.

"Now, be sure to dodge the lasers."

"I'm sorry, but wha-"

The first probe fired off a round right into Peter's arm.

"OW! That hurt!"

"Be glad that's in the lowest setting." Kenobi said with a small grin on his face.

Peter grumbled to himself, lightly slapping the helmet. "Come on you stupid tingle, work."

For a while, he kept being zapped by the probes floating around him. It was a little amusing at first for the Jedi master, seeing Peter doing his best to avoid the hits. But now it was just a little hassle.

Peter fell onto his bum, growling as he took the helmet off and tossed it aside.

"Alright, that's it! I'm not wearing that oversized bucket."

"Yes…" Obi-wan stroked his beard. "Perhaps this wasn't the proper way to begin your training."

"Gee, ya think?!" Peter snapped before reigning himself in.

The Jedi Master adopted a thoughtful expression. "Maybe some alternative methods are in order."

"Like what exactly?" Peter asked.

Obi-wan hummed in thought. He gazed at Peter intently, looking at the helmet before back at the boy.

"Tell me something Peter, what was it like when you first received these powers?" Obi-wan asked in an inquisitive manner.

Peter stared at the Jedi master, crossing his arms as he recalled the first few weeks of the time when he got these powers. It was always a bit hard talking on this matter as it was always close to a darker time in his life but for the sake of this training...

"Well… Whatever happened, happened. It's like all of my senses are going off at once, dialed up to eleven."

"Pardon?"

"Sorry. Earth meaning. What I mean to say is… my senses are extremely heightened and it's hard to properly maintain them." Peter elaborated. "There's way too much input coming at me all at once so it took a while to get the hang of it."

At that little tidbit of information, Obi-wan hummed thoughtfully with the gears in his head turning as he went over what he was just told.

"Perhaps we have been going about this the wrong way." Kenobi admitted. "We up and jumped to something you were just beginning to grasp without going over the previous set you had only just gotten used to."

"So~ what should we do then?" Peter asked, standing up as Kenobi went over to the young teen and placed a hand on his shoulder.

"Now, we start with the basics." Kenobi stated with a small smirk. "You have the foundation but once you've mastered it, nothing is out of reach."

"Like what kind of basics?"

"Let's get creative." Kenobi said with a growing smile. "This could be a test for the both of us, incorporating teaching methods from your Earth that you know and the Jedi way. Perhaps we can create something new and innovative unique to yourself."

**Alright, now that it is all said and done, lots to go over in the chapter.**

**So… Satine failed and Republic occupation is coming. With everything happening within the Mandalore sector, the Mandalorians are gonna have to be dealing with a lot of crazy shit.**

**Jebest4781: Far sooner than what we saw at the end of Clone Wars right before Order 66 commenced. There is a reason why this happened and we basically stated this earlier. With the appearance of the Protectors, things will prove far more difficult to contain the problems of Mandalore from the rest of the galaxy. In a realistic approach, a third faction to a people will force the Republic to come and give "aid" to Mandalore instead of canon with it just being the Death Watch faction.**

**FMW: Which is why we had the chapters focusing on the Protectors as now, we have another faction at play. The Mando's and the three teams within, the Avengers, the Jedi, the Republic, the Sith and the Separatists. And this is just the beginning. Let's not forget the Guardians of the Galaxy and the coming arcs we have planned for them.**

**So aside from that, just wanna say, loving the reviews and PM's the story gets and I always encourage more cause while the story is planned out from beginning to end, there's a lot of gaps that can be filled in.**

**Thanks again.**

**Rate Read and Review and as Always Have Nice Day.**


	41. Band of Brothers Volume 1: Shinnies

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Cover poster for this chapter here
> 
> https://www.deviantart.com/freemanwriter/art/Band-of-Brothers-Volume-1-846742928

**Last chapter was definitely one that was off the cuff and the Republic is now going to occupy Mandalore. That's right, we're starting to go really off the walls now.**

**But first, there's something that I've been meaning to do for a while now and for the longest time there were a litany of ways I could do it but at long last I found my way.**

**This is a unique chapter, following the format of the Anthology like method in which the Clone Wars was presented which in turn allows for different stories to be told in different ways. Like the MCU even.`**

**There is a narrative and overarching plot line of course but it's the culmination of multiple different stories from multiple points of views. It's why I feel having the MCU version of the Avengers set in the time of the clone wars works so well.**

**So long as the eventual goal is in mind and set, there's many ways you can tell stories across this era.**

**And with that being said, you guys will probably easily see what inspired this chapter.**

**Rate Read and Review and as Always Have Nice Day.**

Avengers Infinite Wars Chapter 41: Band Of Brothers Volume 1: Shinnies

_It was strange in the beginning._

_Gaining consciousness and learning of your purpose._

_Being a soldier is all I ever knew. All_ weever _knew._

_You learned quickly just how tough your life was gonna be. We didn't care for it much to begin with really._

_We had something to do._

_We had a purpose._

_The proud, fighting men of the Grand Army of the Republic._

_That's what we were made for._

_To fight and die for all we ever knew._

_Seemed simple enough._

_If only it were so._

_Shinnies._

_That's what we all started out as. A bunch of wide-eyed rookies that had no idea about the rest of the galaxy other than that it would one day be our battleground._

_Kamino_

Two Clone Troopers stood before an entire battalion of shinnies, all of whom were mixed together to form one of the many legions and divisions of the Grand Army of the Republic.

They were standing at attention, waiting for their CO/trainer to arrive.

There were a total of 50 clone brothers behind them.

"If you think that's the position of attention, you're all entirely wrong!" Yelled a human male clad in Mandalorian shock armor minus his helmet.

The Clones stood more rigidly now as the Mandalorian went about inspecting them with his keen eyes.

He was a Mandalorian in his late 30's with a gruffness to him that was clearly seen both with the faded scars on his face and battle hardened eyes. His skin was tanned with long hair being cut into a mohawk that ended in a braid that reached the bottom of his neck.

Eyes a sharp coal color with armor equally as dark.

This was Doren Veers. One of the one hundred members of the Cuy'val Dar chosen by the legendary Mandalorian Bounty Hunter Jango Fett in training the Clone Army of the Republic. War was coming to the galaxy and they were born and bred for the purpose of being the vanguards of this ancient establishment.

Out of the Cuy'val Dar, 75 of them were Mandalorians who had a long history of combat and battle prowess each being chosen for that reason by Fett. They would work with him in establishing one of the deadliest and greatest armies this galaxy would ever see.

The Clones all stood stock still as Doren gazed over them individually, stopping at the clone all the way to the left.

Doren gazed intensely at him with the clone twitching an eyebrow.

"Have you been pissing your britches over your boots like a newborn?" Doren asked condescendingly.

"No sir."

"Well you all had a pass for tomorrow, but now it's been revoked."

The Clone only nodded his head as Doren went on to the next clone trooper.

"Name?"

"CT-7342."

"7342, eh? Well judging by the way you're wearing your shoulder plates," Doren slapped both down into their proper positioning. "Might as well refer to you as private bullshit, no? Incompetent would be too long and polite. Anything to say to that, private bullshit?"

"No excuse sir."

"Thought as much." Doren went to the front of the company for a moment. He spotted a Clone in the right middle of the assembled troops and went right over to him.

"What's this Trooper?" Doren inquired, patting him at his empty rifle that was loaded.

"My loaded rifle sir."

"A loaded rifle in a training field with comrades around." Doren accentuated. "Do you want this thing to just go off and kill everyone here?"

"No sir."

"Are we supposed to expect an attack on the planet?"

"No sir."

"Thought so." Doren drawled. "Despite being born and bred here, you've got a long way to go to graduate in our standards, rookie."

The Mandalorian went over to his next Trooper/target.

Grabbing a clone's blaster, the Mandalorian inspected it before speaking. "Name?"

"CT-6820"

"There's grease in the rear side up aperture."

The Mandalorian shoved the blaster into the clone before moving onto a different one. He wandered all over, giving quick little inspections to see what was imperfected at this stage of their training.

"There's rust on the butt plate hinge spring." The Mando pointed out, throwing it back to the trooper of his inspection.

The next trooper over...

"What's this we have here?" Doren pulled out a small blade. "A combat knife? Not just anyone, a decent low tier vibro blade. Don't know where the fuck you got this but even I have to admit, I'm impressed Trooper. You keep this out in the rain all night?"

"No sir."

"Then it's a rusty piece of poodoo." Their trainer held it up high for all of the troopers to see. "I would not take this out to war, like the rest of you." Sheathing the knife, he shoved the weapon to the clone before looking towards the others present. "Because of these mistakes, whatever rest privileges you have for the next few days are revoked. We'll be using that time to make up for said mistakes with extra training."

He gave them a once over.

"Be ready to be deployed to Kamino's moon for a marathon run. Three miles up, three miles down. And this'll happen for every couple of hours, boys. Now move!"

With that, the present clones quickly disembarked to the shuttles to head towards the moon for further training.

_It was a harsh area, remade for our training. Doren and several others of the Cuy'val Dar made sure our legion was always put through the ringer. Told us that Jango saw real potential with us but to be frank, never really saw it at the time._

_Always felt like they just didn't like us._

The clones were running up a hill with Doren running right by them.

"What Legion is this?"

"BLUE COMPANY!"

"And what do you do?"

"WE GO IN FIRST AND LEAVE LAST!"

"Where do we stand?"

"ALONE!"

One clone tripped, causing some of the clones to slow down in wanting to help their brother up. Yet their trainer spotted this.

"Do not help him!" He ordered, running on ahead. "We do not stop!"

The Clone grit his teeth and forced himself to continue, trying everything to ignore the pain in his leg. He would not fail his brothers.

"Well, looks like we've got a tough one here boys." Doren said with a manic grin.

The Mando was the first to reach the top of the hill and held up his wrist gauntlet which had a timer on.

"We are coming up on 23 minutes." Doren announced as he watched the Clones begin to tap the pole setup that marked the top of the hill. "That may be good enough for most Clone Companies but _that is not enough for Blue Company."_

One of the Clones stopped and began encouraging his men.

"Come on brothers, keep at it." He said emphatically. "We're blue company, you can do it, come on. Come on boys, let's go. We did it last time and we can do it again this time!"

Doren gazed sideways at this clone and found himself smirking for a moment.

"Is that what you call running?" He shouted at a Clone whose arms slightly flailed. "You look like a Wookie who's lost his mother."

_Doren Veers was a tough son of a bitch who cut not corners or shortcuts when training us._

_He drilled us all to hell day in and day out._

The clones now all stood at a makeshift model of a ship with the intents of training for mass and quick deployments.

"Stand at the door and… jump." Doren ordered.

The first clone jumped out and landed cleanly on his feet.

"Good." Doren nodded. "Stand at the door and… jump."

This clone...

"Okay… you just broke both of your legs." Doren drawled out. "You planning on getting yourself killed?"

"Sir, no, sir!"

"Then get back in line and do it again."

_It was insanity really._

_We thought the simulations would be the be all end all for our training but when the Cuy'val Dar came into play when we reached the later years…_

_After our last run on the hill, Doren usually singled me out and drove me out the most out of everyone. I didn't understand why in the beginning. It never made any sense to me why he chose me._

Currently on Kamino's moon, Doren was addressing one of the clones while everyone else was doing personal training some distance away.

"Why are you here, CT-7567?"

"I was born and bred for this, sir."

"I repeat, why are you here?"

"I was born and bred for this, sir!"

Doren looked over yonder and pointed to a specific mountain. "You have less than an hour to reach the top of that peak and make it back down." CT-7567 didn't move at all, making the Mandalorian roll his eyes. "Are you waiting for something?"

This caused the clone to bolt from his spot, running in order to make up for the time he just wasted.

He ran alone, bolting up the hill as fast as his legs could carry him after a grueling day of training.

CT-7567 felt himself stumble yet he pressed on. He would not fail. Not for himself, nor his brothers.

His senses were primarily focused on the track ahead. It was about a quarter of the way up did CT-7567 finally notice the sounds of boots against gravel when he slowed down a little to give himself a little bit of rest. Glancing to his side, he noticed several of his brothers joining alongside him on this run towards the mountain peak.

Smiling underneath his helmet, the clone pushed himself harder.

"Think you boys could keep up?" The Clone challenged, beginning to run faster with the Clones who had caught up to him letting out exasperated sighs though they chuckled a moment later.

"We caught up to you just now, brother."

"Well, try again then." he challenged, running ahead of his brothers.

_As time went on, our training grew harsher and rougher in accordance with the growing number of others that were beginning to get assigned to us directly._

_Blue company was rapidly becoming one of the top running contenders of companies in the Clone army. There were others like orange and yellow along with green but blue was hell bent on being at the top._

_Even with the occasional "defective" clone if one would call them that. Defective or not, they put their all into blue._

"And who the hell are you supposed to be, Trooper?"

"CT-4128."

"4128. I've heard a lot about you from the other trainers and even Kaminoans. Real Hardcase who had his tank leaking."

The Clone in question couldn't help but grin madly at this statement.

"Yeah, figured I needed some fresh air before I was sent out." The Clone said with unabashed pride.

Doren snorted. He couldn't deny this mad Clone had a sense of humor.

"Well fuck me silly, a clone who knows a joke."

"We're soldiers sir." 4128 said with pride. "Course we can joke around."

"Clearly." Veers remarked dryly. "You've got a lot of catching up to do in this company if you wanna stand shoulder to shoulder with the others, Rookie."

The Clone's grin only widened. "Catch up you say? Consider it done, sir."

"Whatever you say." Doren only gestured his head up making the trooper turn to see Blue Company running up the same hill they had done a thousand times over by this point.

"Start by catching up to them." Veers stated. "You have ten minutes."

The clone only pounded a fist over his chest once, as if hyping himself up before sprinting to catch up to Blue Company.

_Days turned to weeks and weeks turned to years._

_Wasn't long before we had two years of training under our helmets with us beginning to train more actively with simulations and firefights to give us a taste of battle._

_That's when I began to realize why Doren singled me out more often than not._

On Imoco, an icy planet of the Kamino System, Blue Company was running a field op simulation. Their regiment against the Green Company.

Currently, they were all within a dug in trench that served as their staging ground of sorts for their assault on Green Company. It was a simple simulation of capturing their fortification.

They were all situated in positions that covered their blind spots.

CT-7567 was kneeling down with his blaster in hand and optics in the other.

"What are your orders, Lieutenant?" Doren asked, kneeling next to the clone.

"Sir?"

"I may be your commanding officer, but it'll be very clear to this company who is gonna be leading them on the field." Doren simply stated. "So, what are your orders?"

"May I see the map before I make one?"

A holomap was given the clone lieutenant. Activating it, CT-7567 looked it over and tried his best to triangulate their position.

"Has recon come back yet?"

The leading clone heard footsteps coming towards them. Looking over, he saw one of his brothers, who was assigned for reconnaissance, had finally come back.

"Report."

The recon clone whispered back in response, not wanting to give away their position. "We're in a textbook position of an ambush, sir."

The lieutenant processed this bit of information before giving out an order.

"You two, prepare some smoke for our cover." He said. "The five of you," 7567 pointed to another set. "Give us covering fire in the direction where we have the most group of enemies. The rest of you, form up behind me. Two lines."

With the Clones in position, 7567 stood at the front.

"I'll move out first." the Clone Lieutenant said, momentarily looking back to the Company. "Wait for the smoke to start popping out. Then follow."

With the Clones nodding, their Lieutenant leaned forward and after a few moments simply nodded.

Two canisters were thrown overhead and landed a few yards in front of him.

In an instant, the Lieutenant went up and out of the trench in a full on sprint. There was movement, all around him.

He could hear it.

Yet he pressed on.

No sooner did he jump over a small crevice did blaster fire begin to reign.

From all directions, behind small icy outcroppings to the smoke that was now beginning to grow behind him.

Blue Company was now charging straight out of the smoke towards their objective with several being shot down. Thankfully, due to the smoke and blaster fire coming from there, the opposing side was confused long enough for them to crossover with only a few casualties at most.

Rolling into cover, the Blue Company lieutenant quickly fired off several shots to the left before ducking back in order to fire towards the right. Some enemy combatants were already taken down before the lieutenant started to hear a large number of footsteps coming his way.

Looking back momentarily, he saw the rest of Blue Company right on his heels and he grinned. Looking back, he resumed firing upon the Clones that were a part of the enemy battalion with the rest of his battalion joining him.

Soon after, blaster fire reigned on Green Company.

Some had opted to remain standing while others either went down onto one knee or laid down flat on their stomachs while firing at the opposing Company.

They appeared to have the advantage for the time being until one Clone stopped firing when he saw a surprising sight.

"Oh great, we got another battalion coming here." the Clone that spotted them said with the aforementioned battalion going over in waves over the hill that obscured them from Blue Company.

"Where the hell did they come from?"

"Move back, don't let them overwhelm us." 7567 ordered with the company beginning to move back into more secure positions.

"Why didn't we know another regiment was taking part in this?"

"In war, there will always be unexpected, surprising variables which one needs to quickly account for and assess at a moment's notice." Lectured their trainer. "Be sure to remember that next time."

The training day concluded with a Blue Company victory though at the cost of half the team. They weren't dead of course but…

CT-7567 sat alone within the barracks of the Clone Army, hands resting on his knees with his head bent down.

"What's on your mind, trooper?"

7567 looked up to see Doren Veers standing before him with an expectant look.

"Sir?"

"Something is bothering you, clearly." Doren said as it was obvious to him. "Tell me. Is it today's training?"

The Clone flinched momentarily before his figure slumped a bit.

"Just… wasn't happy with the result, is all." the Clone stated with a somber tone.

"Oh? And why is that? Last I checked, you succeeded in your objective." The Mandalorian stated, casually looking over his gauntlet. "So, what's really bothering you?"

He did not respond at first, choosing instead to keep it to himself. But when he noticed the trainer had no intentions of leaving, the Clone Lieutenant knew he wouldn't leave until he spoke.

"I'm just disappointed in myself really." He admitted aloud. "I lost half the company today. Even if it was training. Should have been better prepared."

Doren only bobbed his head from side to side as if both agreeing and disagreeing with him.

"It was just a training simulation, Lieutenant." He said blandly. The Clone tensed up, not picking up on the subtle tone the Mandalorian had with the statement.

"I know, but still if it was real-"

"Not every victory comes without consequences and fallouts. You best learn that for the future." Doren cut him off. "We're not training you to resolve conflict with words but with blasters and war."

The Clone Lieutenant only nodded numbly.

"It was a training simulation, LT." Doren reminded him. "Don't take this as a loss. You haven't lost any soldiers or brothers. Learn from it. Learn from every loss and experience. It's what will teach you in knowing how to stay alive and keep your men alive with you."

The Clone looked up at the trainer and saw the seriousness in his expression. He nodded in appreciation at the Mandalorian with the bounty hunter simply nodding back.

"I expect great things from you, Captain." Doren stated. "So continue your training. They made you in charge of Blue Company for a reason."

7567 only nodded when he heard the rank that was used to address him.

"Sir? What do you mean Captain?"

"Oh right." Doren jokingly slapped the side of his head. "You didn't get the memo yet. Was supposed to be for tomorrow. Well, might as well tell ya. You're promoted, Captain 7567. Congratulations are in order."

The newly appointed clone captain could only stare in disbelief as the Mandalorian walked away, leaving the promoted soldier to sit there and reflect on today's training and the many more days to come.

_Training went on and on. It felt like it would never end, making some of us wonder what the point of this was for if we weren't sent out to do what we were bred to do._

_Of course, that all changed when Grand Master Yoda of the Jedi Order, representative of the Republic, arrived on Kamino in order to properly deploy us on our first official mission._

There was a great deal of commotion on top of excitement vibrating across the gigantic assembled fleet of the Republic during the trip over to Geonosis.

This was it.

This was what they have all been training for, for nearly ten years.

Getting to Geonosis was a cinch with little to no air support for the Confederacy.

They were lucky there were no orbital shielding. But this was made up for with the ground based orbital cannons shooting many of their drop ships from out of the sky.

From the ship he was on, the recently promoted captain of the Republic army could see so many of his brothers crash down in a fiery blaze. He gritted his teeth on the site but had to shove such feelings aside for what was going on now.

_Suffice to say, our deployment was an utter mess. We were trained for combat. Running all sorts of simulations so we may all be ready. But none of us were prepared for us experiencing death for the first time. Hearing the bloody screams and witnessing the horrors were not anything we were ready for._

_Our confrontation with the Geonosians and the droid army could've been better for us if we were properly prepared. All strategy was basically thrown out of the airlock, only becoming useful towards the climax. Until then, we were just throwing everything we had at the droids. Wasting ammo and men here and there._

_But we persisted and we carried on. And in all honesty, I'm surprised most of us survived our first hour, let alone the first day._

LAAT gunships were landing in droves, constantly deploying either troops or tanks upon the battlefield.

It was a near endless swarm of both clones and droids as both sides were just literally throwing their forces against one another to see which side would win.

The plan was nothing short of a simple headlong charge straight into the enemy forces.

Clones were dropping all around him even though they were advancing.

The main objective was to target the droid factories and Geonosian core ships in the distance where all the droids kept flocking out of.

"MOVE MOVE!"

The Clone Captain roared aloud as multiple men in white armor charged forward with blasters up and firing at the seemingly endless wave of droids ahead of them.

He ran forward, grasping a Clone Brother who had been injured and was trying to find a means of getting him to a safe area.

If he could find one.

Getting next to an AT-TE, the Clone Captain and Private in his arm took a moment to lean against one of its legs as it hadn't moved.

Looking around desperately, the Clone private on his arm began shouting for the attention of other Clones when a blaster bolt struck him in the chest. He collapsed to the ground dead; his arm still gripped on his captain that dragged him down.

The Captain stared at his now dead comrade, hand resting on his chest before shaking his head and refocusing his attention on the battle.

All around him, clones were shouting while firing at the Droid army.

"MEDIC, WE NEED A MEDIC OVER HERE!"

"THEY'RE FLANKING US!"

"WATCH THOSE WRIST ROCKETS!"

An explosion beside him made the Clone Captains helmet momentarily come off when he harshly fell onto the ground. Ringing soon met his ears as everything else became inaudible. Looking around, the captain saw the chaos around him.

On one placement, a shiny was freaking out as he was trying to stay in cover. He flinched at a blaster bolt nearly striking him when a clone rushed over to him and grabbed him, pulling him away just as the spot he was hiding in blew up.

In another, a clone had his arm severely broken due to a blast he barely survived from. It was only with the suit alone was keeping the arm together instead of somewhere else. And lying some distance away was a trooper getting patched up by a medic as he was working as fast as he can under heavy fire.

The Captain looked over blearily at a downed, burning gunship. From the gunship, burning clones were escaping with some desperately rolling around in the sandy ground of the planet. Others merely began rapidly trying to get their armor off them as they burned.

CT-7567 gazed upward and spotted his helmet. He shakily grasped it and lifted it off the ground with sand mixed with some of his blood falling out of it.

Placing it back on, he barely registered how sticky and sandy the helmet was inside as he gazed at the clone head bobbing up and down in front of him. He could still barely hear anything yet the rumbling of explosions and passing blaster bolts were becoming clearer.

Seeing a few clones looking towards him, the captain realized they were trying to talk to him. Banging on his helmet a few times, he was finally able to get the radio to work again.

"-hell are we supposed to do now, sir!"

"Captain!" A clone with a blue arrow over his vizor shouted, waving at him. "Captain, over here!"

"Sergeant 1119? Get the men moving out of here." 7567 ordered.

"Where is our rallying point?!"

"Anywhere, but here."

"But sir-"

"If we stay here longer, we are all dead men. So keep pushing forward." 7567 barked out. "We're the ones that need to punch a hole for the others to make it through."

The Clone Captain raised his DC-17 blaster rifle and charged forward.

"You heard the Captain." Clone Sergeant-1119 yelled out. "Get on my ass and follow us."

The Clone Captain ran forward, blasting away at the oncoming droids. Out of the corner of his eyes, 7567 saw the long line of clones from other parts of the battlefield moving up the line against the droid army.

Gunships flew overhead, firing at anything and everything that was droid or associated with it.

Up ahead, he saw a down AT-TE with a bunch of clones using it as cover. Around them were several craters with other clones utilizing it as makeshift cover.

The Captain gestured for his company to take cover right now as he ran over to the group of clones behind the AT-TE.

"Who are you guys?" he asked straight away.

"504th, medical division." A clone answered, grasping communication equipment.

"Medical division? What the Kriffin Hell are you doing out here?"

"Try to set up field operations."

The Captain would have looked at him in disbelief had it not been for the situation at hand.

"Get rid of that crap." 7567 ordered. "Grab yourselves some weapons and prepare to follow me."

Over at what appeared to be a rocky outcropping, he saw a bunch more Clones with one crying out in pain while grasping his leg.

It was one of his own from Blue Company.

"Hold on, Corporal." 7567 rushed over to him.

"Captain." The Corporal Clone grasped his arm. "I'm hit. I'm hit low, God!"

"Medic!"

"Sir!" Another Clone from behind called to him. "3rd tank battalions. We need to clear these obstacles for our walkers!"

"What obstacles? The ones we're blowing away? Stop wasting time here and move. They'll get around it, it's an open field."

Grasping his Clone Corporal's arm, 7567 began to pull him towards the medical Clones not far off from him.

"Come on Corporal, let's get you the hell out of here."

He was dragging his brother across the barren land with blaster bolts and explosives going off all around him. The Corporal, while in pain, was doing his best to alleviate some of his weight by using his good leg in pushing himself off the ground.

_***KABOOM*** _

Captain 7567 fell to the ground with his hands over his helmet for a brief moment before quickly standing back up. He turned to grab his corporal only to see that half of his body was gone.

He fell onto his elbow with his eyes wide before shaking himself out of his stupor and running to return to his company.

Soon as he got to the front, he motioned his arm with the troopers following after him.

Running up towards a large ridge, 7567 leaped into cover as he was met with several other brothers of his. Looking back, he saw one brother dragging another across the battlefield before an explosion went off, sending both flying. By the looks of it when it briefly settled, both were dead.

"Who's in command here?"

"You are, sir?"

The captain soon looked around and took note of the present numbers.

"Is this all that we have?"

"There's bound to be more of us, captain. We keep flowing in."

7567 looked around, gritting his teeth. They may be flowing in but right now that flow was way back there, not here. Not where they were needed most.

"This isn't enough. This isn't _enough_."

"We're running low on weapons and ammo, sir!"

Hearing this bit of detail from one of the nearby clones, the captain gave the only reasonable solution he had. "Then we'll have to take them from our fallen brothers."

Some of the clones looked at each other, silently agreeing it was the only usable option they had right now. The order was deployed, having a number of troopers fall back in order to retrieve the desired goods in order for them to proceed.

"Do we even have explosives on us?" Questioned the captain.

"Got a few grenades on me." Spoke one of the troopers.

"Got a charge with me." Said another.

"Okay, good. I can work with that." Muttered the captain. "I need the charge planted as high as you can on the enemy's position. We'll fire at it when ready. And the grenades will be used when the opportunity rises."

With the Clones having gathered weapons and ammo, they returned back to their company Captain.

"What are we looking at, sergeant?" 7567 inquired, raising his head over their cover.

"Nothing but droids as far as the eye could see Captain." 1119 answered. "But, see that Hailfire droid?"

Looking in the direction that his sergeant was pointing to, the Captain nodded.

"That's our main obstacle." He stated. "The others are not far behind and can easily break through their lines but…"

"That risks a lot of casualties in doing so." The Captain finished for him grimly.

Taking a moment to look around, the company of clones was somewhere above four or five dozen in total and while it would appear to be a strong battalion of Clones they were still severely outnumbered.

And the droids kept trudging on.

When the Captain was about to formulate a plan, the glint of a glowing blue blade being wielded by a lithe and athletic Twi'lek appeared before them.

"Holy Kriff." One of the Clones muttered, watching the one before them deflect blaster bolts left and right before retreating back towards the Clones who were in cover.

"A Jedi." Sergeant 1119 said in awe.

The Blue Twi'lek landed right next to the Clone Captain, her lightsaber still ignited as she deflected more blaster bolts.

"I'm Aayla Secura." She introduced herself. "How can I help?"

The Captain stared at the newly arrived jedi only for him to shake his head and refocus his attention on the battle at hand.

"That Hailfire tank droid." 7567 pointed to it. "That's our main threat. We take it out, giving us and the rest of the oncoming army a clearer shot at pushing through."

Aayla only nodded. "You'll have your opening."

"Blue Company get ready." 7567 called out to his men with all either nodding or calling back that they were prepared.

…

"NOW!"

Immediately, Clones poured out from their cover with the Jedi Knight Aayla Secura running right alongside them as they rushed towards the Hailfire droid that turned around to face them.

"Grenades." The Captain shouted, several clones unclipping thermal detonators and tossing them at the Hailfire droid. Some fell before it, blowing up without causing much damage. Several, however, either stuck onto its missiles or on one of its red optics.

The explosions were loud and bright yet it only appeared to damage the droid. It was still standing… though not for long.

Aayla Secura surged ahead of them, Lightsaber being held to her side diagonally above the ground.

She crouched down before jumping forward with an amazing display of athleticism and grace. As she sailed overhead of the Hailfire droids center mass, she stabbed her lightsaber through its head and slashed right through it.

Landing behind it, she glanced over her shoulder to see it blow up entirely with Clones roaring in approval.

"We have our entryway." The Captain yelled out, waving at any and all clones close to him. "We're in business, through here."

"Sir, Spider-walkers!" a clone shouted, pointing up to the large four legged circular spider droid that was walking its way in their direction.

Gritting his teeth, the Captain was about to call out for rocket launchers when the Spider-walkers promptly blew up.

Blinking, the confusion turned to cheers at the sight of LAAT gunships flying past them with the gunships unleashing their torpedoes and fire against the droid army.

"Push forward!" 7567 yelled, running forward at full speed with a storm of blaster bolts coming in from in front and behind him.

The clones all kept coming on, matching the endless wave of the droid army.

"We're exposed out here Captain." A clone called out to him.

He looked around rapidly, spotting what they needed right about now.

Leaning against a slab of rock, Captain 7567 tried to look beyond his spot to check the current position of the droids along with their numbers. But every time he did so, he would duck back, avoiding blaster fire aimed right at him.

Thinking of what to do, he gazed at his present company and quickly took note of some stuff in particular.

"Hand me your Vibroblade."

The one clone nearby complied with the order, never questioning.

With the weapon on hand, he used the pommel to smash into the visor of a wayward trooper helmet. Retrieving the biggest piece of glass, he fashioned it together with some sealing tape from one of his pouches. Once made, the clone captain slowly moved his makeshift hand mirror away from the rock slab and was barely able to make out the droids on top of the ridge.

"Got five droids situated on top." Tilting his impromptu mirror downward, he was able to spot something else. "If we can get a sniper over to that impact crater, it'll be a good firing position to take care of them."

"Problem is, we need some good defense for that to happen." Spoke one of the clones.

"Reason why we'll need to be the support." The captain eyed his brothers. "Who's the best sniper here?" Seeing a hand raised, the leading clone gave his next orders. "Grab some cover closer to that impact crater and give that firing squad hell. Two of you, assist your brother with back up in case things don't go exactly as planned. The rest of you will assist me in covering fire."

The assembled clones accepted the orders.

Getting ready in position, the captain signaled for them to spring into action. The majority of them quickly got out of cover and fired upon the droids from the high vantage point. As the enemy focused on them, the sniper with his backup ran off to get closer to the impact crater. Sliding into the best cover they could get, the sniper took aim, took his time and fired.

The first shot grazed the covering, but the next landed it's mark, leaving a hole into the droid's head. The sniper repeated his action as he took care of the next droid, which caused it to tumble and expose more of it's covering to the rest of the Republic forces.

"We've got our next vantage." 7567 cried out. "Move, move!"

The clones couldn't have moved fast enough, running from their held up positions and advanced further. It wouldn't be much longer before the droids from the high vantage point were no longer there as the Republic forces went to take the vantage position.

The troopers all halted in their tracks for a moment at the cacophony of explosions, metal meeting ground and wind billowing from the far center of the Separatists side of the battle.

Suddenly, without warning, the entire battlefield became entirely enshrouded in what could only be described as a sandstorm.

"What the hell just happened?" The Clone Sergeant shouted out in confusion.

"Anyone have a visual?" 7567 shouted over the commotion.

"Sir." A random clone called out to him. "Our guns just shot down a separatist star ship."

No sooner had they heard this declaration; the sound of another clone troopers voice was heard through their comms.

"The droid army is in full retreat, brothers." The Clone on the comms said victoriously. "Pour it on 'em and leave nothing for the scrap heap."

The resounding roar of victory was heard through all the clone ranks as they began simply standing up and out of any cover that was available to them and marched forward. Even with the dust making it difficult to see, they all knew where the enemy was.

The battle raged on to the point it all became a blur to 7567.

The last thing he recalled were the gunships coming in to pick them up.

_We made it through the opening stage of the war with insurmountable losses but we prevailed._

_We won the day._

_The Grand Army of the Republic, the Brothers and Jedi that survived that war came out battle hardened and ready for whatever the war had to throw at us._

CT-7567 stood before the newly formed clone legion known as the 501st.

It had been some time since Geonosis with him having just returned from Kamino after an extensive training regimen that he had been singled out for among many other Clone officers that would receive ARC trooper training.

It was there that he had met and became close brothers with CC-2224, now known as Cody.

Under the tutelage of one ARC trooper called Alpha-17, he had earned his name.

As well the famed Mandalorian Jaig-eyes upon his helmet that signified one who had excelled in battle and showed exceptional bravery for himself and comrades around him.

As the Clone Captain stood and waited within the large shipyard of Coruscant, he took a moment to reflect upon the battle of Geonosis and the time that had passed since then. For ten years, he and his clone brethren were bred and trained for this. To be the sword and shield of the Republic for when the time would come that they would be called upon into battle.

Strange really. Since Geonosis, there had not been _as many_ battles as one would have expected. There were some planets already entrenched in war yet those were far and few between. Both sides were marshalling and scrambling their forces as desperately as they could. The Republic more so then the Separatists considering how much more prepared and really aware it seems they were of their army in comparison to the Republics.

Right now, the 501st was currently waiting for the Jedi General they were assigned to. All they knew was the name, Anakin Skywalker, as he was recently promoted from Padawan to Knight, hence his rising rank from Commander to General.

7567 heard from other squadrons on their impressions on their own commanding Jedi officers. Some liked their commanders and generals, others haven't. But they had to follow orders and suck it up with their duty to the Republic.

The clone captain, however, hoped that despite the growing reputation of Skywalker, things would be alright working under him.

From the corner of his eye, 7567 saw a Jedi approaching him. Someone he recognized.

His new Jedi general.

When Skywalker came near, 7567 quickly saluted with his 501st brethren following suit.

"Sir, Clone Captain 7567 reporting for duty."

The Jedi's lip twitched upwards. "At ease, soldiers."

The 501st all returned to standing position.

"I guess a basic introduction is in order." The newly minted Jedi Knight declared. "I am Anakin Skywalker, your new general." He began pacing before them. "I know I'm completely new to this and I wasn't truly expecting to be given command of my own legion. But here I am standing before the future greatest legion this galaxy will ever see."

Upon hearing that declaration, some of the clones stood more straighter with all their attention zeroing in on the Jedi.

"This war is gonna be a tough one, there's no doubt about that. But we're all in this together now." he said aloud. "You look out for me and I'll look out for you. We're all the same on the battlefield from here on out. And I know that none of you will let me down."

The Clones all stomped their rifles to the ground and saluted Skywalker once more.

"SIR!" They all bellowed out, drawing some attention from neighboring clone battalions and legions.

Anakin grinned, now looking towards the Clone Captain.

"7567, right?"

"Yes sir." He nodded.

"Got a name I could call you other than that mouthful?"

The Clone Captain couldn't help but smirk slightly before becoming professional once more.

"Captain Rex, general."

Anakin nodded, holding out his hand for the Captain to shake. Accepting it, they both had a firm grip on each other's arms with one shake.

"Good to have you with me, Rex."

"I won't let you down, General Skywalker."

**So, this one was short and simple yet took longer cause not gonna lie, needed a bit of time away from the fic to work on other stuff as well gather new ideas.**

**So anyway, yeah, drew inspiration from Band Of Brothers and Saving Private Ryan for this one as I felt it apt in this situation.**

**I feel having Clone exclusive focused chapters is important as we saw in the Clone Wars and since I'm using Band Of brothers as my inspiration for this format I can simply say that there will be nine more of these interspersed throughout the story.**

**When I have all ten, I'll create a separate story that will have all ten if you guys want something like that.**

**Other than that, thanks for reading.**

**Rate Read and Review and as Always Have Nice Day.**


	42. Droid Army Rampant

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Cover poster for this chapter and arc here
> 
> https://www.deviantart.com/freemanwriter/art/Grievous-Intrigue-849200071

**Lots of crazy shit to come as we are four arcs out from the end of season 2 and the three arcs post season 2 in between… so we have seven arcs left until season 3. Lot of shit then to cover.**

**You know what the worst part about this is, when talking about future content? I have the four outlines of the seasons I have planned and it's a hodgepodge of stuff from all seven seasons of the Clone Wars, Legends Material and the MCU plans. I overlook them every single time I work on Infinite Wars and it kills me knowing how much awesome shit that is in store for you guys** _**way off** _ **in the distance.**

**God I wish I had lightning fingers. Still, it gladdens me to know that I can get there sooner than later thanks in no small part to Jebest who has had many ideas of his own in the story, same as BulletStormX.**

**Hope you guys are ready for it. Things are gonna go off the rails.**

**Let's get to it.**

**Rate Read and Review and as Always Have Nice Day.**

Avengers Infinite Wars Chapter 42: Droid Army Rampant.

"How are things on your end, everyone?" Sam asked, standing at a holo table where Steve was on the other side, standing with War Machine, Aayla Secura and Commander Bly.

" _There's unrest all around."_ Steve admitted, crossing his arms with a frown.

" _We've had several skirmishes with Separatists_ and _the Death Watch."_ Bly pointed out with a frown visible, helmet under his arm.

" _They are probing us and testing both the Republic and the Duchess's government."_ Aayla said, shaking her head. _"They're definitely planning something. It's bad enough that the citizens don't want us here."_

"Really? They don't want you there?" Sam asked rhetorically. "I can't imagine why."

"We made a mistake." Said a sage voice from behind.

Sam looked behind him to see Obi-wan with Cody in tow coming back from the front of the bridge.

" _Obi-wan."_ Aayla greeted, nodding her head at her fellow Jedi.

"How are things on Mandalore?" Obi-wan asked with a slight tinge in his tone.

" _Well, the Citizens sure as hell ain't happy with us being here and we've gotten into a few scuffles with the Seppies and Emo Watch."_ Rhodey said dryly. _"All in all, real chipper."_

" _The appearance of the Republic forces are dividing Satine's people by either siding with the True Mandalorians or staying with her."_ Aayla said.

" _Might be the reason why Death Watch is pushing harder on their actions. They hope people would side with them, but that's highly unlikely."_ Steve pointed out.

"Speaking of, how's progress with Bo-Katan?" Kenobi asked with War Machine answering.

" _Matt says it's been a very slow process. No real success at the moment."_

"And those Protectors that made their proclamation?" Obi-wan asked.

" _Not much of a response nor even a showing._ " Bly said. _"There's really no telling what will happen here in this sector."_

"Isn't the rest of the Mandalore Sector occupied by those Protectors?" Sam asked.

" _It is."_ Aayla nodded. _"But… they're out of jurisdictions."_

The flat look displayed by the Avengers was all that was needed for the Jedi to show a level of sheepishness.

"These Protectors are unlike the Death Watch." Obi-wan remarked. "I'm surprised they haven't made their appearance yet to Mandalore itself."

" _Mandalore is in too much a state of turmoil and flux. Though they may perhaps have the greater numbers and resources, we have yet to find out as likely as it may be."_

"Heard things haven't been going that well in some of the other sectors of Republic space either." Sam brought up. "Hey Obi, Cody. Didn't you guys say Anakin was assigned someplace else right now?"

"Yes." Obi-wan confirmed. "He was sent out to Tatooine where there was a powerful Separatist fleet that engaged Jedi Master Ferroda and the 369th Battalion."

" _Seems like we're being stretched thin everywhere."_ Steve remarked, crossing his arms.

" _Indeed they are."_ Aayla remarked. _"Master Ferroda has mentioned that he had intercepted several fleets attempting to gain a foothold in Hutt space on top of them outsourcing and selling droid battalions to any willing buyers."_

"They're getting bolder." Cody noted with a grim tone. "With how stretched thin we are, to think they'd attack territory like that."

" _Scott and Hope chimed in that they had finished repelling a Separatist fleet with Master Koth. Their second one."_ Steve added, making Falcon blink.

"Second?" Sam was obviously concerned. "The two tic-tacs alright?"

"Scott, Hope and Master Koth have reportedly been replaced in their position by Masters Plo Koon and Kit Fisto with Quicksilver accompanying them." Obi-wan stated. "Koth and his forces are currently recuperating before returning to Coruscant to reform and bolster their lost forces."

And speaking of Koth…

The Zabrak Jedi Master stood within the bridge of his flagship Venator the _Steadfast,_ surrounded by his faithful Clone Battalion named Horn Company.

The name always brought a small smirk to his face at the thought of his Clone Troopers choosing to abandon their old designated numbered battalion and go with his personal features instead to distinguish themselves among other battalions and legions. Showed a level of loyalty to him one he always returned in full.

These past few days had his fleet get put to the test with Horn Company suffering great losses, especially in the last attack.

Right now, his troops needed time to rest and recuperate.

"Hey Eeth, how're ya holding up?"

A grin found its way back onto his face as he turned to see one Scott Lang AKA Ant-man walking up to him, a snack bag in hand. The Zabrak could not recognize it but he has been hearing about these Earth based foods beginning to spread within the Republic army as well as apparently making its way throughout the populace.

"I am well, Scott." Koth said in a friendly manner. "How are you and Hope?"

"We're ok I guess." Scott said, shrugging. He held out the bag towards the Jedi Master. "Wanna try? Finally got the recipe right after a thousand tries."

Raising an inquisitive brow, he reached into the bag and pulled out some strange thin crisp of sorts with some sort of powder on it.

"What is this?" Koth inquired, inspecting both sides.

"Chips." Scott answered. "Sour Cream and onion… or the closest this galaxy has to it."

Popping the 'chip' into his mouth, Koth was pleasantly surprised by the zingy and salty taste.

"This is pretty good." Koth admitted, Scott offering him more which he gladly accepted.

"Yeah, they're really tasty but slightly unhealthy." Scott admitted. "Then again with how much running around we all do, pretty sure we burn off the calories and fat."

Koth only chortled aloud when alarms blared, startling the two.

"What's happening?" Koth asked aloud.

"There's an enemy ship coming out of Hyperspace." A clone pilot announced.

Koth held up his wrist comms. "Captain Lock, battle stations."

" _Yes General."_

Scott contacted his other half.

"Hope?" Scott said in concern.

Down within the hangar bay, Hope Van Dyne ran about with her fully suited with her suit sporting new streamlined wristlets.

"I'm good down here, Scott." Hope said through the comm link, running over to a clone who was injured from the prior battle and helped him on to a stretcher for Clones to take him to the medical bay of the ship.

"We've got an enemy ship incoming."

Back with Scott on the bridge with Eeth Koth, the two stood at the front looking out into the vastness of space as Separatist ship appeared out from Hyperspace.

"Engage all guns." Koth ordered, defensive turbo lasers blasting away at the Confederate ship, the enemy vessel returning fire.

Scott's helmet formed around him as the ship began shaking about.

"That ship looks way bigger than the ones we took out from last time." Ant-man said nervously.

Koth had to agree with the statement, looking down at one of the Clone Pilots.

"Send out a distress beacon immediately." Koth ordered. "We're heavily outgunned and outnumbered." The Clone nodded, Koth contacting his Captain once more. "Lock, what's your status?"

"Horn Company is armed and ready." Captain Lock declared.

"Sir." A clone spoke up, gaining the Jedi's attention. "The enemy ship is closing in for a boarding party."

"Boarding?" Koth immediately recognized these tactics. "There's only one who would openly do such a thing. General Grievous."

Hearing that, Ant-man turned to depart from the bridge.

"I'm heading down there." Scott said to Koth yet it appears that Hope had overheard the statement.

"Negative Scott." She said sharply. "If it is Grievous boarding, he's gonna make a beeline for the bridge and for Koth from what we've heard about him. Stay there and help back up Eeth. I'll stay here with the Clones and keep them company."

Scott wanted to object yet the ship violently jolted, looking out the window to see the Separatist ship was now right next to the Venator.

"Here we go." Koth said.

Down below, Hope stood with Horn Company facing a door where the Droids would use to enter the ship.

"Get ready, men." Captain Lock said aloud, multiple blasters pointed at the door.

Wasp's eyes narrowed behind her vizor, her wings sprouting out from her back as she shrunk down and flew towards the door.

Just as it opened, multiple super battle droids came marching through with the machines firing at the clones. Several were taken down yet a moment later, the first dozen supers were dispatched by small bolts aimed at their head with the door closing a moment later.

A small figure zipped up to the front of the Clones before Wasp appeared in front of them.

"Is everyone alright?" Wasp asked with some Clones only letting out relieved sighs.

"We could have lost more, Miss Van Dyne." Lock said appreciatively.

They heard the sound of burning metal, the Clones and lone Avenger turned to see a red glowing blade protruding out from the hinges of the door. It was slowly cutting its way around the door.

"Fall back." Lock ordered.

"I'll hold them off." Wasp said in complete seriousness, halting some of the Clones.

"You heard me." Hope said sharply, momentarily retracting her helmet to give off a look of complete seriousness. "Go and regroup. We're not fully prepared for this attack. The least you could do is fall back to a more defensible position."

Just as Hope had finished saying this, the door fell over to reveal a Mirialan woman garbed in black with a red Lightsaber in hand. Her yellow eyes immediately fell upon Hope with an intense glare of recognition burning through them.

"You?!" She snarled out viciously.

"Oh great, it's her." Hope muttered to herself, recognizing the Mirialan before her to be one of the Acolytes of Dooku that she had encountered a while back with Natasha.

Chezo Niva.

"I haven't forgotten Cato Neimoidia, you little gnat." Chezo all but snarled.

Hope on the other hand.

"Gnat? Really? That's your best insult?" Wasp goaded, getting into a stance.

Chezo only growled, calling back to the Droids behind her. "Get the Clones. She's mine."

"And what makes you think tha-AH"

Wasp suddenly found herself sailing through the air, completely caught off guard by the invisible push that sent her skidding down on the ground. She looked up in time to see the Sith Acolyte jumping at her, Lightsaber raised over her head.

In an instant, Wasp shrunk down just as Chezo's lightsaber sliced into the spot where she once lay. Looking around with the intent to kill, she briefly heard the buzzing of wings when she felt a sharp miniature kick to her gut.

Having the wind knocked out of her, Chezo grunted with an arm around her stomach only to be punted by a small superheroine to the chin. Falling to the ground, Chezo now held her jaw when there was a metallic footstep from behind and rushing of air with a soft _*Tink*_ above her head.

She looked up to see General Grievous retracting his fist back to his side. The droid general was looking down at her with his yellow slitted eyes with annoyance.

"What are you doing, you fool?" Grievous metallic voice rasped. "Do you not realized we are in the middle of a mission?"

"There is an Avenger here." Chezo hissed, rising to her feet.

"Yes, I am aware." Grievous said impatiently. "I just struck a small insect that appeared to be a human."

"That was her." Chezo whirled around to see if she could spot her.

"I took care of that insignificant speck." Grievous said with a gruff tone. "Move. We have a mission to fulfill."

Chezo snarled but complied nonetheless.

"Be on the lookout for a small insect flying around here." Chezo ordered within the comms. "Small as she may be she is lethal and dangerous and can cause great damage to us."

Back on the bridge, Eeth Koth with Scott Lang were contacted by Captain Lock.

"Status report." Koth inquired.

On Lock's end, the Clone Captain was in the middle of a firefight. He was backing away while firing repeatedly at the oncoming wave of droids.

"There's too many of them!" Lock cried out, gritting his teeth in anger and frustration. Several more Clones perished around him yet they fought on.

"Where's Hope?" Scott asked with great concern.

"She's told us to fall back while she takes on one of those Acolytes." Lock informed.

Scott froze up in fear when he felt a hand upon his shoulder.

He looked over to Eeth Koth to see the Jedi giving him an assuring glance.

"Trust in your partner, Scott." Koth stated. "You Avengers stand apart from most. She knows how to take care of herself."

Though he wanted to argue, Ant-man knew that Koth's words held truth especially in the case of Wasp. She got separated from them when they first arrived in this galaxy and managed just fine before they found her.

Koth all the while returned his attention to Captain Lock. "Get yourselves to the escape pods. I'll deal with Grievous here."

"But, sir, you can't face all of them on your own." Lock argued.

"And risk having all of my men get killed? I think not Captain." Koth countered with a tone that left no room for arguments. "Now go."

Lock hated this. He wanted to go and help his general but Eeth was clear. Get all the men out of here.

"All Troopers, head to the evacuations pods immediately." Lock ordered. "Ms. Van Dyne. Where are you?"

Wasp flew towards the bridge of the ship, avoiding blaster fire directed at her. These Commando Droids were proving to be living up to their names as they made sure to constantly have a barrage of bolts in her direction.

Right now she needs to reunite with Scott and Koth and get the hell out of this ship.

However, she stopped in midair as she heard Clones shouting in panic. Turning back, she saw Clones fleeing with several of them being injured being pursued by droids both Super and Commandos.

Gritting her teeth, she flew straight at them and fired her stingers. She got them right in the optics and joints, her stingers being upgraded since arriving in this galaxy to take out their usual metal foes.

All the while, Eeth Koth and Ant-Man awaited the oncoming attack on the bridge with the clones within the room all pointing their weapons at the door. They heard the metallic sounds of footsteps on the other door with the clones tensing up while Koth opted to ignite his lightsaber.

Scott's helmet formed around his head with his thumb hovering over the button to shrink him down.

A blue lightsaber impaled the door from the other side and slowly began to carve its way through the metal, making a circle large enough to breach the room.

The room was tense and silent, blasters all trailed in the direction of the door. Upon reaching a full circle, there were a few moments of metallic tapping heard upon the other side which made Scott squirm whilst Koth held firm.

Suddenly, the door burst forth from its hinges with Scott instinctively shrinking down whilst one unfortunate clone got struck and was knocked back.

Scott grew to full height again, looking to the entrance to see one General Grievous walk in with his arms clasped behind his back.

"Jedi." Said the Droid General before gazing upon Ant-man. "Avenger."

Ant-man couldn't help but wave nervously back yet he remained strong knowing he was in for a fight.

"Grievous." Koth held his lightsaber tightly as Grievous stepped aside.

In walked several Commando droids that raised their blasters up with the clones firing at them. Immediately, Scott leapt into action by shrinking down and punting the head off of two of the commandos with the clones and Koth taking out the others.

However, Magnaguards now entered with them making quick work of the clones yet Koth and Scott fought on.

It wasn't until Grievous's hand shot out and grabbed a jumping Ant-man and threw him to the ground. Though Scott's body took the impact of the fall, he inadvertently had the growth button strike the floor.

Now back to his full size again, Scott had several Magnaguards surround him and point their electrified staves at him.

Koth had been disarmed with Magnaguards grabbing his arms with one behind him wrapping an arm around his neck. The Jedi Master watched as Grievous jumped onto the holo table, form shadowed which accentuated his slitted yellow eyes.

"Eeth Koth, isn't it? I've been looking forward to meeting you." Grievous said with a maniacal laugh.

"Your reputation precedes you, general." Koth said calmly. "The reputation of a coward and a murderer."

"Murderer?" Grievous rose to his full height, grabbing two of his lightsabers. "Is it murder to rid the galaxy of you Jedi filth?"

"Well that would just label it as genocide." Inputted the Avenger.

"General Grievous."

The Droid General looked back to see Chezo Neva walk in with the Acolyte immediately looking down at the Avenger. She sneered at him and kicked his head.

He was glad for his helmet but still kinda hurt.

"What is it?" Grievous asked impatiently.

"It's the other Avenger." Chezo said. "She's gone. None of the other droids can't seem to find her."

"You let her escape?"

"In case you've forgotten, she could shrink down and make herself difficult to see." Chezo shot back.

"And yet, I had succeeded in catching one with the same set of abilities." Grievous countered.

Chezo's face twitched in anger yet she knew there would be no point in trying to argue with the blood lusted General with her only waving at the Magnaguards.

The droids electrocuted both Avenger and Jedi into unconsciousness. All the while, from a discreet area within the bridge, one Hope Van Dyne watched from behind a vent as Koth and Scott were carried off by their captors.

Gritting her teeth, Wasp opted to stay out of sight as she followed after the Separatist forces that now had two valuable hostages in tow. She held up her Avengers ID card and pressed on the emergency signal, quickly following Grievous and Chezo into their ship.

_-Scene Cut-_

Steve Rogers stood within the bridge of Aayla's flagship with the aforementioned Jedi by his side along with Commander Bly. The trio surrounded the holotable of the ship with them attending an emergency meeting called upon by the Jedi Council.

On the other end, multiple other Jedi, Clone and several members of the Avengers were present.

At the Jedi temple itself, Anakin had returned from his campaign at Tatooine as well as Obi-wan from Mandalore. Falcon, Widow and Spider-man stood with the Jedi as they were observing a message sent to them by none other than General Grievous. And within his grasp were Master Koth and Scott, who appeared to be quite battered.

'So this is what the emergency broadcast from Hope was about.' Steve internally mused with a grim expression as he gazed upon Scott who looked as though he had been beaten several times now.

" _Greetings, Jedi. It would seem, once again, one of your Order has lost his way. And even better, a leading member of your Jedi Council with one of your Avenger allies."_ Spoke the cyborg general while holding up Koth and grinding his foot against the back of Scott. _"Listen to me, Jedi, I do not care about your politics. I do not care about your Republic. I only live to see you die."_

Once throwing Master Koth down beside Scott, a pair of Magnaguards appeared and thrusted their staves into their backs. They groaned in pain from the received shocks.

" _But death will not come so easily for Master Koth. I will make him suffer endlessly because I know that is more painful for you all."_

" _As for your Avenger."_ Grievous reached down and grabbed Scott by the neck, hoisting him up. The former convict reached up to grasp at the general's hand in a vain attempt at releasing him. _"Whilst I would love nothing more than to kill him right here and right now, his capabilities and technology would do wonders for the Separatist cause. He will live up to a point."_

Scott was then tossed down to the ground again.

" _Until his use is fulfilled."_

The transmission ended with conversation picking up from all lines.

"He's a monster."

"How do we save them?"

"How'd he even capture them?"

Yoda only hummed aloud, looking at Ahsoka Tano, Barriss Offee and Peter Parker who were present in the room. Around them were several Jedi younglings, all of which were clearly frightened by the display of torture by the Droid General.

"Away with the younglings. Much there is to discuss." Yoda instructed.

Getting the message, the three teens ushered the younglings out of the room and made the attempt to distract them from what they just witnessed.

There was a clear sense of dread looming over the assembled crowd.

"Sick bastard." Sam commented with a growl. "The hell are we gonna do about him?"

"That's easy." Anakin piped up. "It's time somebody finally put an end to that monster."

"On that, agreed we are." Yoda stated. "How to find him, the question remains."

On one end with Plo Koon and Kit Fisto, Commander Wolffe approached his Jedi general and began whispering into his ear while the rest continued their conversation.

"After engaging Grievous, we lost contact with Master Koth. He could be anywhere." Kenobi said.

"Cap." Anakin looked at Steve. "You guys have your own means of communicating. You mentioned your ID cards and Tap helping you out to get across galactic communications."

"We've been having a bit of trouble on that part." Widow said in place of Steve. "Sometimes, whenever a ship that's not recognized as friendly entire hyper speed, it takes a while for us to get a pin on the card."

Anakin frowned, crossing his arms in frustration when Master Plo spoke up.

"Commander Wolffe has found a message in the holo-transmission. Playback the message."

The message was played once more, going through the motions until focusing on the part where Koth and Scott were being electrocuted. It paused before playing back again two more times.

"Look." Anakin pointed to Koth. "Hand signals."

True to Anakin's word, Eeth Koth was showing a series of hand gestures which made everyone gaze upon it more intently.

Peering in closer to the holo-message, Obi-wan inspected the hand gestures coming from Master Koth. "I admit my skills are rusty, but… Saleucami System, sector J-19. Zero-eight, zero-five, two-nine."

"Saleucami?" Adi Galla said in confusion. "But intelligence reported Grievous has no ships near that sector."

"Yes, but so often inaccurate our intelligence is." Yoda pointed out.

"So what's our game plan then?" Sam asked aloud. "We've got a missing Avenger with a Jedi Master and another Avenger captured."

"He's baiting us obviously." Windu said.

"Then the question remains. Who shall take the bait?" Plo asked.

"I shall go." Obi-wan stated. "My men are still prepped and ready for action."

"So will I." Anakin added. "My fleet is in orbit over Coruscant right now.

"Don't forget about me." Sam jotted in. "Someone's gonna need to pull them outta there."

"In agreement, we all are?" Yoda asked all present with no objections being raised. "Then go. Go with the Force."

"We will not fail, Master Yoda." Kenobi promised.

Soon enough, the fleet of the 501st and 212th were departing from Coruscant with Obi-wan leading the fleet overall.

Within the personal ship of Skywalker known as the Twilight, Sam stood behind the Jedi and Captain Rex with the rest of the Domino Squad and Clone medic Kix.

Currently, they were speaking with Obi-wan with Commander Cody by his side.

" _Are you ready?"_ The Jedi master inquired.

"Ready and waiting." Anakin responded back to Obi-wan as he, Sam and Rex sat in the Twilight's bridge while Domino Squad were in the back.

" _I shall engage the Separatist fleet and send you the coordinates of Grievous' command ship."_

"Just make sure you get it right." Anakin quipped.

" _I always do."_

Sam soon voiced an inquiry. "How do you plan on getting Grievous aboard your ship?"

" _Not to worry. The good general and I have a history. I'm sure he'll want to even the score face-to-face."_

"Meanwhile, we'll jump in undetected and board the command ship."

"Leaving the rescue of Koth, Scott and Hope to us." Sam said confidently.

" _Hopefully by the end of this mission, we will save them and captured General Grievous."_

Ending the transmission, many Republic cruisers jumped into hyperspace with the Twilight hanging back for an untold amount of time.

_-Scene Cut-_

Scott Lang was kept within a separate holding cell inside the primary ship of General Grievous with the Sith Acolyte Chezo Niva before him. He had been stripped of his suit leaving him in only his briefs which was… A rather compromising position to say the least.

The Mirialan barely kept her eyes off of him with him looking back unflinchingly though making a face.

"So are you just gonna stare at me like that all day?" He asked. "If so, would you kindly stop that?"

"And why would I?" She said with a smirk.

"Cause then I'd have to start charging. "What's the currency here again? Credits right? Five credits a minute."

Chezo only chortled with a menacing smirk on her face as she gave him a dark look which sent a slight shiver down his spine. She was eyeing him like he was a piece of meat.

"Seriously, stop that. It's creepy." Scott grunted out. "Great~ now I know how women feel being looked on."

Chezo only stood from her seat and walked over to the captured Avenger. She placed a finger upon his chest and trailed it from his peck to his back as she began walking around him.

"Consider it a compliment. A fine man such as yourself should be flattered." She said with a sensual edge to her tone. "A man like yourself who is built just right but not a walking hunk of mass."

Scott squirmed and laughed off her comments. "I would if it weren't for you wanting to shove your lightsaber right through me after you have your way with me."

She brought her fingers up to the underside of his chin before grasping it fully with her hand. "Oh I will most certainly have my way with you. Prying all your knowledge of your unique technology out of that handsome head of yours."

"Bondage." Scott hung his head once he was let go. "I see. You're into _that_ sort of information extraction."

"I have many ways, my dear." Chezo leaned in and proceeded to lick Scotts cheek which made him spasm about, wiping his face with his bicep. "And I can't wait to try them out on you."

Lang only shuddered as she walked out of the cell. And with an extra sway to her hips to boot.

"Boy, if Hope were to see this…" Scott muttered.

While in the bridge of the Separatist ship, Grievous strolled into the room as the tactical droid spoke up of the latest reports.

"Sir, we have entered the Saleucami system." The Tactical Droid stated.

"Begin preparations for our landing." Grievous ordered, not before gazing upon the captured Jedi Master hovering in the middle of the bridge. The general, after all, wanted to keep his _prize_ in close contact until further notice.

"Yes, my lord."

However...

"Uh, sir, there are several ships coming out of hyperspace." A droid at its terminal said aloud.

"Are they Republic or Separatist?"

No sooner had Grievous asked did a fleet of ships appear from out of Hyperspace before the general's fleet.

"Republic. Three cruiser-class, four escort-class."

Grievous only turned to his captured Jedi, speaking to him condescendingly. "You see? Your compassionate friends have come to rescue you, just as I knew they would."

The escort ships all flew directly towards Grievous's ship with the General gazing upon them intently.

"One of the Republic ships is hailing us, my lord." The Tactical droid spoke up.

"Put him through."

A video feed appeared on the main monitor above, showing the Separatist general the visage of Obi-wan Kenobi himself.

" _General, I knew one day I'd catch up to you."_

"Kenobi. What a surprise. I assume you are here to bring me to justice." Grievous said tauntingly.

" _You know me too well."_

"Indeed I do." Abruptly ending the transmission, Grievous barked out his orders. "Prepare to fire all cannons. And be alert. Whenever there's Kenobi, you will always find Skywalker not far behind."

"The enemy ships are faster and more maneuverable. I suggest caution." The Tactical Droid advised.

"Draw them in. I want to board that vessel. I shall kill Kenobi face-to-face." Grievous instructed before contacting the Acolyte on his ship. "Chezo. The Republic fleet is here to rescue our hostages. Be prepared. The Avenger that we failed to capture will undoubtedly be making her move soon to liberate her comrades."

" _You don't need to remind me, Grievous."_ Snapped the Acolyte before ending the call.

He only shook his head, finding these acolytes irritating to work with.

With Kenobi, the Jedi master watched as the Separatist fleet began firing upon his own.

"Well, we certainly have his attention." Obi-wan wryly stated, holding up his writs comm. "Admiral Yularen, keep Grievous' fleet occupied so Anakin's arrival is undetected."

"Yes, General." Yularen responded. "Deploy the fighters. All weapons fire at will."

The two fleets engaged one another with Republic Starfighters backing the corvettes as they blasted away at the enemy fleet.

"Commander Cody, do we have the exact coordinates of the command ship yet?" Kenobi asked his second-in-command.

"We're patching them through now, sir."

With Anakin, he sat within the pilots chair at the ready with Sam leaning upon the back of his chair in anticipation.

"We are receiving the coordinates from General Kenobi."

"So Anakin, what kind of jump is this one gonna be?" Sam asked, knowing the Jedi's tendencies of flying by this point. "How close are we gonna be on Grievous' ship?"

"Hmm. Pretty close." Was all Anakin responded with. "Buckle up, boys."

"Define 'pretty close'." Sam said in a dry tone. "Like, close enough to still be in the fight? Or close enough to be on his ass?"

"Close enough to get the job done." Anakin remarked with a sly grin.

"That's not helpful at all, Sky guy."

Anakin's brow twitched at the sound of the clones chuckling at his nickname.

"Aren't you a pilot yourself?"

"I fly with a wingsuit, Anakin. Totally different."

"Totally suicidal, if you ask me."

"And you're flying isn't?"

Anakin smirked. "Touché."

With that said, Anakin entered the ship into hyperspace, the stars stretching out before vanishing altogether.

Back over the planet of Saleucami, the battle raged on with both forces firing upon one another with everything they have.

Aboard the flagship of the Confederacy side, Grievous walked down the ramp within the bridge while his sickly yellow eyes gazed upon his targeted ship.

"Get me a tractor beam locked onto Kenobi's ship and prepare a boarding party."

The droids complied with the order as not long after, Kenobi's ship shook with many of its occupants thrown off their feet.

"Tractor beam has us, sir. Shall we fire on the source?" Spoke Commander Cody.

"Uh, no, Cody. Let them think they have us." Kenobi informed the clone. "We need a diversion for Anakin."

Back aboard the Twilight, Anakin was checking the monitors as he soon voiced his readings.

"Coming out of hyperspace. Hang on." Anakin announced aloud.

Several moments later, they came out of FTL with them flying headfirst into the battle that was currently underway. Anakin managed to weave in and around the main Separatist flagship until turning the Twilight upside down and attaching it to the bottom of Grievous' ship.

"Primary power down." Anakin said proudly, looking back to Sam. "So how was that for you?"

"How in the hell are we not falling down right now?" Sam asked.

"Safety belts." Anakin patted his own.

"Yeah well, with how you came out of hyperspace, I'm amazed we weren't flying in the hallways of this ship."

"Eh, next time."

Within the interior of the ship itself, several droids walked down a path on patrol. They passed by a circular piping of some kind, entirely missing the blue lightsaber that came out from within and cut a circle out for Anakin Skywalker and Sam Wilson to enter.

Stepping out into the corridor, Anakin saw the droids round about a corner and disappear out of sight.

"Coast is clear, Rex." Anakin gestured for Rex and the rest of the Clones to come up out of the pipe.

"Copy that, sir." Rex said, guns out. Fives, Echo, Cutup, Hevy and Kix all surrounded their means of escape with Anakin and Sam gazing down the hallway where the droids came from.

"Stay here and guard the entrance. This may be our only way out." Anakin ordered.

Sam looked at the surrounding hallways and soon voiced the question floating in his and Skywalker's mind. "Where do you think Koth and Scott are at?"

Anakin held up his wrist. "I got a lock on Koth. He's being kept on the bridge of the ship right now. What about Scott's Avenger ID?"

"Nothing on that end." Sam said, pulling out his own.

"And Hope?"

As if the universe wanted to answer the question… something small flew into the current hallway before zipping straight towards the Republic rescue team.

"Sam!" Hope said aloud in absolute relief as she grew to full size in front of them.

"Hope!" Sam exclaimed, the two Avengers quickly embracing.

"Anakin! Rex, Domino." Hope saw the others, expression beaming. "I'm glad to see you all come to the rescue here."

"It's good to see you're safe and sound, Hope." Anakin said with a grin as he patted her shoulder.

"Miss Van Dyne." Rex and the other Clones nodded their heads respectfully.

"Ah, come off it guys." Hope scoffed with an appreciative grin at the clones. "I think we're well past that point."

"I'm glad you're alright, Hope." Sam said. "But where's Scott?"

At the mention of her boyfriend, Hope's expression darkened slightly. "He's being held in a separate holding cell by one of those Acolytes by that Dooku guy. They took his suit and have it elsewhere on the ship. No doubt hoping to study and reverse engineer my father's technology."

"Which Acolyte are we talkin'?"

"Chezo."

"The one you and Nat encountered on Neimoidia?" Sam asked for confirmation with Hope nodding.

"An entire army of droids and Seppies with your abilities?" Anakin muttered, not liking the idea at all.

"I know where the suit is being kept as well." Hope said.

"Then we're gonna need three teams." Anakin declared, looking to Rex. "Captains take two men with you to retrieve that suit. We can't have that falling into enemy hands."

"Echo, Cutup, you're with me." Rex said. "Hevy, Fives, keep our exit safe. Kix, go with Lieutenant Wilson."

"Yes sir!"

"Where to, Miss Va- Hope." Rex corrected himself.

She walked up to the captain, holding up her ID card before tapping Rex's writ comms.

"There, the location has been locked in." Hope stated with Rex nodding in appreciation.

"Hope." Sam spoke up. "You go with Anakin and get Koth back here. I'll get Scott out from his cell."

Hope blinked at that statement. "Are you sure about that, Sam? What if you encounter Chezo?"

"We'll take care of her if we run into her." Sam said confidently.

She wanted to object but Anakin placed a hand upon her shoulder making her turn to him.

"He'll be fine." Anakin assured, with Hope not responding for a moment until she nodded.

With the teams formed and separated, they rushed off to their respective destinations.

Captain Rex ran down a long corridor towards his destination with Echo and Cutup right behind him. They knew that they were inside an enemy ship and whilst a more subtle and quieter approach would be preferable, the amount of noise three separate groups were about to make…

Well, discretion is advised by this point.

"So what's the plan, Captain?" Cutup asked as they were running towards their objective.

Rex didn't respond at first, mulling over his thoughts on their plan of retrieval. This was a very important piece of technology and if the Seppies were to get away with it, one of the advantages the Republic had been enjoying would be in enemy hands. To say that the changing tide of battle being drastic would be underselling it.

The Captain of the 501st momentarily glanced back to his two brothers before pulling out a small disk with a blue glowing center.

"If all things go south, we have our equalizer." Rex said confidently, tossing the disk up in the air in order to grab it and held onto it tightly.

"Just don't waste it… or lose it, for that matter."

"What do you take me for?" Rex shot back though he grinned.

He recalled the time when Scott had handed him one of his unique growing and shrinking disks as he stated that it was to be used in case of emergencies.

Whether or not this qualifies as one remains to be seen.

Elsewhere on the ship, Sam Wilson and Clone medic Kix were running down their own set of hallways towards the holding cells of this ship.

Unlike their other companions that were on this retrieval operation, Falcon and Kix had encountered resistance upon arrival at the detention area.

Sam had one wing out and around him as a defensive barrier as he and Kix slowly made their way down the hall to Scott's cell whilst shooting down multiple droids.

They were close. Just one more corner to turn and they would probably find him.

Kix was ready to round about onto the next corridor yet Sam held his arm out as a silent message to wait and held up his tactical wrist-pad. Pressing down on the top button, Sam's bird shaped drone Redwing was deployed.

Floating in front of the next hallway for a brief moment it returned back to Sam, hovering between him and Kix.

Sam had Redwing captured a quick picture of the defenses in the hallways and saw them through his goggles.

"Ten B1's and five Supers with two Magnaguards." Sam said with Kix tightening his hold on his rifle.

"So what do we do?" Kix inquired.

Falcon instead punched in a few commands for Redwing while preparing two missiles from his wingsuit.

"Rush in." Sam stated. "Redwing will cause our diversion and I'll handle the two Magnaguards. You focus your fire on the rest of the droids. I'll be right by your side."

Kix only nodded, managing to get on the opposite wall without being detected by the droids and awaited Sam's signal.

There was a moment of silence between the two before Redwing was sent flying in. it began firing rapidly at the droids all of whom spotted it and were rattled by its bullets.

Though the droids were mostly resistant to slug throwers, one B1 droid in particular had the unfortunate luck of having had several shots to the neck.

The force of the bullets were enough to disjoint the head and make it fall off leading to the droids now raising their weapons in the direction of Redwing.

Sam nodded at Kix and the two ran in, weapons raised and firing everything they had.

Falcon unleashed his two missiles at the Magnaguards, catching one at full force whilst the other only got a brunt of the damage.

Not to be deterred, Sam yelled out for Kix to duck and with the Clone going down to the ground.

Sam was thankful that this hallway was large enough to unfurl one of his wings to their full length which allowed him to slice right through the Magnaguards that was still standing. In the ensuing swing, Sam made sure to take out several other droids with Kix shooting down the rest.

With the coast clear, Sam helped Kix up, the two exchanging nods with one another and moved to the cell that's supposed to be containing Scott.

The door to the cell opened up to reveal…

"Hey Sam. How's it hanging?"

Sam Wilson could only stare in utter bewilderment at the sight of his friend and comrade being suspended in the air by some sort of energy binds with him only being in his briefs.

A moment later, Sam began guffawing aloud with Scott giving him a flat look.

"Yeah, yeah laugh it up bird person." Scott griped, with Sam and Kix walking over to him. "That crazy Chezo chick was the one who stripped me down like this and was planning to do some weird shit to me."

"You know, most people would kill to be in your position right now."

"Oh ha ha, Sam. Very funny. Now get me out before Catherine Trammel comes back."

"Who-"

"We'll tell you about it later." Sam cut off the 501st medic. "Kix, help me with this."

"I've got him sir."

The two freed Scott from his bindings with the Clone medic injecting some Bacta into Scott's neck while making quick patch ups and Bacta sprays over his body.

"Kix was it?" Scott groaned. "You're a lifesaver."

"Let's get moving." Sam said. "No doubt more droids would be on their way here right about now."

"Where's my suit?" Scott asked.

"Captain Rex, Cutup and Echo are taking care of that." Kix informed the Avenger.

"Ah man." Scott bemoaned. "I'm glad that you guys are going to retrieve it but I basically have to run around an enemy ship in my underwear."

"Could be worse." Sam said, having walked over to grab one of the blasters of the B1's and held it out for Scott. "You could be naked."

"I might as well be at this point."

While the three separate retrieval operations were being conducted within Grievous' ship, the corvette that Obi-wan had occupied had been brought up to the side of the confederate vessel for boarding.

This was to be expected with Kenobi and Cody readying the 212th for their defense against the Droid General.

"Remember, we need to keep Grievous on this ship until General Skywalker is clear." Kenobi ordered the surrounding clones, nearing where Grievous will board them.

Getting into positions, heard a large clunking sound, signaling the Separatist ship has docked with theirs. It wasn't long after when four lightsaber points appeared on the wall as they moved in a circular motion. In a moment's notice, the newly cut piece of steel was pushed forward.

"Look out!" Cried out one of the clones as they all dived out of the way from getting hit.

This action proved to be a bit of a distraction for the Republic troopers as a contingent of Commando Droids came out from the newly made hole and started firing upon the clones. With Kenobi jumping into support, deflecting and reflecting much of the enemy fire. As this occurred, several Magnaguards entered the ship with Grievous following right behind them.

Spotting the infamous Jedi General further down the hallway, Grievous pulled out a pair of lightsabers and activated them.

"Kenobi." Came the cyborg's gruntal growl.

Inside of the Separatist ship, Anakin and Hope were running towards the bridge as they hadn't come across any droids just yet.

"How we doing?" Hope asked the Jedi, who held up his wrist-com to keep track of Koth's location.

"We are close."

Rounding the corner, the pair came across a half dozen droids coming their way. Without hesitation, they whipped out their respective weapons and went to work.

Back on the Republic ship, Kenobi was surrounded by the Magnaguards as he was currently staring down the Separatist general.

"So, Kenobi, is everything going as planned?"

"That depends on your point of view, General."

Several Magnaguards lashed out with their electro staffs, prompting the Jedi to twirl around and block the strikes before retaliating in his own manner. When one droid thrusted it's weapon, Kenobi avoided the blow as it struck another droid square in the chest. As it spasmed from the ongoing currents running through its system, Obi-wan cleaved through it.

"You wouldn't come here without a plan, and you wouldn't come alone." Grievous pointed out. "Tell me, do you think Skywalker has rescued Master Koth yet? Or that Avenger comrade of yours?"

On the bridge of the Separatist ship, the Tactical Droid was observing the fight occurring outside. It was at a stalemate of sorts with neither force gaining any real ground, as it were. The CIS forces were doing everything they can to take down the Republic forces. Said party could've ended this bout sooner, given the numbers they have. Yet chose not to, given the current circumstances on who exactly was being kept on this ship. One such person was not far away from the Tactical Droid. Another was elsewhere in the prison block.

The doors leading into the bridge parted ways as several pieces of dismembered droids slid across the floor before stopping right behind the Tactical Droid. Turning around, it saw General Skywalker of the Jedi Order and Wasp of the Avengers entering the area.

"Surprise." Anakin said aloud.

"Not exactly."

Upon the Tactical Droid speaking this, about a dozen Commando Droids leaped up from the lower floor and landed around the two Republic fighters with their weapons trained right at them.

"Well, at least they aren't destroyer droids." Anakin remarked.

"Yes, at least they aren't that." Said a female voice that made Wasp tense up.

From the lower floor of the bridge, the Sith Acolyte Chezo Niva walked up the ramp, her yellow eyes glaring at the Avenger in particular.

"We've been expecting you."

"The general's description of your tactics have been 100% accurate today." Spoke the Tactical Droid. "Very impressive, even by my standards."

Hope was worried now, her eyes shifting between Koth and Niva.

"I would have thought you'd be guarding Scott with the way you were acting around him." Hope said, making Chezo laugh maniacally.

"Oh you saw that?" Chezo said with a taunting, coy look. "And what? You didn't like my hands all over your boyfriend?"

Wasp's emotions flared, with her expression becoming murderous now with all semblances of fear being disregarded.

"You know, I take it back." Wasp stepped forward; eyes set solely upon the Acolyte. "I'm glad you're here. I was hoping I'd run into you personally and punt your head straight off your shoulders for putting your hands on my man."

Anakin stared at Hope momentarily, being very taken aback by this aggressive version of Hope and even feeling him sweat nervously.

"I'd like to see you try." Chezo said challengingly, igniting her lightsaber.

Meanwhile, Captain Rex, Cutup and Echo were currently blasting away at several droids within the supply room of the ship. It wasn't heavily guarded, most of the droids being B1's with the trio of clones being able to dispatch the droids with relative ease.

"The clankers brought the suit here?" Cutup asked aloud after the last of the droids were taken care of. "Why?"

"Probably thought the suit wouldn't be as important." Echo said with a shrug.

"That doesn't seem right." Cutup countered. "We've seen how crazy the Avengers tech and abilities are. Figured they'd keep it in a more secure location."

"Then we'll take the stroke of luck we'll have." Rex said, opening a crate which indeed contained the "super suit" of one Scott Lang. "Got it."

Quickly grabbing it, Rex folded the suit up as neatly as he could and tucked it under his arm.

"Let's move." Rex said with Echo and Cutup simply nodding silently and following after their captain.

"General Skywalker." Rex said through the comms. "Lieutenant Wilson. Our objective is complete. On route back to the Twilight."

" _Good to hear, Rex."_ Sam replied. " _Got Scott and we're on our way back as well."_

"Any news from the General?" Rex asked.

" _Nothing so far."_

Rex only shook his head. He'd like to think that his general was alright but knowing him, he was in the middle of an intense fight or a comedic one depending on your point of view in rescuing Koth. he just hoped that they could continue this mission without Grievous discovering their presence aboard his ship.

And speaking of Grievous...

Blocking, parrying and avoiding the strikes from both electro staffs and opposing lightsabers, Kenobi was having a bit of difficulty. He was trying to find the means of gaining better ground against his opponents.

"Your plans have come to ruination, Jedi." Grievous taunted.

"I hear a lot of talking, general." Kenobi rebutted, blocking more strikes from the Magnaguards. "But in the final accounting, what does all the talk get you? A futile quest for power, a mutilated body and your place as Dooku's _errand boy_."

"I'm no _errand boy_. And I am not in this war for Dooku's politics. I am the leader of the most powerful droid army the galaxy has ever seen."

"An army with no _loyalty_ , no _spirit_ , just _programming_." Corrected the Jedi as he saw the opportunity.

With a sweep of his legs, he uprooted a Magnaguards off its feet and caused it to tumble. Before it could hit the ground, Obi-wan cleaved it in half before grasping it's electro staff with his other hand. Not losing any momentum, he swung around and stabbed the Separatist weapon into the last Magnaguards, short circuiting it and leaving it out of commission.

"What have you to show for all your _power_?" Questioned the Jedi. "What do you have to _gain_?"

Grievous gave his answer shortly after separating his two arms to make four, which grasped two additional lightsabers before igniting them. "The future. A future where there are no Jedi."

The cyborg general rushed forward with his lightsabers spinning in his grasp. Kenobi quickly blocked a few strikes with his lightsaber and brought up the electro staff to halt the coming blow. It only worked for a little bit as the preferred weapon was destroyed. Before another opposing swing could be properly given, the Jedi leaped over his opponent. The moment he landed, his back was kicked, causing Kenobi to tumble onto the ground.

"The story of Obi-Wan Kenobi ends here."

While the Jedi Master shook his head to get his bearing back, Anakin and Hope remained surrounded by Commando Droids and one Acolyte who had her lightsaber ready.

In that time, the tactical droid had violently electrocuted Koth several times to deter any movements from the two. Anakin moved forward only for Koth to get shocked again.

"One more step and your friend will die." The Tactical Droid said with a mechanical laugh as a means of gloating.

Frowning, Anakin threw his hand out and Force pulled the droid close to him. What the Jedi did not expect was for Chezo to use her own Force Push, accelerating the droid to collide into Anakin.

In an instant, Wasp fired at the two closest Commandos with her upgraded stingers and shrunk down.

The tactical droid that was flung at Anakin was sliced in half upon his recovery, moving to eliminate the other droids.

Chezo moved forward, her eyes on the small speck that was the Wasp and began swinging her lightsaber in several sweeping arcs. Hope weaved around each swing, narrowly avoiding the crimson blade. The last horizontal swing Chezo missed made Hope disengage her wings and fall to the ground.

She quickly grew to full size once more and landed a swift uppercut to the Acolytes jaw.

Though she fell to the ground, Chezo managed to sit back up and unleashed a Force push that sent Hope flying back.

Thankfully, Wasp reflexively shrank back down with her remaining in the air and flying towards Chezo only to be intercepted by a commando droid that had managed to set its sights on her. She evaded the droids sword with Chezo joining in a moment later.

She was now moving around two blades that were intent on killing her, moving in between both at the same time. Since the Commando droid was closer, Wasp flew right up to its head and fired both her stingers which blew two separate holes into the mechanical humanoid's face. It fell a moment later, unmoving.

_***VVVVTZZZZZ*** _

Hope then flinched in the air, looking back to see Anakin holding back Chezo's Lightsaber with his own.

"You got two enemies to pay attention to, Acolyte." Anakin barked out, shoving the saber back and clashing with her several more times.

Wasp then flew forward and zipped up and around Chezo, zapping her repeatedly.

The Acolyte jolted about in pain, gritting her teeth until she saw Anakin spin around to gain momentum with the intent of cleaving her in half.

Shakily, she raised her Lightsaber in time to take the full swing head on. With Anakin's own strength coupled with some enhancements from the Force, Chezo was sent flying back and down to the lower level of the bridge.

She landed hard on the ground and after a second of movement, slumped, unmoving.

With Chezo and the Commando droids now taken care of, Anakin and Hope were around Koth with the former using his lightsaber to disrupt the bindings that held the Zabrak master.

Falling into the arms of Hope, Eeth grunted in pain but managed a subtle pat of thanks to Hope.

"I see you got my message." He said in a strained voice. "Where's Grievous?"

"If everything's gone according to plan, he's on board Obi-Wan's ship." Anakin said

"He's been captured?" Koth asked hopefully.

"If we can cut off his escape, there's a good chance of that." Anakin declared.

"And what of Scott?"

"Sam got him." Hope said. "Now let's get you out of here."

Hope and Anakin both slung an arm around their shoulder and began to depart from the bridge. What they failed to realize was the form of one Sith Acolyte beginning to move.

A moment later, yellow eyes opened with a sinister intention in mind.

With this portion of the mission accomplished for the most part, the last aspect of it was dealing with Grievous.

Suffice to say, Obi-wan was still facing a bit of a snag with how determined the general seemed to be in killing him.

Bringing down his lightsabers, Grievous almost cleaved Obi-wan into several pieces. But the Jedi used the Force to help propel his body away from the killing blow. Landing some feet away, Kenobi had no proper time to get a little breather as he had to jump out of the way from an incoming attack. The opposing lightsabers slashed through many nearby equipment as Obi-wan put in a lot of effort in staying alive against the Jedi killer. Clashing their weapons together, Obi-wan was forced to bend backward, mustering much of his strength so Grievous won't gain any more ground in his personal space.

"Your friends shall die, Kenobi, and you shall soon follow."

"You'd be a fool if you actually believe that." Obi-wan said, re-engaging his enemy with renewed vigor.

Trading the occasional blow and blocking before parrying each swing, the two combatants kept going at it. As he spun around to avoid yet another powered thrust, Obi-wan saw the prone body of the Magnaguard some feet away. Using the Force, he flung the dismembered droid onto Grievous. The blow was surprising, causing the Separatist general to crash right over the chairs of the pilot seats and onto the front window.

About to get back up, Grievous saw Kenobi's blue lightsaber coming close to his face.

"Surrender, general."

"NEVER!"

Swinging his lightsabers, Grievous knocked Obi-wan's weapon away. Instead of continuing their current fight, the cyborg leaped away from the Jedi general and made his escape as he crawled on all four of his limbs.

Obi-wan soon went after him, not wanting the Separatist cyborg to get away yet it was too late as the door before him closed and it appeared Grievous had locked him in.

He shoved his lightsaber into the door while also contacting the rescue squad. "Anakin, Sam. I hope the two of you rescued Master Koth and Scott, because Grievous is headed back to his ship."

On their end, Sam, Scott and Kix linked up with Captain Rex, Cutup and Echo. Having had his suit returned to him, Scott was now suited back up and awaited Anakin and Hope's arrival with Koth supposedly in tow.

Suddenly, the group tensed at the sound of running.

Metal on metal running.

"We've got incoming!" Fives said aloud, blasters drawn with both Avengers getting into prepared stances.

They realized that the clanking sounds of metallic footsteps were coming from one hallway in particular, so they pointed their weapons in that direction primarily.

The metal footsteps grew louder until at last, several lines of Supers rounded on the corner and held up their wrist blasters.

Reflexively, Sam spun round with his back facing the droids. His wings spread out with the suit taking the shots of the blasters.

The Clones used Sam's wings for their cover, firing upon the droids taking out the first few in the front.

Ant-man jumped forward into action, shrinking down and running towards the droids. Using the enhanced strength of his shrunken form, Scott leapt into the air bringing his knees up to his chest.

Upon reaching his first Super battle droid, Scott planted both of his feet upon its ovular head piece. The piece was dented heavily inward, with the droid collapsing upon the ground.

Using the droid as a platform, Scott began jumping about from droid to droid either destroying or disabling them upon every strike. The chaos he sewed in between the droid lines were capitalized by Sam and the Clones with the former recalling his wings.

All six men stood together and unleashed a torrent of non-stop blaster fire that destroyed the rest of the droids.

With the area momentarily secured, the Clones and Avengers checked themselves over and were uninjured for the most part.

Save for Scott who promptly grew back to normal size and slumped against the wall, sliding down to the floor while breathing heavily.

"Scott, you alright?" Sam went over to him, Kix and the other Clones surrounding him.

Ant-man's helmet retracted, revealing a tired Scott Lang with a sheen of sweat upon his forehead.

"I-I'm good." Scott waved off, wiping away some of his sweat. "Guess I shouldn't have jumped into the fire like that after that shock therapy, huh?"

"Jesus man." Sam along with Kix helped him to his feet. "Let's get you to the ship."

Upon hearing that, Scott shook his head and shoved them away.

"Hell no." Scott said vehemently. "I ain't leavin' till Eeth Koth and Hope are back."

He gave the Clones a wry grin. "Don't have to worry about Anakin. Pretty sure he'll force himself back no matter what."

"Scott." Sam's voice was more firm this time. "Look, I know you could still fight but for how long till you can't?"

"Would you ever leave Cap behind?" Scott's question certainly silenced Falcon, the ex-convict looking to the clones. "Or would any of you leave your brothers, General or Ahsoka behind?"

He was met with silence that made him grin shakily.

"Thought so." Scott remarked. "I'll be fine guys."

"If you say so." Sam said unsure but deciding on dropping the matter for the moment. He'll let Hope chew him out.

"Anakin, Hope, what's your status?" Sam said, fingers over his earpiece. "We're waiting on you two and Koth."

The response they got was the sound of Anakin Skywalker sounding a bit strained.

Hearing this, Rex quickly spoke up. "General, is everything alright?"

Over with Anakin, Hope and Koth, the Hero with No Fear was currently dueling with a very determined Acolyte who had apparently recovered quickly.

"Having a bit of trouble on my end." Anakin grunted, holding back a vertical strike.

Hope was behind him with her supporting Koth as they tried to get back to the ship as fast as they could.

"Just let me pass, Jedi." Chezo said with a manic gleam in her eye. "You are not the one I wish to kill."

"Yeah, sorry but can't really allow that." Anakin quipped back, pushing her away and clashing with her several more times. "See, Hope has become a friend of mine and I rather value my friends and would rather see them live a full life then have it cut short by some knockoff Sith wannabe."

Chezo only grinned, striking Anakin's saber with her own with a powerful force enhanced swing. Anakin grit his teeth, stumbling back slightly which was the opportunity Chezo was looking for as she kicked the Jedi in the stomach. He fell to the floor, keeping his lightsaber up yet it was for naught as Chezo ran by him towards Hope and Koth.

"Hope!" Anakin called out to her.

She looked behind her with Koth blearily doing the same and was about to use her stingers just as Chezo jumped forward towards her. However, Chezo seemingly halted in midair struggling to move.

Hope looked past the Mirialan Acolyte to see Anakin with his arm outstretched, using the Force to keep Chezo in place.

Taking the chance Anakin had given her, she fired a disk at Chezo's chest which latched on to her and electrocuted her.

"Come on." Hope called out to Anakin. "We gotta keep moving."

Anakin's brow twitched. "Right, right, it's not like I didn't just save you after getting knocked down at all."

"Oh please, Koth here was tortured." Hope shot back, making Anakin jolt in realization.

"Er, right. Sorry."

"No worries." Koth said with a pained smile. "We'll call it even when I get a nice bed to rest on."

"Working on it, Koth." Hope said, now having both her and Anakin assisting Koth once again.

"Wonder if Obi-wan's managed to catch Grievous yet." Anakin remarked.

Within Obi-wan's ship, currently, the rest of the Clones were still dealing with a small contingent of Droids that remained within the corridors.

With a small number of the 212, Commander Cody was assisting in cleaning up the number of Seppie forces in the nearby hallways. Just when the last of them were piled up, the commander's wrist-com went off.

" _Cody, come in."_

Hearing Kenobi's voice got him to immediately respond back. "Yes, sir."

" _Grievous is headed your way."_

Upon the mention of the droid general, Cody heard a rapid succession of loud clankings coming in closer and closer. And he wasn't the only one as the rest of the 212 were attentive. Whipping out their blasters, they got into position just in time to see Grievous skidding into the hallway they were currently in.

Firing off a volley of blaster shots, the clones did their best to take down Kaleesh cyborg. Yet it was all for naught as the feared Jedi Killer pulled out four lightsabers and ignited them, deflecting the incoming shots. He sped past the clones and still used his lightsabers to give himself some defense.

Upon reaching some distance away from the clones, Grievous contacted a B1 commander droid on his ship. "Open fire on the Republic ship. Target their engines."

" _But, sir, the ships are still attached."_

"It doesn't matter. Prepare all troops for our landing on Saleucami."

Once giving out his order, the Kaleesh cyborg saw the airlock hole he made earlier on his arrival. Once he makes it through there, Grievous can somewhat be in safe territory. But before he could make it to the last leg of the length of reaching it, he was snagged from behind.

For the briefest of moments, he thought it was Kenobi, using the Force to hold him back. That wasn't the case as he felt an electrical shock running through part of his systems with him being roughly tugged back. Stumbling, the feared Jedi Killer took a brief glance behind and saw the 212 clones were tugging on a grappling line with all their might to keep him in place.

It wasn't long before a number of 212 clones broke off from the rest, charged forward and dogpiled on the cyborg general. He roared in fury, whirling around to throw off the clones before using a lightsaber to cut the grappling line. Once freed, the Separatist ran back to the airlock.

Nearing his destination, the Republic ship violently shook as the space vessel was sustaining a lot of damage.

Leaning against the wall for support, Grievous looked to the side and made eye contact with Kenobi. Glaring at his rival, he was briefly tempted to continue their fight, but chose not to as he needed to get off the ship immediately.

Running through the airlock, Grievous could already tell Kenobi and the 212 clones were giving chase as they didn't want to lose track of him.

Making it halfway through the docking tube, the Republic ship shook violently once more. With the tube still connected, it affected it as well as everyone inside fell onto the floor, especially Grievous, due to the connected ship losing its stabilizers.

As the tube tilted downward, Grievous skidded down. When he turned onto his back, he saw Kenobi holding up his lightsaber ready to cut him down once close enough. He would've died then and there if it weren't for him igniting his own lightsabers to block the killing blow. Quickly rising to his feet, Grievous fought back against the Jedi General before the connection tube started shaking once again. In the brief moment of distraction, the Kaleesh cyborg kicked Kenobi away before crawling on all fours and making it to his ship.

Standing up on the other side of the docking tube, Grievous glared at the Jedi. "Until we meet again, Kenobi."

Once done gloating, Grievous ran away as he searched for the nearest escape craft for him to use to get into hyperspace or onto Saleucami's surface.

It was when the Kaleesh cyborg left, the docking tube started breaking away and snapping it's connection with the Republic ship. Kenobi and many 212 clones quickly grasped onto any possible surface they had nearby as the tube opened up to the cold vastness of space. Some clones weren't able to get a good grip as they were sucked out and would drift along and suffer a grueling demise.

Not wanting him and the others to perish, Cody whirled out his grappling gun and fired towards the airlock into the Separatist ship. Once connected with a firm hold, everyone remaining in the docking tube grasped onto the line and climbed their way out. Once the last of them made it out, Cody shut the airlock so everyone can finally get a brief moment of reprieve.

Kenobi was the first to recover and onto his feet. "Hurry. We can still catch him."

"General." Cody halted Obi-wan's coming action. "The others are no doubt finished with their mission. If we go after Grievous now, we'll be trapped on the ship with nowhere else to go."

Knowing the clone commander was right, Kenobi decided to abandon his intention of pursuing the feared Jedi Killer.

"Then we best get moving." Kenobi said onto the remaining 212 clones. "I believe there's a hangar bay nearby. We can take one of the gunships and get out of here. Hopefully with no more casualties."

With the new orders given, the group rushed towards their new destination in mind.

Rounding about a hallway, Anakin, Hope and Koth were greeted by the sight of Sam, Scott and the Clones of the 501st all rushing over to assist them.

"Took you long enough." Sam commented, moving to help Koth.

"We were being chased by a psychotic Sith lady. Cut us some slack." Anakin shot back.

"Like her?" Fives pointed behind them nervously.

Everyone turned behind them to the hallway Hope and Anakin had just come from to see none other than Chezo standing there.

"Oh my God, will you just leave us alone already?" Hope barked out in irritation now.

Chezo only snarled, holding her lightsaber up beside her face.

"You'll just have to kill me if you wish for me to stop."

Sam stepped forward; weapons pointed at her. "Don't tempt us."

The Sith Acolyte ignored the aviator Avenger, instead keeping her eyes on Hope.

"It seems you don't understand the lengths in which I will go in order to get to you." Chezo stated, pointing her saber at Hope.

Hope found herself growling in anger now.

"I would sooo~ like to have a restraining order placed on her, if that's not too much trouble." Scott muttered out.

"Perhaps we can get Matt and some Senators to help move that along." Anakin jotted in.

Chezo suddenly cackled loudly, unnerving the group before her as she stared at Hope before looking back to the clones.

With a grin, she threw her hand out and with the Force pulled them towards her. The Clones all collided with the Avengers and Jedi in front of them sending them all stumbling down to the ground.

With Hope landing right before Chezo. She cried out as the Acolyte stepped on her hand, preventing her from instinctively shrinking.

The Avenger looked up in time to see Niva with her lightsaber over her head, crazed smile in place.

"Say goodbye Aveng-OOF."

What Hope did not expect was Eeth Koth tackling Chezo with all his might, some of his horns digging into the Mirialans chin and face.

Chezo cried out in pain, shoving Koth's face away as she reached up to her own face.

"You Jedi _filth."_ Chezo snarled murderously, seizing Koth by the throat via the Force and without hesitating, plunged her saber right through the Jedi Master chest.

The corridor froze, with the Clones, sole Jedi and three Avengers staring in shock at what they had just witnessed.

"KOTH!" Scott yelled out, rushing to him.

"NOOOO!" Wasp cried out, glaring daggers at Chezo. "You fucking bitch!"

Wasp immediately shrank down, flying straight at Chezo at full speed and delivered a flying drop kick to the Acolytes gut which sent her careening back.

Though she was now injured heavily, Chezo still had the wherewithal to throw out another force push just in front of her.

Though it was broad, the push was enough to disrupt Wasp's flight path.

Scrambling to her feet, Chezo ran as fast as she was able to with Wasp ready to pursue when Scott called out to her.

"Hope, stop!"

She turned back with her expression falling at the sight of Koth's body being held up by Scott.

Flying over to them, she turned back to her normal size with her helmet retracting back to reveal tears forming out of the corner of her eyes.

"Hang in there Eeth, we'll get you to-"

She was cut off by Koth grasping her hand and giving her a calming smile.

"Worry not nor weep for my death, Hope." Koth said softly. "Though our time together may have been brief, we fought together and won together. In that time, I saw how important you, Scott and _all_ the Avengers will be to the galaxy. The Jedi are lucky to have you as friends."

His eyes trailed over to Anakin and the Clones and let out a strained cough yet continued smiling all the same.

"And of course, our fool hardy Skywalker and our fearless Clones." He said cheerfully. "I know the Galaxy is in good hands."

Anakin said nothing, only gritting his teeth and tightening his fists. But it was only brief as he nodded towards the dying Jedi Master.

Koth nodded his head before his eyes closed, body slumping, unmoving.

There were no words exchanged, nothing said. Only the group staring down at the body of Eeth Koth.

Scott and Hope shared a look with each other, mournful and filled with remorse.

"Come on. We need to get back to the Twilight." Sam said before grasping onto Koth's arms. "Can I get some help here?"

Some of the present clones were quick to respond to Sam's request as they helped carry the recently deceased. Even Anakin joined in, using the Force to help out on the burden.

It felt like a long time for the group, even though it was only a matter of minutes, for them all to get back into the Twilight. When everyone was ready and secure, the Republic ship detached itself from the Separatist vessel.

Piloting their way back to one of the Republic ships, Anakin had to contact Kenobi on recent events.

It wasn't long before his former Master answered. _"What is it, Anakin? I just received word from Admiral Yularen that several crafts from Grievous' ship detached and ended up on Saleucami's surface."_

"Master Kenobi?" Anakin spoke with a somber tone. "We got Scott and Hope out of Grievous' ship."

" _That's good to hear, Anakin."_ Obi-wan said with approval though it was a second later that he took note of how his former Padawan's tone. And how there was one other individual excluded from his report. _"What happened to Master Koth?"_

"Dead." Anakin said with a bitter tone. "The Sith Acolyte Chezo Niva was on the ship. She killed him just as we were about to make it out of there."

" _I… see…"_ Kenobi muttered out. _"I'm sorry to hear of this. He was a good friend."_

"That he was." Anakin simply said. "We have him with us if you're wondering. Can't just leave him back there."

" _Then at least we can give him a proper burial when we return to Coruscant."_

"That we can." Anakin said, tightening his hands around his controls.

"Anyways, we need to get to the medical frigate. Chezo did a number on Scott before Sam got to him."

" _Of course."_ Kenobi said. _"Right now, we're preparing to get onto Saleucami's surface to hopefully capture Grievous."_

The rescue team landed within one of the venators of the Republic fleet, medical staff awaiting their arrival.

Once they landed, the back ramp opened with Scott being helped down by Kix and Hope.

"We got him." Several Clone medics took Scott into their own hands, having a stretcher ready for him as they carried him away with Hope remaining by his side.

"We took a big risk rescuing Scott… and Koth." Sam stated, crossing his arms with his head down in defeat.

"This is a war." Kenobi reminded with a grim tone. "These types of days will happen whether we like it or not."

"I know, I know." Sam waved off. He felt a shoulder on his shoulder, looking to Anakin who gave him an understanding look.

"It's hard to accept losses like this." Said Skywalker.

Nodding his head in appreciation, Falcon looked back to Obi-wan.

"You said that Yularen saw a few ships headed down to the planet, right?" Sam asked with Kenobi nodding.

"Yes, several tanks and landing parties have been prepared."

"Then count me in to join with ya."

"Me too."

"No Anakin." Obi-wan rejected. "You're going to be needed up here to direct the space battle. Sam and I will pursue Grievous."

"There could be a number of sites to choose from." Anakin said. "Are you sure you want to handle this by yourselves."

"We'll manage, Anakin." Obi-wan stated with a small smile.

"We'll get him." Sam said with a determined expression. "We'll do it for Koth and all the Jedi and Clones Grievous has killed."

"Then good luck to ya, Falcon."

"We'll need it, Skyguy."

"I'll allow that… just this once." Anakin said, walking away as Sam and Obi-Wan turned to the AT-TE tanks that were being prepared.

"Let's get that metallic bastard."

"Not how I would say it, but yes, let's."

**Alright, so, this one took a bit longer to come out from the usual weekly/bi-weekly schedule but needed some time to slow down after having updated this story so frequently the past 6 months. Jebest and I have been sort of lucky with this quarantine and such essentially giving us A LOT of time to work on this as well as other stories and all.**

**Jebest4781: Work's been quite drainful for me as of late and with me wanting to get back into some old stories have been preoccupying my thoughts on what free time I have.**

**FMW: Then again, if I don't have a job, I myself get antsy so thankfully I got myself another job recently with better pay and will be starting very soon. And to add on to what J said, I've also been getting back into some neglected stories as well as working on Spirit Unto Dawn with BulletStormX who has recently released a spinoff story that focuses on untold stories within Infinite Wars that will not be able to be told in this story. There will be references within the story that allude to what's going on in the spin off. Aside from that, there's also the stories I intend on helping Jeb out with whenever I can so I'll be having my hands full again very soon.**

**So… yeah, Koth is dead and Chezo killed him.**

**And mind you, there's still more divergence to come.**

**We're just getting started people.**

**Rate Read and Review and as Always Have Nice Day.**


	43. Deserter

**Rate Read and Review and as Always Have Nice Day.**

Avengers Infinite Wars Chapter 43: Deserter

Saleucami.

An outer rim world that not many had even brought up in the conversation of the war reaching the planet.

Then again, there's a lot of false assumptions going around.

General Grievous had lured the Republic here after the capture of the late Eeth Koth and Avengers Ant-Man and the Wasp.

They were pursued here, engaging in a fierce naval battle which transitioned into Anakin, Sam, Rex and Domino Squad infiltrating Grievous' ship to rescue their comrades.

Unfortunately, successful as they were initially, the crazed Acolyte of Chezo Niva snatched a devastating victory from the Republic with her murdering of Koth.

Now, after that unfortunate tragedy, both Obi-wan Kenobi and Sam Wilson were determined to capture the Separatists insane Droid general and bring him into justice. Much as they would enjoy having Chezo in a cell as well, Grievous was still the priority now above all else.

Currently, several Venators and Acclimators were descending down to the planet's surface while one droid General exited his escape pod.

Around him was a retinue of B1 battle droids.

"We must find a way off this planet before they find us." Spoke the cyborg general. He then looked overhead and saw a Republic cruiser flying through the air. "Kenobi… We need to hurry and find an escape pod."

Landing their cruiser a good number of miles away from Grievous' party, a ramp was drawn out and releasing many smaller Republic vehicles. They flooded out with the clone forces having to set things up while the rest got ready to search for the Separatist leader.

Multiple AT-RT's, AT-TE's and speeders were deployed out with Obi-wan and Sam leading the troops.

"Instead of scattering our troops looking for all the escape pods, we shall head towards the wreckage of the landing transport first."

"Of course, General." Rex said.

"Cody, divvy up the men." Kenobi said, turning to his second in command. "There must be at least one escape pod. Send a secondary party to search for it."

"Yes sir."

Sam rolled his shoulders as the troops began their march. "If you don't mind me guys, I'm gonna do some recon of my own."

"By all means." Kenobi gestured forward, Sam running forward thrusting his elbows out then his arms out wide with his wings popping out his suit.

Taking to the air, Sam flew above the troops, going forth while deploying Red Wing for a secondary set of eyes.

Some of the clones looked up at him with a sense of awe and wanting.

While they had jetpacks there was just a slight cool factor with having literal wings. Mechanical as they may be, it was still pretty cool.

"Is it wrong that I want one of my own?" Rex remarked questioningly.

Kenobi just gave the Clone Captain an amused look as both he and the rest of the Clones began their trek across the planet to find the wayward Droid General.

And speaking of the wayward general...

The battle droids had scrounged out whatever supplies that were within the escape pod whilst General Grievous was thinking of what to do next.

"Contact the fleet." Grievous barked out to a droid within the escape pod they crashed landed in.

"Sir, our transmitter is destroyed." Spoke a B-1 droid. "There is only one escape pod that survived."

"We must get there as quickly as possible. Let's hope the transmitter is still intact." Said Grievous before barking out an order. "Now find me some transportation."

As this was underway, the Republic forces continued their march across Saleucami.

Atop one of the AT-TE's, Kenobi stood with scopes in hand as he surveyed the terrain.

He heard the occasional sound of thrusters above him, looking up to see Sam flying about in the air.

"Sam, have you found anything up there?" Obi-wan asked through their comms.

Up in the air, Sam hovered in place for a moment as he waited for the return of Red Wing.

The small bird-like drone flew over to its owner, settling itself back into the back of the wingsuit.

"Nothing on my end." Sam announced. "Found an escape pod scrapped and destroyed. Lot of the terrain was wrecked. Pod must have had a bad landing."

The Jedi Master hummed aloud to himself.

"General Kenobi!"

Obi-wan looked down from the AT-TE to see Captain Rex riding in on a speeder.

"Sir, the cruiser returned to orbit." Rex reported in. "Any sign of Grievous?"

The Jedi frowned momentarily, looking back through his scopes for a few moments until...

"I believe we've found his ship." Kenobi announced. "Sam?"

" _Yeah I see it."_

All the while...

Riding on top of one of the indigenous wildlife on this planet, Grievous was overhearing many of the surrounding droids voicing their complaints. It was truly annoying.

"Power low."

"Need to Shut down."

"I can't go on."

"Sir, we need to get our power recharged."

"Not this again! How could your power cells be so depleted?" Grievous asked with an aggravated tone.

"You would not let us ride on one of those creatures with you, sir. If you would allow us to let us close for-WHAAA!"

The B-1 droid was silenced with a swing of Grievous' lightsaber, bisecting the droid rather quickly.

"Anyone else?" Threatened the general.

The droids didn't voice any more complaints as neither of them wanted to risk being destroyed.

"That's what I thought." He said, deactivating his lightsaber. "Now let's find that pod."

The droids resumed their trek with their temperamental general.

Meanwhile, the Republic forces arrived at the crashed ship of Grievous trying to find anything of use.

The Clones were either lifting up or sifting through the debris of the ship, finding nothing but scrapped droids that were littered throughout the area.

Atop the ship, Cody, Rex, Obi-wan and Sam were going about their own investigations atop the ship.

"Thermal housing intakes are still warm." Cody announced from the area he was checking over. "This couldn't have happened too long ago."

"The crew compartment's almost entirely destroyed." Rex said, walking up to the Jedi General.

"We'll split into teams. Rex, take Jesse, Hardcase and Kix and search those wetlands." Obi-wan instructed.

"Yes, sir." Rex said, looking back to Jessie, gesturing his head over to several speeders that were nearby.

"Cody, you, Crys, Sam and I will pick it up from here. And, Rex, if you get a visual on Grievous, contact us before you engage." Kenobi added with Rex simply nodding.

"Needed to make sure of that little tidbit, huh?" Sam asked.

"Rex is a smart man." Kenobi stated. "But let's not forget who his general is."

"Hey, us Avengers are pretty reckless ourselves; you know." Sam said. "And you're no saint yourself, Obi-Wan."

Kenobi only gave him a wry look, though a small grin was present while Cody chuckled softly to himself.

Waxer and Boil, who were investigating the droid wreckage with Crys, were kicking around scrapped droids with Boil huffing in annoyance.

"How're we supposed to get anything out of these clankers?" Boil asked aloud with Crys nodding in agreement as he lifted up the upper half of a B1 droid.

"These droids are too gone to give us any good intel." Crys announced, tossing it aside.

"There's gotta be something around here." Sam said, looking around. "Ship's still intact, all things considered."

"Nothing so far, lieutenant." Clone Trooper Crys said apologetically.

Waxer glanced over to an escape pod nearby with a cracked glass window and walked over to it.

Peering inside the pod, he spotted a droid that was still full intact.

"Here's one!" He announced, having the others gather around him.

"Sweet." Sam said, patting Waxer upon the shoulder. "Nice work man."

"Let's load the droid in the tank." Obi-wan said, placing his hand upon the glass casing. With a quick application of the force, the glass shattered and the hatch door fell open. "We'll inspect it on the go."

Over with Rex, he led his small squad of clones as they sped through the wetlands of Saleucami.

Their formation was a loose diamond shape, Rex at the head, Jesse and Hardcase close behind on his sides with Kix at the back being the medic.

"Think we'll find anything out here?" Jesse asked.

"Don't know." Rex said. "Place is a backwater planet. Not much to be found here."

As they rode forward, the troops were unaware of the two Commando droids up ahead hiding behind a small hill.

One had a sniper rifle while the other utilized scopes, acting as a spotter.

The one with the sniper rifle focused upon Rex with the scopes Commando advising him on when to shoot.

Once within range…

_***DRRRR*** _

Rex was suddenly struck by a blaster bolt across the chest, being flung back from his speeder and landing hard upon the ground.

"Protect the captain!" Jesse quickly ordered with Kix veering about to return to their captain whilst Hardcase joined Jesse in pursuing the two droids that shot Rex.

Though they sprinted as fast as their mechanical bodies were able to perform, Jesse and Hardcase were already upon the two shooting them down quickly.

Stopping at the down droids, Jesse saw what they were.

"Commando droids." he said grimly.

"Think the head clanker is nearby then?" Hardcase asked.

Before they could discuss this matter any further, Kix called them over.

"Jesse, you better get back here." He said in a serious tone, checking over their down Captain.

Back with Obi-wan, he was within an AT-TE tank with Cody and Crys looking over data they were receiving from the droid.

Sam had opted to remain outside with the troops, occasionally taking to the air to scout ahead or just converse with some of the Clones.

"What do you have?" Obi-wan asked, standing behind Cody and Crys.

"We've broken the access codes and powered up the droid's guidance system." Crys informed the general.

"According to its logs, he fired the emergency thrusters on the escape pod to avoid a mid-air collision." Cody added, holding up his datapad to Obi-wan.

"Collision with what?" Kenobi asked.

"Another escape pod." Crys stated.

"There was no time to correct for the steeper glide path, which is why this droid's pod crashed." Cody said.

"Can you pinpoint the landing zone for the other pod?"

"I can put us within two to three klicks of it, sir." Cody said with confidence.

With a satisfied smirk, Obi-wan nodded.

"Alert the men, we've picked up the scent."

As the 212th and 501st had their stroke of luck, three other clones surrounded one fallen Captain Rex as the medic of the group finished his assessment of the injuries.

"How bad?" Jessie asked with concern.

"Pretty bad. I need to remove his armor to see the full extent of the damage." Kix stated in complete seriousness.

"Those snipers might have called for backup." Hardcase said, looking around in case this may prove to be true. "Unless we want to start getting picked off one by one, we should find better cover first."

While nodding, Jesse looked up to see several quadrupedal native creatures nearby.

"They seem… awfully close to us." Kix noted.

"Most animals would flee on… sight…" Jesse squinted at the creatures. "Wait a minute… Those critters are domesticated."

"Sir?" Hardcase said in confusion.

"I think we're on farmland and where there's a farm… there's usually a farmer." Jesse declared. "Let's find his homestead."

"How do you know that?" Hardcase asked.

"Simple brother." Jesse remarked with a sly tone. "Where you think with your blaster like Hevy, I usually keep myself busy with finding things that may be useful for us."

"Oh, so the one time you read up on farming it turned out to be useful." Hardcase shot back jokingly.

"I'll have you know I've always been interested in farming." Jesse countered with a wag of his finger. "Seems like a decent life after all this blows over."

Pulling out a foldable stretcher, they placed Rex upon it and attached it to Kix's speeder before they trailed down in the direction where most of the quadrupedal animals seemed to be coming from.

Lo and behold, crops were seen with a house and barn nearby.

The moment they came to a stop, the front door to the home burst open to reveal a pink-skinned Twi'lek woman pointing a sniper rifle right at them.

"We don't want any trouble here." Spoke the farmer.

"Easy with that weapon, ma'am." Jesse said. "We're here as friends."

When the clones removed their helmets, the farmer lingered on her gaze. "State your business." She said, leveling her rifle at Jesse.

"Our captain's been hurt. We need-"

"I'm no doctor. So just-"

"We have a medic, ma'am." Jesse said placatingly. "We just need a place to tend him overnight."

Before the Twi'lek could respond…

"Mommy, who's-"

"Get back inside, both of you." She said to two young children that came out from the house.

"Oh, mom!" both said with defeat, hanging their heads as they went back inside.

Relenting, she gestured over to the barn with her rifle.

"Look, there are some benches out back in the barn. It's the best I can do."

"That'll be fine, ma'am. Thank you." Jesse said with a pleasant smile.

They quickly got their Captain into the barn, getting the top of his armor off of him.

Setting him down on the bench, Kix went to work applying Bacta upon Rex's back and the area where he got struck.

As he finished applying the patch over the wound, Rex came to.

"What? Wh-What happened?" Rex asked groggily.

"Commando droids took a potshot that would've gone straight through your heart had it been two inches to the left." Hardcase stated, with Kix placing a hand on his shoulder to make sure Rex remained lying down.

"I… I can't move my arm." Rex said in worry.

"You have some nerve damage." Kix said.

"Understood." Rex groaned, rolling onto his side. "Now patch me up and let's get on with it."

"Sir, you're in no condition. It will heal, but it'll take time." Kix said with a firm tone.

"We're getting underway Kix. That's an order." Rex said in a voice that was strained.

"Sir, as the team medic when it comes to the health of the men, including you, I outrank everyone." Kix said plainly with a flat look. "So~ I respectfully order you, sir, to get some-"

There was a light cough, signaling the Twi'leks appearance in the barn with a plate full of fruit in her grasp. "Excuse me… If there's not enough…"

"That's plenty. Thank you, uh…" Jesse said politely.

"Suu." Suddenly a hover ball came zooming into the barn with her daughter rushing in. "I told you to stay in the house."

"I couldn't help it, mom. It got away." the young girl said before stopping at the Clone Captain.

The daughter looked at Rex, making the captain draw in a curious expression.

"What?" Rex asked in slight discomfort.

"You look like my daddy." The Twi'lek girl said cheerfully.

"Shaeeah. Don't bother the soldier." Suu reprimanded her daughter. "Now get inside with your brother."

"Yes, mom." Shaeeah said with a small slouch in her form as she left the barn.

"My husband is away delivering our first harvest. Do you require anything else?" Suu asked with a more kind tone in comparison to her earlier hostile introduction.

"No. Thank you, Suu." Jesse said with a nod.

As Jesse placed the bowl of food next to Rex, taking some for himself, Kix and Hardcase, the medic of the group placed one of the Captain's blaster pistols near his hand.

"Resume the search without me." Rex ordered. "Jesse, you're in command. I'll be fine."

The others nodded, leaving Suu's farm as Rex did his best to get a good night's sleep.

_-Scene Cut-_

With the two moons shining down on Saleucami's surface, it gave the Republic forces plenty of light for their present search.

" _Hey, Kenobi."_ Sam called out from the comms. _"I think I found our escape pod."_

"Any sign of Grievous?"

" _Give me a sec."_ After swooping down from the sky, Sam inspected the escape pod and found it empty. _"It's deserted, but I found some tracks going westbound."_

"And where does it lead to?"

" _Probably towards a second escape pod. Only thing I can think of."_

Nodding in understanding, Kenobi activated his wrist-comm in order to contact Anakin's clone captain. "Captain Rex, come in, please."

There was no response at first until…

" _It's Jesse, sir. Rex was injured."_

This made Kenobi pause in surprise and worry. Cody looked over to him, the two locking eyes before Kenobi addressed Jesse.

"What's his condition?"

" _He'll be fine, but we had to find him shelter for the night."_

"Grievous is on the move." Obi-wan informed the Clone. "We're headed to the west. Swing around and we can meet up at the final escape pod. We're going to need all the firepower we can muster."

" _Roger that, sir. We're speeding towards you."_

As the Republic forces regrouped, the Droid General was getting increasingly annoyed by their apparent lack of progress on top of the constant moaning of the droids and their waning power cells.

"We should be there by now!" Grievous said, clearly getting fed up with his situation.

"Weeeeeeee arrrrrrrre, siiiiiiirrrrrr, thheeeeeere. Almoooost." Spoke the one B-1 droid as it was losing power alongside a few others.

"You had better be interpreting the coordinates correctly!" Grievous said aloud in a threatening manner.

Before the one B-1 droid could answer back, it deactivated and went into shutdown mode. Just as it crouched down into a prone position, the B1 closest to it took the datapad out from its hands.

"We're almost there, sir. One klick out. Straight ahead." The droid said until it powered down a moment later.

As the droids toiled away and lost power one by one, one Captain was laying within a barn when one of its residents got slightly curious.

It hovered over the clone, sniffing him with its trunk which led to Rex waking up and the creature licking his cheek several times.

"No, no, no, no, no! UGH!" Rex said, managing to push the creature away though his face was thoroughly slobbered now.

Groaning in annoyance, he wiped the saliva off his face before trying to get back to sleep again. When he did so, he heard something else.

Rex thought it was another farm animal, but it wasn't the case as he heard footsteps drawing closer. It was slow and careful. Not to mention he heard something scrape against the barn's entrance, as if it was being picked up.

As the presence drew near, Rex slowly went towards his blaster. And the moment the new arrival came in, the captain whipped out his weapon. Before firing a shot, it was knocked out of his grasp by a farm tool.

"Who are you?" The man holding his farm tool. Taking a good look of the clone captain, he practically growled. "What are _you_ doing here?"

It took Rex a moment to register just who it was that was holding the farm tool before his face. "You're a clone."

Upon that declaration, the Clone before Rex slumped in defeat. "So… I see the war has finally made its way out here. And I guess I can expect a visit from some droids soon."

"What's your number and rank?" Rex demanded.

"Heh~ well my _name_ is Lawquane." The Clone introduced himself. "Cut Lawquane and I'm just a simple farmer."

"You're a deserter." Rex said in an accusatory manner.

"Well, I like to think I'm merely exercising my freedom to choose: to choose not to kill for a living." Cut rebuked in a calm fashion as he turned the lights on in the barn.

"That is not your choice to make." Rex argued back. "You swore an oath to the Republic. You have a duty."

"I have a duty, you're right." Cut said. "But it's to my family. Does that count or do you still plan to turn me in?"

"Do I have a choice?"

The tension in the air was broken when Shaeeah came rushing into the barn with a big smile on her face. "Daddy! You're home!"

Cut simply crouched down and hugged her tightly.

"Look what I drew for you dad!" Spoke Shaeeah's brother.

Cut chuckled upon seeing his son's drawing, rubbing his head in fond manner. "Well, well, well. That's great Jekk."

"I see you two have met." Suu pointed out from the barn's entrance.

"He looks just like you, daddy. I told him." Shaeeah said with a smile.

"Ah~ you did, huh? I was just making our guest, Captain… What's _your_ number?"

" _Rex_. I also have a name, believe it or not." Said the clone captain, making Cut smirk.

"He was injured. His men brought him here. I told him he could stay just for the night." Suu said.

"Of course he can. We never turn away those in need, do we?" Cut remarked.

"No, we always help anyone we can." Jekk said with his older sister nodding.

"Right." Cut turned to the Captain. "You look hungry, Rex."

"No, I'm fine. I'll stay here."

Rex's arm was seized by Jekk, who presently wore a hopeful look alongside Shaeeah. "Nooo! You have to eat with us. Please."

"Please?" Shaeeah implored with her eyes wide and lower lip pouting.

Cut chuckled at the display. "They're never going to stop till you say yes."

Releasing a sigh, Rex saw he had no proper way out of this. "Alright, I'll join you."

"Yeah!/Yippee!" both kids cried out with victory.

Getting into the Lawquane home, the children were setting up the table as the parents were getting the final touches of dinner taken care of. All the while, Rex sat at the table as he was occasionally being stared at by the children.

As this went on, Rex took better notice of the Twi-lek children's physical appearances. They had the basic Twi'lek physiology, but there were some additions that made it seem they were hybrids. The only thing he could really notice were the skin pigmentation on their faces and parts of their Lekku. The rest would no doubt be seen underneath their clothing.

This made Rex wonder if the clone deserter were their father. But that merely confused him as they seemed too old for that to occur.

He was brought out of his thoughts when Cut came to the table with a small roasted animal. With a fork and knife, the deserter started carving it up and serving it to his family.

"Now continuing from our conversation earlier… You and I may be clones but we're still individuals. You have a _name_ rather than a _number_ , Captain. Why is that?" Cut asked, placing some food upon Rex's plate.

"Perhaps our leaders feel it's a more efficient way of distinguishing us." The Captain rebuked.

"More efficient than a number? Hmm. I doubt the Kaminoans think that way." Cut said with a knowing tone. "Do any of the Jedi refer to you by number?"

Rex was about to argue that only he knew that frankly, he had yet to encounter a Jedi that doesn't refer to him other than his rank and name.

It went on, unaware of Rex's internal dilemma. "Still, a name has to make you feel unique, especially in an army where everyone looks like you and talks like you."

"Actually, I've never really thought about it." Rex shot back.

"Yes you have." Cut waved off.

"How would you know?"

"Because I'm as close to you as any life-form can be." Cut said up close to the clone captain before pulling away. "I've seen how you look at my family, our home." Rex's gaze lingered onto the children. "Come on, Rex. You've thought about what your life could look like if you were to also leave the army, choose the life you want."

"What if _I am_ choosing the life I want?" Rex said, more adamantly now. "What if I'm staying in the army because it's meaningful to me?"

"And how is it meaningful?" Cut questioned.

"Because I'm part of the most pivotal moment in the history of the Republic. If we fail, then our children and their children could be forced to live under an evil I can't well imagine." Rex hammered in with his belief.

"If you were to have children, of course, but that would be against the rules, wouldn't it?" Cut pointed out. "Isn't that what somebody programmed you to believe Captain?"

"No, Cut. It's simply what I believe. It doesn't matter if it's my children or other people's children. Does that meet with your approval?" Rex said bitterly.

"Perfectly. To each his own. That's what I always say." Cut said, grinning at the Captains slightly frustrated mood.

"What does that mean, daddy?" Shaeeah asked.

"It means you can do anything with your life that you want to." Cut said kindly, sharing a look with the Captain who averted his gaze a moment later.

_-Scene Cut-_

With the Republic forces closing into Grievous' position, Kenobi wanted to know where Rex's team was presently at.

"How are you doing, Jesse?" Obi-wan said into his wrist-comm.

" _Closing in, sir. We have a visual."_

"Very well. We'll meet you in the middle."

Over by the Separatist escape pod, Grievous was quite pleased in seeing it. He really wanted to get off this backwater planet and get back to Separatist space.

Hopping off of the animal he rode for hours, Grievous addressed one of the B-1 droids. "Is your transmitter working?"

"I don't know. I haven't used it yet." This earned the droid a smack across the head, making it fall onto the ground. "Alright! I'll check it out!"

"Stupid battle droids." Growled out the general before looking towards the one droid which entered the pod earlier. "Send out a distress signal towards the rest of our fleet. We need to get a shuttle down here immediately."

"Roger, roger. But I must inform you, sir, there are multiple life-forms approaching from the east and west."

This alerted the Separatist general, making him call out to his present forces. "Battle positions!"

It didn't take much time for the Republic AT-RTs, AT-TEs and speeders to arrive on the scene. They started firing upon Grievous' position with practically everything they had in order to capture the cyborg general. The battle droids were quick to respond back, especially one of them pulling out a rocket launcher and firing a round at an AT-TE.

Seeing the projectile coming towards him, he leaped off the transport and landed on the ground before igniting his lightsaber. He charged forward with several other clone troopers alongside him.

One trooper quickly moved to the side when he saw a rocket coming towards him. He was almost hit but called out to an AT-TE in order to shoot down the enemy projectile.

"Tank two! Port side!"

The barrel of the main gun turned with its occupant taking a quick aim. The clone fired off a round and destroyed the projectile before it got close enough.

"Great shot!"

With the blaster fire filling the air, Grievous could only growl out an order. "Turn on those commando droids in the escape pod immediately!" He then voiced the burning question on his mind. "And where is that ship?!"

_-Scene Cut-_

In a corner of the Lawquane home, it's patriarch and his guest were presently playing a game of Dejarik.

"Good move. Very good move." Cut commented on Rex's recent play against him.

"So what was it?"

"What made me decide to leave the corps?" Cut leaned back in his seat and recounted his tale. "Shortly after the battle of Geonosis, our troop transport got caught between two Separatist gunships. They fired at us with everything they had. We crashed. Most of us were either dead or severely injured. So when they started working their way through the wounded, killing us off, I knew there was no hope. I ran. It still haunts me."

"...I'm sorry."

"It's the day I felt my life didn't have any meaning. Everyone I cared about, my team, was gone. I was just another expendable clone waiting for my turn to be slaughtered in a war that made no sense to me. Can you understand that, Rex?"

Rex merely sighed and looked at the deserter solemnly. "I've been in countless battles and lost many brothers. They were my family. My home."

Shaeeah soon came up to her father with her brother not far behind her. "Daddy, we finished our chores. Can we go outside and play?"

"Please?" Jekk pleaded alongside his sibling.

Cut smiled. "Okay, only for a few minutes."

Shaeeah smiled. "Thank you, daddy. Come on, Jekk."

"And keep the house in view." Ordered their father.

"We will." Jekk said back.

"You have wonderful children." Rex said as he saw the Twi'lek kids run out of the house.

Cut saw the look in Rex's gaze and remembered the same one from earlier. "They aren't mine if you're wondering. I merely adopted them when I married their mother."

Rex released a small chuckle. "Yeah, I was thinking about that. Nearly gave me a headache."

Cut nodded as they continued their game.

"So… what do you know about those Avengers?"

Rex blinked. "I beg your pardon?"

"You know who I'm talking about. Who are they?"

"How do you even know about them?" Rex asked. "This is a backwater planet."

"I may not be in the army anymore, but that doesn't mean I keep myself out of the loop." Cut stated. "I make sure to have at least a semblance of the going's on in the rest of the galaxy. And for the past few months, these Avengers have been on the holo-net day in and day out."

Rex was silent, not responding at first prompting Cut to ask.

"So who exactly are they?"

Rex mulled over the question in his mind, thinking hard on the group of individuals that quite frankly have fundamentally changed a great deal of many lives in a short amount of time.

"They're… unique to say the least." Rex started out. "Actually, unique would be underselling it. These guys are some of the craziest, possibly most powerful individuals I have ever seen."

"Really?" Cut leaned in, intrigued by this. "Powerful in what way?"

"Powerful where they can give any Jedi they fight a run for their money." Rex stated making Cut lean back with disbelief.

"Meaning?"

"I've seen them do things that I've yet to see a Jedi pull off." Rex said. "Things that I could barely wrap my mind around."

"Have you… Actually met them?" Cut inquired, now making Rex grin.

"More than that. I've fought alongside them for a few months now." Rex said, making Cut gape.

"What are they like?" The Clone trooper turned farmer asked. "I have been hearing some insane rumors about what they can do."

"What have you heard?"

"Something about one of them having a power armor that's way beyond the pay grade of a Clone could ever get from the Republic. And another in a blue costume where he fights with a shield of all things." Cut listed down making Rex chortle.

"Well that's Colonel Rhodes and Captain Rogers you're talking about." Rex said. "And they're both one man armies by themselves. Most of those Jedi are really after what I've seen them do."

Rex proceeded to regale Lawquane with the astonishing feats that he had borne witness to these past few months.

Captain Rogers skill in combat and leadership qualities while utilizing his shield in almost reality defining manners.

Sam Wilson with his wingsuit, quippy mouth and creative flight based combat style.

Colonel James Rhodes with his overwhelming firepower with his suit.

Natasha Romanoff with her athletic/assassin based fighting prowess.

Then came the more crazier powers that Cut couldn't quite wrap his mind around.

Pietro's super speed, the shrinking and gigantification of Scott and Hope and Peter's astonishing dexterity and web swinging and Matt Murdock's blindness not hindering his capacity to fight in any way. In fact his senses are enhanced to the point of unreal with the amount of precision and accuracy they allow for him to gauge scenarios and environments.

"And from what they told me recently, there's three more out there somewhere in the galaxy."

"Wow." Cut murmured. "Where are they even from?"

"They told me their planet is called Earth."

With that, Cut couldn't help but snort aloud. "They're from a planet called dirt?"

Rex chuckled. "They kinda had similar reactions when they told me and General Skywalker after everything they've been through here. Captain Rogers told us their planet has a lot more people like them. Some are known and some are just waiting to pop up."

"Sounds crazy."

"It is crazy." Rex said. "You should hear half the stuff they talk about."

"You seem close to them." Cut noted making Rex pause in thought.

Was he close to them?

…

He'd like to think so considering how much they have endured together this past year. They certainly treated him with great respect and friendliness.

Hell, ever since they had become directly involved in the war, the number of Clone casualties have plummeted.

While in battles like Geonosis, casualties were high, the Avengers working with the Jedi and the Clones have allowed for more survivors and less deaths.

They had saved the lives of clones on numerous occasions now.

"I think… even though they're not with the Republic I can consider them as… friends."

"Really?"

Rex took another moment before nodding. "Yeah, we're friends. We're comrades."

Cut hummed in thought. "Then… what do you think their opinion would be of me?"

Now that… that was certainly not a question he was expecting.

What would they think about Cut Lawquane?

A Clone Trooper who _chose_ to walk away from a life of war to a life of, well, peace.

"I… I… I'm not sure really." Rex admitted.

He thought of people like Steve, Natasha, Sam and Peter. They, like the rest of the Avengers, got along well with all the Clones for the most part.

They were kind, cordial and very friendly.

They have been introducing their planet's version of entertainment, food, culture and they kept stating how what they had on them thus far was only the tip of the iceberg.

"I think…" Rex said after several moments of silence. "They would respect your choice in the end."

"Really?" Cut was rather surprised by the response.

Rex nodded. "Yes. I figure one or two may not agree with you leaving your duty but finding a new one… they'd accept it."

Cut leaned forward in his seat, thinking carefully on Rex's words as they played more of their game of Dejarik.

If he were to be honest with himself, he'd very much like to meet these Avengers.

…

…

…

"Love is the death of duty."

Rex blinked in confusion upon hearing this coming from Cut's mouth. "Did you just come up with that?"

"No... I heard it from a passing doctor when I first met Suu." Came Cut's response as Rex played his next move. "Thinking about it for so long, I believe the same applies the other way around: Duty being the death of love." The clone then elaborated his thoughts. "Us clones, we're the shield for the Republic. You and the rest of our brothers have always tried to do the right thing, no matter what. You've tried to protect them from the greatest threat they know to their very lives. But once that is over, what will replace that threat? What purpose will we have after this war against the Separatists. It's a terrible thing to think about, but it's also the right thing."

Rex was silent, digesting these words. Before he could do much progress, the farmer continued. "There might come a time when you will come to a decision, Rex. Choosing duty on one hand and for those you care for in the other. What would you do then?"

"Do whatever is right, no matter what." Was Rex's response.

"Well what is a man's duty when compared to what you feel towards your friends, your brothers, your loved ones? We are all flesh and blood; we all do our duty when there's no cost. It comes easier and yet, sooner or later in every man's life there comes a day when it is not easy. A day when he must choose."

Cut made one last move, winning him the game. "I know you think I'm a coward, Rex, but believe me… I'll fight to my last breath to keep up my duty in order to keep my family safe."

Their conversation came to an abrupt end when the three adults heard the children scream, not out of joy but out of fear.

"Jekk! Shaeeah!" Cut and Suu cried out, rushing out of the door to see their children running out of the field and towards their home with a look of utter duress. When they got in close, the parents embraced their children.

"What's wrong?" Asked their father.

"Monsters. They're chasing us." Shaeeah said, pointing towards the field.

"What monsters? Honey, where?" Suu inquired.

"They hatched from the big egg in the field!" Said their daughter.

Curious as to what's going on, Cut grabbed the hanging pair of binoculars by the doorframe. Peering inside, he looked over the field and saw movement. It didn't take long for him to spot the "monsters" his children saw not long ago.

"Ah… That's not good. I count twenty commando droids."

"What are they doing?" Rex inquired.

Instead of answering, Cut spoke to his wife. "Suu, get the kids upstairs."

Getting the idea, Suu moved her children along. "Come. Come, children. Come now."

Moving to the door, he locked and secured it as the clone captain asked the obvious question coming to mind. "What weapons do you have?"

Cut opened up a cupboard and showed only a number of farming equipment, a sniper rifle and a few blasters.

"We can catch them in a crossfire." Rex suggested as he was handed back his blaster.

"No, captain. With respect, you're not in charge here."

Rex sputtered. "I-I can be useful."

"Sir, you're injured. You only have one good arm." Cut pointed out.

"But I can fight."

"So can I." The farmer argued back. "Rex, I need you to be the last line of defense for my family."

After a few quiet seconds, Rex relented and went upstairs. "I can take care of them."

Cut smiled at his clone brother. "Thank you."

The Clone Farmer turned to leave before Rex called out to him.

"Can you make something quickly for me?" Rex asked, surprising the Clone.

"What?" Cut asked in bewilderment.

Upon revealing what it was Rex wanted, Cut's expression was one of bemusement.

The farmer was quick to work. He turned out the lights, double checked in locking the doors and equipped with the weapons he has in the house. He gave Rex what he had requested and once done, he prepared himself for the commando droids to come busting through the doors of his home.

He saw a passing shadow coming through the bottom of the front door. Cut was about to fire before the backdoor was blasted open. The clone farmer whirled around and fired out a headshot for the three commando droids that were coming in. Once they were down for the count, he hugged the wall not far away.

Cut kept his attention sharp, wondering where the droids would show up next.

Suddenly, a metal arm busted through the closed up window, strangling the clone farmer. He was able to break free before pulling out a blaster and delivering a headshot at his assailant.

He then stood back, raising his blaster in several directions to make sure there weren't any more surprises for him.

Cut then trailed over to a hatch at the front door when he heard some creaking sounds.

Squinting his eyes, he carefully moved over to the hatch with his blaster trailing on it while he reached for it with his other hand. The moment the hatch was opened up ever so slightly, it burst open with a number of Commando droids pouring out.

Cut stumbled back as he shot down one Commando droid while the others began firing upon him. Running for cover, the Commando droids appeared to not be operating at peak capacity as the shots they fired were random and uncoordinated.

Unfortunately for Cut, this proved slightly disastrous as one shot at a horizontal wooden pillar that fell apart and right on to the farmer, trapping him beneath it all.

Cut struggled, attempting to reach for his gun but was presently stuck.

He saw the droids walking by him and up the steps.

"Rex, they're coming for you!" Cut yelled out to him.

Captain Rex simply readied himself.

In one hand was his blaster pistol and while he had his other arm in a cast, that did not mean he was defenseless.

With Suu's help, she had strapped a makeshift shield made from a large flat piece of wood Cut managed to get from the barn.

Once the droids appeared at the steps, Rex rushed forward with his shield absorbing the blaster bolts. He fired at the droids, getting two in the head.

The droid closest to him attempted to fire at him yet Rex moved fast enough, using his shield to shove the droid against the wall to immobilize it.

Pressing the barrel of his blaster pistol against the Droids head, it had a gaping hole through it a moment later.

Suddenly, he heard crashing coming from above and the screams from the kids.

Whirling about wildly, Rex saw two more Commando droids had fallen through the roof and were standing in front of the room to Suu and the kids.

Firing quickly at them, he took down one yet the other whirled around and fired at the clone.

Downstairs, Cut was dealing with one of the last few droids present before him. He already broke one by swinging a chair across its body after crushing another from the fallen debris the farmer pried himself free from. Cut was about to fire his blaster, but it was knocked out of his grasp. Retaliating, he punched the droid's head but recoiled from the pain before the droid grasped his head.

In the hallway upstairs, Rex rolled away to give himself space from a Commando droid. In a crouched position, he fired several shots and took down the droid before him. The droid inadvertently fired one last bolt from its weapon which struck the ground between Rex's legs. A moment later, the floor beneath him fell apart.

Rex fell down beside Cut though his blaster unfortunately fell further away from them both.

The last Commando droid immediately grasped Rex's head with Cut attempting to help the Captain only for him to be swatted aside.

Desperately trying to free himself, Rex looked for anything he had in his belt before grasping a circular disk of some kind.

Eyes widening in shock at what he had just found, he grasped it tightly and pulled it out.

'Better make this count.' Rex struggled in thought before managing to pry himself out of the droid's hold, kicking it away and slapping the object into his assailant.

A moment later, the Commando droid literally vanished before his eyes.

Cut, who had seen this, had his jaw drop in complete and utter disbelief.

"Wha-what?" Cut muttered.

Rex massaged his neck and looked down with the Captain blinking a moment later.

The commando droid looked around in utter confusion, not understanding and processing as to what happened. But before anything else could be done, the droid was crushed under Rex's boot.

Exhaling in exhaustion, Rex slumped down to the floor.

"R-Rex." Cut spoke up, face still marred in stunned shock. "What was that just now?"

"A gift from a friend."

"Some friend you have."

Rex merely chuckled, rubbing his sore neck. "You've got no idea."

"D-Daddy? Daddy?" Jekk called out from the hole in the ceiling with his mother and sister behind him.

Cut looked up and smiled at his family. "I'm okay. It's over."

_-Scene Cut-_

As the battle waged on, Grievous cut down a nearby clone trooper. When looking around to hopefully spot Kenobi, his gaze caught onto the Separatist transport shuttle which flew overhead.

"Finally!"

" _General Grievous, sir. We see you below us. Are you ready to depart?"_ Spoke a battle droid over his comms.

Cutting down a few B-1 droids, Kenobi saw the Separatist ship that recently arrived on the scene. Already knowing where this was going, he gave out an order. "Concentrate your fire on that ship."

The AT-TE moved its cannon and opened fire upon the Separatist transport. The shots had missed, but they might get another chance as it was coming back around.

From another side of the battlefield, Jesse, Kix and Hardcase were zooming in on their speeder bikes.

Firing off several rounds from his speeder bike, Jesse noticed the transport and spoke to Kenobi over the comms. "Sir, that ship's coming around for another landing attempt."

Hearing this, Kenobi gave out an order to the clones manning the AT-TE. "Keep firing. Don't let that ship land."

Then the unfortunate happened...

"The guns are overheated!" Cried out a clone trooper.

"Always something." Kenobi muttered out before charging forward. "Cody, Sam, Jesse, cover me."

The Avenger and clones complied as they fired at the surrounding B-1 and Commando droids.

Grievous was distracted in blocking the enemy blaster fire that he didn't notice the Jedi General coming towards him. But a call from one of his droids alerted him.

"General, behind you!"

Grievous whirled around, just in time to block and hold back Kenobi with his lightsaber.

Pushing the Jedi away, the Separatist cyborg lurched forward and swung his lightsabers at his opponent. Both whirled around each other, trying to get the upper hand in their bout. At one point in their confrontation, Grievous unclipped his cloak and threw it at Kenobi, hoping to temporarily cloud his vision. It barely worked as Kenobi sliced through the black/red fabric before blocking an incoming swing from the enemy.

Within the Separatist shuttle, another occupant scoffed at the battle transpiring below.

"Lower the ramp."

The droid pilots complied with the order lowering the ramp while mid-air. The other occupant stepped forward and stood upon the edge of the ramp. She spotted a piece of debris nearby several droids that were going to be taken down in a few moments.

And they would undoubtedly corner the Droid General.

Calling out with the Force, she lifted up several debris and flung it in the direction of the Clones. There were cries of shock and surprise and up in the air, Sam looked about wildly until an unseen "force" shoved him through the air making him spin about for a moment.

The Droid General didn't need much to put together just who it was that was assisting him.

"I had this covered, Chezo!"

"Sure~ whatever you say, Grievous." Spoke the Sith Acolyte. "Now come on. We gotta go."

The cyborg didn't respond back to her as she used the Force to leap into the air, land on the escape pod and leaped once more to get back into the shuttle.

"Forget trying to land!" Grievous ordered the pilot droids, climbing up the escape pod. Reaching the top, he fired off a grappling line, which soon attached onto the hull of the Separatist shuttle. "Fire the engines!"

The Separatist ship lurched forward, quickly snagging Grievous and pulling him into the air. The clones fired upon the Separatist general, who merely batted the shots away with his lightsaber.

"So long, Republic scum!"

Sam went to fly after them. Coming in close, he fired his weapons at the ship. Yet he was thrown off course as he whirled around in the air once again. Stabilizing, he saw Chezo smirking and waving as Grievous climbed into the ship before the ramp closed up. Before he could go after them again, the enemy ship zoomed off farther away than he could possibly manage to reach them.

"I really hate that bitch." Sam growled aloud; fist clenched tightly with rage.

Back on the ground, Kenobi saw what occurred and shook his head with a migraine growing.

"Are you alright, sir?" Cody asked from behind the Jedi general.

"No. We're right back where we started." Obi-wan said with open frustration. "Call the cruisers. See if they can stop that ship."

"Right away, sir."

"And tell them to send someone to pick us up."

Kenobi went back down to the ground with Sam joining him.

"This day… hasn't been the best, has it?" Sam asked glumly.

The Jedi master sighed, placing a friendly hand upon Sam's shoulder.

"No, I can safely say it has not." Obi-wan said.

The night came and went, with the sun of Saleucami rising.

With Captain Rex, the Clone departed from Cut's home some time ago with a simple phrase of his condition possibly hindering his memory from meeting Cut.

He had reunited with General Kenobi and the rest of his brothers and soon after, all departed from the planet to return back to Coruscant.

_-Scene Cut-_

It had been several days since they came back to Coruscant.

During that time, Eeth Koth was given the proper Jedi funeral with the entire Jedi Council in attendance as well as hundreds of other Jedi be they present physically or via holo-transmission.

It was a day of mourning, Scott, Hope and Koth's company of Clones all especially hit hard by the loss.

Koth had essentially sacrificed himself in the end to protect Hope, Scott and his men.

A noble end to a noble Jedi.

Currently, Captain Rex was seated in a small lounge area that he had found himself in with Domino Squad, Anakin, Ahsoka and the Avengers.

Their topic of discussion?

A certain farmer he had met on Saleucami.

"I couldn't turn Cut in. It is my duty to do so, but I just couldn't." Rex said, slightly slouched in his seat.

"And what did you do?" Steve Rogers asked.

"Asides from you this, nothing. Lied that I didn't see him or just slept through what happened at the farm." Rex admitted aloud.

"Really?" Anakin asked in slight surprise.

"Yeah." Rex nodded. "I… knew what I had to do…"

"But seeing what Cut had done and his conviction…" Rhodey said, leaving the statement intentionally unfinished.

Rex understood what he had meant with a nod.

"He's a deserter, but certainly not a coward."

"Well it took you a lot of courage to make that choice, Rex." Anakin said, comforting hand upon his Captain's shoulder.

"How can you be certain, General?" Rex asked.

"We all have a choice Rex." Steve stated. "You have yours and we have ours. Sometimes… we don't always know if we're choosing the right course of action. We just have to deal with it when the time comes."

"How can you be sure of that?" Fives asked.

"I'm not." Steve admitted. "We're not. All we can really do is just take one step at a time and hope this whole galaxy doesn't pull the rug out from under us."

The room was silent for the most part afterwards. There was an odd feeling shared between all present within the room that couldn't be quite described.

All they could do was either sit, stand or lean as they dwelled on the topic of what was really the source of this conversation.

Choice.

**And with that, I'll end it there.**

**But before we do that, a little something more cheerful.**

_-Omake-_

It was a normal, typical day on Coruscant. The sun was shining and everything was pleasant in the capital of the Republic.

In the residence of Padme Amidala (and her secret husband, Anakin), the Naboo senator was packing up her bags in her bedroom as she hummed a pleasant tune.

"You seem cheerful all of a sudden." Anakin said from the doorway. "Did something good happen at the Senate?"

"Sadly, no."

"Then… you lost me." Anakin soon paled a little and became nervous. "Is it our anniversary? Your birthday? If so, I am so sorry. I'll make it up for you."

"Once again no, but glad you're remembering those."

"Then what is it?"

"Got myself some time off." Was Padme's answer, heading towards the closet and picking out a few other articles of clothing. She then answered an unspoken question. "Heading back home to Naboo and spending some time back at my family estate."

"Oh?" Anakin blinked with a roguish grin. "What a pleasant coincidence, I have some time off as well."

"And I invited the Avengers, your padawan and a good number of people to tag along."

"...I'm sorry, what?"

Padme giggled at her husband's response.

"Sorry you won't be getting any alone time with me, even though I would find that rather pleasant and quite enjoyable."

Anakin made a slight face. "What's this even for?"

Padme was beginning to pick out clothing with C3PO assisting her in packing her bags.

"Well, if you don't know from what our Avenger friends are doing, they're getting ready for a holiday." Padme stated.

"...I don't recall there being a holiday any time soon." Anakin adopted a thinking gesture. "Then again, there are so many cultures in the galaxy, I might've lost track of… well… all of them."

"Well, it's plural." Padme elaborated. "Holidays. Back on their home planet, it's nearing the end of their year. It's the last two weeks of their yearly calendar. They're celebrating a bunch of festive holidays."

"Oh?" Now Anakin was interested. "What are they?"

C3P-0 was the one to answer. "I believe Mist Rogers spoke of one called Hanukkah."

"Hanukkah?"

"Yes, something about lighting candles one day at a time. A celebration of one of the religions of their home world."

3P0 then told of the other holidays. "They also have Christmas, Kwanzaa, New Year's Eve; their last day of their yearly calendar, and New Year's Day… hence the start of the new year."

"And you're doing this because…"

"Since they are rather homesick and not being able to be there anytime soon, I thought it would be nice to celebrate some of those holidays at my estate." Padme said to her husband.

"What are they even about?" Anakin asked, going over to his wife.

"Though each one is different to a degree, from the basis of how they described it, the whole concept is about gift giving and spending time with loved ones."

"Gift giving huh?" Anakin mused. "That… actually sounds like fun."

"It does, doesn't it." Padme said with a bright smile. "I figure it would be a wonderful time. I believe Peter mentioned something about a cultural exchange."

Anakin laughed aloud. "Might as well be."

After a day or two of packing, a multitude of individuals were on a luxury line cruiser on route to the beautiful scenic world of Naboo. After leaving the cruiser, they made a direct flight to Padme's family estate where they would spend the Christmas Holidays together before heading back to their respective places of residency.

"I don't even know where to begin in thanking you for all this, Padme." Natasha said, pulling the senator in for a hug.

Padme laughed happily, hugging her friend back. "I think after everything you've all done for us; a taste of home is something you all could go for."

And a taste of home was as best as any of the Avengers could describe the setup that Padme along with her family had managed to set up.

Thanks to Tap, the Avengers personal AI, he had managed to correlate data from the holo-net with the best materials and basically everything else they would need to replicate a festive time just like home.

There were several trees decorated with lights and other decorations. Candles lighted in an atmospheric fashion that added to the feeling that was being given off.

"I must admit…" Obi-wan stood a few feet away with Steve, Rhodey, Matt and Anakin as he looked around at all the decorations. "There is quite an appeal to these holidays you all celebrate on your planet."

"Could do with a bit less of the blinding lights." Anakin remarked.

Matt coughed into his hand with a small smirk. "Being blind does have their benefits sometimes."

"Wow, Matt, just wow." Rhodey said in a flat tone.

Suddenly, the young daughters of Sola Naberrie rushed over to Steve and grabbed him by his hands and tugged him away from the group he was standing with.

Elsewhere, Pietro was walking around the small estate with a companion.

Senator Riyo Chuchi.

"This Christmas holiday sounds quite joyous."

Pietro laughed lightly. "Yeah, it's pretty fun. Gift giving and all…" The Avenger became a bit more subdued. "It was some of the best times I could think of with my sister and my parents."

Sensing his change in mood, Riyo placed a hand upon his arm.

He looked down to her, seeing the comforting smile she gave him making him smile in turn.

While looking up at Pietro, she noticed a strange plant hanging over them that seemed to appear out of nowhere.

"What's that?" Chuchi asked, making Pietro blink and look up to what had caught the Pontarons attention.

Upon spotting what it was, Pietro gaped slightly and out of the corner of his eyes and ears, he swore he saw a small figure with buzzing wings fluttering away.

"Uh… well," Pietro coughed awkwardly into his hand. "You see, that's another Christmas tradition back home."

"Oh?" Riyo looked back up at the plant. "What does it mean?"

Rubbing the back of his neck while averting his gaze from the smaller senator with a small red hue on his cheek and a tiny grin forming.

"Well… I'm not sure if you should know." He teased. "It may embarrass you."

"Come on, tell me." Chuchi said with her hands on her hips.

"...You asked for this."

Before she knew it, she received a quick kiss by her cheek. Riyo froze, blushing up a storm now which made Pietro grin before looking around and spotted what or rather who he was looking for.

"Okay, Hope, move along now. Go bug someone else now." Pietro said to the flying speck, which flew away soon after with the mistletoe within her grasp.

"Wha-what was that supposed to be?" Riyo asked in a stutter.

"That was a Christmas tradition back home." Pietro explained. "When two people are under a mistletoe they… well, usually they kiss if they're a couple but-"

What Pietro did not expect was two slender arms to wrap themselves around his head and he was pulled down by the smaller Senator who proceeded to mash her lips against his. He stood stock still in shock when after several seconds he closed his eyes and wrapped his own arms around her slender frame.

From afar, Wasp whirled around in victory and flew off.

Back inside, there was small talk and little celebrations going on between everyone present.

Kenobi was being "bothered" by Natasha in regard to her asking him whether or not Satine received a gift which the Jedi master replied that she should be receiving his gift soon.

Over in a separate corner, Anakin was speaking with Padme's parents in a more private fashion.

Though not much was said, the looks Anakin got from Jobal and Ruwee was enough for him to get the message of approval. He only sagged in relief and grinned at his new parents from Padme's family.

The rest of the Avengers were conversing with Padme, her sister Sola, Sola's husband Darred, Jedi like Aayla, Plo and several others that were dragged to Naboo.

One Avenger however was alone.

Scott Lang stood outside, looking up at Naboo's moon before glancing down to a picture in his hand.

It was one of him in his Ant-man suit hoisting up his daughter Cassie with Hope tickling her.

He smiled sadly, eyes glossy at the sight of his daughter and hating himself for not being there right now.

This was supposed to be his first Christmas with her out of prison and…

Scott felt a hand upon his shoulder, turning to see Hope.

With her other hand, she held the photo with Scott.

He silently wrapped his other arm around her and both leaned their heads against one another.

In another part of the estate, Ahsoka and Barriss were sitting in a large hammock made entirely out of webbing as they gazed at the stars above. The commotion over yonder reached their ears, but never bothered them. The only thing that briefly did was Peter crawling up to them to deliver some food and drink they requested.

"Thanks, Peter." Said the Tortuga with the Mirialan giving their male friend a smile.

"No problem." Peter said, the trio sitting in a comfortable silence.

They ate their food without talking much until…

"Oh, I almost forgot." Peter reached into his pockets and pulled out two wrapped packages.

"What's this?" Barriss asked in surprise.

"Little something that took me a while to make but I got it down thanks to Scott." Peter explained.

They both tentatively took the gifts out of his hands and hesitated momentarily.

"Peter, you do know that as Jedi we can't really possess certain things." Ahsoka said after a moment.

"I know… but I just wanted to be nice and…" Peter mumbled the next few parts to himself, which the two padawans had a hard time hearing.

Seeing no harm in seeing what Peter got them, Barriss was the first to open her gift with Ahsoka following.

What they saw were intricately crafted pendants that were flower shape in structure yet design wise…

"This…" Ahsoka's hand trailed over the coloration of the pendant. "These are my markings."

"You made this Peter?" Barriss asked with slight astonishment, gazing at the patterns upon her own pendant which were identical to her facial markings.

"Took me a while to get them right." Peter admitted. "And I was trying to figure out the best metals that would be compatible with your lightsabers."

"What?" Ahsoka said in bewilderment.

Peter shrugged. "Well, yeah, I remember you guys always telling me about how the Lightsaber is the most important possession to a Jedi so I figured I'd make something you can attach to your sabers if you don't wanna wear them."

Both were silent for a few moments until the Mirialan padawan gave Peter a kind smile.

"That is rather sweet." Barriss said as she inspected her gift a bit more.

She then surprised Ahsoka by putting the pendant around her neck and hiding it underneath her clothes.

"There." Barriss said with a satisfied expression. "Now it will always be with me."

Ahsoka hummed in thought, looking over hers until she brightened up and placed it as a secondary braid on her montrals.

"And now I have it too." Ahsoka declared happily. "Thanks Peter."

"Heh~ no problem girls. Merry First Christmas." Peter said cheerfully.

Both girls hugged the web-slinger before resuming their stargazing.

Though the galaxy was at war and conflict still went on, for this brief instance, the attendants for this ceremonial first holidays of Earth that was being celebrated on Naboo a feeling of peace settled over.

**Rate Read and Review and as Always Have Nice Day.**


	44. Bounty Hunters Of The Galaxy

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Cover Poster for Chapter here
> 
> https://www.deviantart.com/freemanwriter/art/Bounty-Hunters-of-The-Galaxy-853590823

**I can't believe I am saying this but now we're nearing the end of season 2 if you could believe it.**

**Only five, maybe six, more chapters to go.**

**And then we're entering the gap in between the seasons and then ONTO SEASON THREE.**

**Season Three… well when we get to it suffice to say there's a lot of crazy shit going down.**

**It's so close and yet so far all at once.**

**So it's best we get to it sooner than later.**

**Rate Read and Review and as Always Have Nice Day.**

Avengers Infinite Wars Chapter 44: Bounty Hunters of the Galaxy.

_*CRASH*_

"Are they still going at it?"

"I'd say let them have their fun. That last mission was a bit too easy."

"You sure about that boss?"

"Ah, they'll be fine Kraglin. Seriously, what exactly has stood up to us since coming here?"

"Not much really. Save for that… what was it called again? Rankie?"

"Ranchor."

"Right, that thing."

_*BANG*_

" _THAT ALL YA GOT HORN HEAD?!"_

"You meat bags are earning my respect for blindly jumping in towards your deaths. It is good to know some things have not changed after so long."

"Come face Death!"

"I am Groot."

A body was thrown across the bar, landing next to the three seated in their own booth.

"Gotta admit, glad to see Groot doing something other than playing that annoying game." A man in a maroon trench coat remarked playing with said game in his hands right now.

"Is that game even any good, Quill?"

"It's not _too_ bad." Peter Quill, leader of the Guardians of the Galaxy said with a shrug. "It just makes you want to reach the high score for bragging rights."

"Can I give it a whirl?" Kraglin Obfonteri asked.

Peter grunted with a beeping sound indicating his loss.

"Eh, knock yourself out. I know I'll get this back sooner or later."

Beside the two, Gamora, daughter of the Mad Titan observed the bar room brawl with a blank expression.

This was sadly what her form of entertainment is for some time now. All she ever really done throughout her life, ever since being taken in by Thanos, was fight, kill and train. Even watching others kill and fight each other performed the same merit. It was all she could ever really enjoy with nothing else pleasing her.

Yet she couldn't help but listen to Quill's Earth music more and more now for the past few months as she watched Drax the Destroyer throw what was a Quarren through the roof.

And besides…

Much as she pretends not to show it, she does care for these band of idiots.

Even their newest member is starting to grow on her. He makes it known how much he reveres her skills and abilities, often lamenting his droid limitations in not being able to perform those abilities.

She watched as Rocket was atop a human, punching him in a "guiding" fashion until HK-47 was close enough to upper cut the man into unconsciousness.

Groot currently had an Ithorian ensnared and was thrashing him around, knocking him into others.

Gamora's eyes shifted over to a portion of the bar that was relatively unscathed for the most part.

There were a few patrons that were either ignoring the commotion or yelling at it encouragingly with credits in hands as the fight went on. Looking past them, Gamora's eyes narrowed slightly as she gazed upon the other Guardian not involved in the brawl.

Mantis sat within another booth with a curious and intrigued look upon her face as she traded conversations with an armored individual who had his helmet off. If memory serves her correctly, Quill mentioned Mantis speaking with someone of similar armor set.

This must be that Fenn Shysa Mantis spoke of that she had met a while back.

From what they had learned of within this galaxy, Fenn is part of this group called the Mandalorians.

A warrior culture it seemed.

Wonder what he was doing here?

He didn't seem to pose a threat or have any ill intentions towards Mantis.

And he better not.

Mantis was the most impressionable of the Guardians. Her relationship with Drax is a dead giveaway considering how much she takes literally from the knife wielding madman.

"Gamora?"

The Zehoberian blinked, looking over to Peter and Kraglin.

"Hmmm? What?"

"You alright there?" Kraglin asked. "Been looking over there with Mantis for a bit now."

"Just keeping an eye on her is all." Gamora said, leaning back into her seat. "Not a lot of people we have to trust here."

"Yeah, especially after that piece of crap Hutt wanted to screw us over." Peter grumbled.

Peter then grabbed his drink and leaned back as the Ithorian Groot had as a battering ram was finally thrown.

"Seems they're done right about now." Kraglin noted.

Peter and Gamora looked over to see Drax punch another merc out the bar and HK-47 bash his metallic hand upon the head of another.

Rocket was laughing with Groot grinning in triumph, the former of the two going over to the bar and tossing credits that he had stolen in the middle of the fight.

A few moments later drinks were out, more credits were passed around and business as usual returned to the bar.

"Who's paying for the cleanup this time?" Quill asked.

"I got it, boss." Kraglin spoke up. "It's my turn anyway."

They soon returned to their drinks as the bar returned to normal for the most part.

Rocket, Groot and Drax were toasting while HK… poured oil on himself.

Sure, that's normal for him.

Gamora briefly glanced over to Mantis and her Mandalorian friend who appeared to be speaking with someone else.

She saw him holding a transmitter with a small projection of another armored Mandalorian when...

"May I pardon you fine folks for some of your time?"

The booth's occupants looked over and saw a being of short stature, with thick legs and four-fingered hands. He had an elongated head with a reptilian face, which Peter reminded him of a tortoise back on Earth, with the beady eyes shown underneath the goggles. And the being's skin was of a light orange pigmentation.

If the Guardians remembered correctly, the being who approached them was a Felucian. They had seen this species wandering about within Mos Eisley not too long ago.

"Maybe… depends on what you want to talk to us about." Quill said in a conversational tone.

"I… I've been hearing about your group." The Felucian spoke in a nervous manner. "You call yourselves the G-Guardians of the Galaxy, correct?"

"For the most part." Kraglin replied.

"Then please, I beg for your aid." The Felucian said in a desperate tone. "I don't know who else to turn to. I don't know if my friend managed to find anybody else here."

Gamora shared a look with the other two before turning back to the man before them.

"What's your job?" she asked.

"Pirates." The Felucian replied quickly. "Pirates have been harassing my village for a while now."

"Pirates?" Quill repeated. "That doesn't sound too bad."

"If we don't give the pirates a portion of our crop, they will destroy our homes, with us in them."

"...Ok that sounds pretty bad." Quill admitted.

"And what are your crops?" Gamora inquired.

"It goes by a few names: nysillim, sillum and nysillin."

"I think I mighta heard of them." Kraglin said, rubbing his scruff. "Aren't they really potent healing herbs?"

"Might be the only export the natives have for their businesses, given it's very valuable in this galaxy."

"Sillim farming is actually a meager trade. But without our herbs to sell, we will have no money for food, fuel or equipment."

"I can see your dilemma." Gamora said kindly. "Yet you have enough to pay for mercenaries?"

"One needs to haggle a reasonable price for compensation, something far better than the pirates." The Felucian stated.

"Inquiry: Why not just fight them yourselves?" Said HK-47.

The Felucian jumped in fright, looking behind him at the droid that appeared behind him. Rocket, Drax and Groot had returned to the booth as well.

"Easy for you, perhaps, but look at me." The Alien gestured to himself. "I, along with my fellow farmers, are not fighters."

"Statement: One does not need size to be an effective fighter." HK declared, looking down to Rocket who puffed his chest out with a roguish grin in place.

It was at this point that Mantis had returned to the fold.

"Hey everyone, what are we doing?" She asked politely.

"Deciding on whether or not we should help short stack here." Rocket said gesturing his head at the Felucian.

"I am Groot."

The group chortled, making Rocket growl in irritation at the larger tree alien.

Gamora quickly helped Mantis catch up to speed with their current situation.

"Oh~" Mantis's antenna hung low in sorrow. "Can we not help them?"

"That's what we're deciding on, Mantis." Kraglin stated.

"These are farmers, they do need help." Mantis pleaded.

"Believe me, Mantis, I would like nothing more, but didn't we already take on another job?" Quill pointed out. "We can't go at half strength. Pretty sure the Protectors wouldn't appreciate us bailing on them."

"Maybe not all of us can go with the Mando's." Gamora stated.

"Excuse me?" Quill looked at her.

"There's already enough of us here that greatly alter things for our next gig. Or not doing much impact at all, given the amount of Mando's there are." Gamora pointed out.

"So what? Split up." Kraglin asked with Quill answering.

"Pretty much, yeah."

"...Could help getting more money for us." Rocket remarked.

"Remember, they are farmers, Rocket." Quill said in a deadpan.

"Yeah, I know that, Quill. But their crops can fetch a nice price if we sell 'em right." Rocket pointed out.

"And we do need to restock on our medicine." Drax added making the Guardians blink.

"That too." Kraglin agreed.

"Alright, so how are we doing this then?" Quill asked.

"Statement: I would not mind assisting these smaller creatures in displaying my Meatbag killing capabilities." HK-47 said, making the Felucian look up at the droid nervously.

"Guess that means I'm coming to." Peter said in a dry tone. "Someone's gotta keep you from going overboard."

"I shall be going with the Mandalorians." Drax declared. "I wish to observe their warrior ways."

"I am Groot."

"No, no." Rocket pointed at Groot. "If you're gonna go with the Protectors then that means no video games."

"I am Groot!" Groot said in an affronted manner.

"Then start acting like it." Rocket shot back. "That game is nothing but gunk on your mind."

Groot only huffed in irritation.

"I'll go with the Mando's, boss." Kraglin said to Peter with the GOTG leader nodding in approval.

"So Rocket, HK and I are gonna go with the farmer here." Peter said. "Gamora?"

"I'll go with you." Gamora said to him. "Make sure we keep these two in line."

"Disappointed tone: Master Gamora, do you not trust in my capabilities?" HK said, synthetic tone displaying heartbreak.

Heartbreak that Gamora did not fall for. "It's not your skills I'm worried about, HK, and you know it."

"Disgruntled sigh: Curses, I can't get past anything with you Gamora."

"Keep up the flattery." Gamora said, standing up out of her seat. "Maybe it'll work one day. Let's get ready everyone."

The Guardians of the Galaxy split off into their two teams, Kraglin, Drax, Mantis and Groot going over to Fenn Shysa who was waiting for them at the main entrance of the bar.

It was strange when one considers the chance encounter Mantis had with the Mandalorian to eventually turn into several occasions of run-ins on other planets that started to develop into a working relationship with these group of warriors called the Protectors.

This here would be their fifth job they had done together.

The other four followed the Felucian out the back.

"You have your own means of transport?" The Felucian asked.

"Yeah, this way."

_-Scene Cut-_

The Benatar exited hyperspace, flying toward the planet of Felucia.

Since coming to this galaxy, they had learned that this place did not have the Universal Neural Teleportation Network that connected a majority of the universe.

Instead, they had something called Hyperspace here as their source of FTL.

So they needed to get one for their ships the Quadrant and the several M-Ships they have within the larger ship.

Thankfully, with a pair like Kraglin and Rocket on the team along with HK-47 to point them in the right direction, the Quadrant, Benatar and all the other M-Ships were properly fitted with Hyper drives.

They drew closer to the planet when they noticed some sort of satellite in orbit around the planet.

"What's that?" Quill asked, squinting at the strange object.

Their client and planet native gasped aloud. "Oh no! I completely forgot! That's a Separatist defense probe!"

"Meaning?" Rocket looked to the Felucian with an expectant look.

"If it does not recognize you as an ally it may deploy starfighters in response against you."

"Relieved statement: I thought it may have had sensible defensive measures." HK-47 responded, remaining in his seat.

This certainly threw off their client as he watched them get a bit more comfortable in their seats just as the strange probe up ahead deployed five Vulture Droids.

"Just five?" Peter scoffed with an amused grin.

"They clearly haven't heard of our run-in with those gold-skinned Sovereign Douchebags."

"Remember, we are in a whole other galaxy. So these Seps wouldn't know 'em." Gamora pointed out.

"Good." Rocket's grin was manic. "Which means we got a fresh new pallet for a brand new rep with these bozos."

Before their Felucian client could voice his recently formed inquiry, Rocket and Peter went into action.

Quill thrusted his controls forward at full speed with Rocket letting out an uproarious bellow of a war cry as he began firing the Benatar's weapons.

In an instant, two of the Vulture droids were shot down while the other three scrambled around the ship before redirecting themselves in pursuit.

"Hey, they look like they're about to line up." Quill pointed out.

"Good to know." Rocket flicked a few switches up and targeted the three Vulture droid ships that were getting closer to theirs.

The instant he had a lock on them, he attacked. The guns on the sides of their ship fired, shooting several rounds that punched through the Vulture droids. The enhanced racoon laughed seeing the spectacle.

"Ha! Too easy!"

"Hey, don't hog all of them for yourself."

"Bite me, Quill."

"Oh for the love of- do NOT do this again you two. I already had to deal with that once and you remember how that turned out."

"Relax, Gamora." Rocket scoffed. "It's just us shooting the shit."

Gamora looked to Quill with him confirming it with a so-and-so expression. Frowning slightly, she leaned back into her seat while they descended down to the planet's surface.

With directions given to them by their client, the Guardians arrived at the edge of a village with the Benatar touching down upon the ground.

"Here we are." the client rushed out of the ship and ran towards the village.

The four Guardians exited the ship and walked through the front of the gate of the village, taking note of the village huts with one particularly large building.

As they entered the village, one thing stood out to them.

"This place looks deserted." Quill stated, looking around.

"I don't think so." Gamora said, glancing at the pink, spud-like plants. "The crops seem to be ready to be harvested. Not to mention the equipment is all lying about."

"Then where is everyone?" Rocket asked aloud, going over to one of the crops and poking it with a finger.

"Hope our client remembers to tell us what's going on beforehand." Quill remarked. "Hate to see if the pirates already came by and did their work."

"If they did, we would've seen a one sided skirmish, let alone bodies." Gamora said, crossing her arms.

"Well there ain't no bodies." Rocket said, inspecting a farming tool. "Just this crap."

"Query: Then where are the villagers?" HK-47 said.

"And where'd Murris go?" Gamora added, looking around the village once again.

"If there's anything I remember about farmers and the greatest movie of all time, Footloose, always check the barn." Quill said knowingly.

They walked up to the largest building, which was now identified as the barn, going over to a control panel.

With a quick push of a button, the barn door opened up to reveal…

"That's not a ship for a farmer." Gamora said straight away.

"No." Rocket's eyes quickly analyzed the ship. "That's a bounty hunters ship."

"So there are bounty hunters here then?" Quill murmured.

"Then why hire us?" HK asked the question they all shared.

Before they could speak further, they heard a commotion going on coming from one of the huts nearby.

"Stay here you two." Quill said to HK and Gamora, gesturing his head towards the hut while locking eyes with Rocket.

The smaller Guardian nodded and the two approached the hut and entered.

They looked around the relatively small abode until Rocket noticed a small hatch. He snapped his fingers, gaining Peter's attention and pointed at the door on the ground.

Pulling out one of his Quad blasters, Star-Lord hovered above the hatch just as Rocket grasped the handle…

They both paused for a moment until Rocket threw the hatch open with Quill holding up his weapon with Rocket quickly pulling out his own.

Taking a moment, they realized that those hiding inside were Felucians.

"Found them." Quill muttered, quickly stowing away his weapon. "Some of them at least."

Rocket took a moment to gauge at the three Felucians inside their hiding space. "Damn, they're really terrified."

Quill frowned, crouching down to them with his hands raised.

"Hey, it's alright. We're not here to hurt you."

_*CLICK*_

"Kindly drop your weapons."

"But they'll hurt us." Rocket said in a flat tone.

Both turned to see four individuals standing before them.

A Zabrak female had her blaster pointed straight at Peter's head. Next to her was a tall alien with a crossbow and a large circular hat.

On the other side of the Zabrak female was a female of species known as Frenk.

Behind them all was a large, heavily armored individual with two white eyes seen in between its visor.

"Take it easy. We aren't here to cause trouble." Quill said, hands up.

"Easy for you to say Quill." Rocket said, grasping his weapon tightly.

The one with the large hat spoke in its native language yet Rocket appeared to understand clearly.

"It's not always about the numbers." Rocket said, crooked grin in place.

"Four on one is hardly a fair fight." the Frenk female responded.

"Wait a minute... Four on one?" Rocket asked out loud. "What, Quill doesn't count?"

The Zabrak, guessing that Quill was the human, chortled in amusement.

"We don't count you, knee-high." The armored individual said, voice slightly mechanical.

Rocket snorted. "Well that's something I haven't heard in a long while. Got anything new, tin-man?"

Suddenly, the Zabrak felt the tip of a blade from the back of her neck with the cocking of another weapon.

"Do you count us?" Gamora said coldly, her form steady.

"Who are you people?" The Zabrak asked, keeping her gaze upon Quill.

"We were sent by Murris." Peter answered. "Something about pirates harassing his village."

The Zabrak frowned. "That is why we are here as well."

This of course stirred a slight bit of confusion though Rocket wasn't one to stay silent.

"Maybe we got our jobs mixed up." He said.

"Maybe." Said the Zabrak.

"Or maybe he realized you guys wouldn't cut it and knew we're a better alternative." Rocket quickly added with a savage grin making the other four bounty hunters bristle.

"Rocket." Gamora said warningly.

"What? I'm just saying."

"Wait, wait!" Suddenly, another Felucian rushed in with their original client Murris with him. "Please stop, they were brought here by my brother. Sugi, please put your weapons away."

The Zabrak complied, though she rounded upon the more elder Felucian with an expectant look.

"Need I remind you, Casiss, you already made a deal with us?" the now identified "Sugi" stated.

"I did." Casiss said. "But I had also sent out Murris in case we were able to recruit more. Murris has already told me that a deal has been worked out with these individuals that would not affect your pay in any way shape or form."

Slowly, the weapons from both sides were lowered.

"Alright then." Sugi crossed her arms, looking to Quill. "And who are you all supposed to be anyway?"

Peter looked at Gamora for a moment then back at Sugi, shrugging his shoulders. "We're the Guardians of the Galaxy."

The Bounty Hunters shared a collective blink.

"What now?"

Introductions were shortly made once things settled down.

The collective of the eight hired mercs were now seated within a more spacious dining room inside Casiss' own home.

Sugi, the Zabrak, was the leader of this band of bounty hunters.

With her was Embo Kyuzo, Rumi Paramita the Frenk and Seripas… the walking armored guy.

"The Guardians of the Galaxy?" Sugi said, an unimpressed look, opposite to Peter and Gamora.

"Well it wasn't our idea." Peter admitted.

"Oh yeah, I forgot it was that prick Ronan who gave us that name." Rocket said, appearing to work on something within his gun.

"So what? What is your group exactly then?" Rumi inquired.

"Statement: We are a collective of highly efficient killers that lean upon the more noble side of morality." HK-47 responded with Rocket openly guffawing.

"Shit, that's one way of putting it."

Rocket and HK received an annoyed look from Gamora with Quill trying hard to stifle his own laughs.

HK did have a point in that regard when one considers all of their history collectively with all the messed up things they've done.

"Can we get down to business please." Gamora said, brokering a tone that held no room for arguments.

"Casiss." Gamora began. "What exactly are we dealing with these pirates that Murris mentioned?"

Casiss glanced down, expression showing he was deep in thought.

"We've been dealing with these pirates for only a short time." Casiss said with a grim tone. "But in that time, they have taken half our crops and more leaving us with practically nothing in terms of trade and resources. We need the Sillum as our primary means of getting currency, tools and food. With these pirates, we will starve and suffer so long as they remain here."

Casiss then regarded the large group before him.

"But now, with the eight of you here, there's a chance for us to drive those ghastly pirates off."

Mumbled something under his breath, making Gamora look to him.

"What was that Peter?" She asked.

"Nothing, nothing." Waved off the human Guardian. "Kurosawa would be annoyed by the even number."

Everyone else stared at utter bewilderment at the human with HK speaking up.

"Comment: Don't mind Master Quill. I have come to realize he says a lot of things from his home planet that… what was that phrase? fly over our heads? Yes, that. You get used to it."

"Speaking of numbers; gotta admit, how the hell can you afford _eight_ of us?" Sugi questioned the Felucian.

"You have all given us a much better deal than those pirates." Casiss said plainly.

"At least we can get a deal with you." Murris spoke up. "The Pirates basically threaten us and that's their version of a 'deal'."

Rocket hummed aloud in thought. "What'd they offer you?"

"An agreeable pay." Sugi said. "You?"

"A small cut of the Sillum."

"What's a small cut?" Rumi inquired.

"Some seeds." Gamora said.

"Seeds?" The Mech bounty hunter said in complete surprise.

"You'd be surprised on how much you could grow with them." Rocket said with a small grin.

This wasn't far from the truth there is. After some discussion with their client, they came down to obtaining nothing but a large container of the Sillim seeds. With some little tender love and care -aka, Groot's plant manipulation- they would be able to grow a large amount of Sillim on their own. From there, they harvest the seeds from the grown batch, rinse and repeat the process over and over again. Granted it'll be a long process before they make a profit, but it's a start.

Embo then spoke with his native tongue making Sugi look at him.

"We're not farmers, Embo." Sugi said in a dry tone. "And we've already made a deal. I'd rather not break it."

"Still…" Rumi eyed the four Guardians. "Why just seeds? It would take time to grow something like that."

"Sly Statement: We have our ways."

"We're a bit of a _patient_ bunch."

Quill snorted a little on Rocket's statement. "Moving on…" Star-Lord faced the head of the village. "What's our numbers like? How many of these pirates do you usually see?"

"A few dozen at a time." Casiss said.

"And in total?"

"Several dozen. Possibly even more." Casiss's expression then turned anxious. "But last time, they did not come just as they were."

"They got new muscle?" Rocket asked.

"Droids." Murris replied. "Droids the like we haven't seen before. They could fly and their arms could transform into weapons!"

"Transform?" Quill perked up. "Like… like the Decepticons and autobots?"

Gamora rubbed the bridge of her nose, exhaling a sigh of frustration.

"That'd actually be pretty cool." Rocket admitted, actually knowing what Peter was alluding to for once.

"The droids." Sugi said, tone serious. "Describe them. What are they like?"

"They looked… different." Casiss said, frowning a bit as he recalled these new droids. "When the war came to Felucia, we saw a number of droids from the Separatists. But the ones the pirate brought; they were… strange."

"Strange, how?"

"They were not like any droid I had ever seen." Casiss stated. "The way they move and operate, it's highly unusual. I just can't properly describe it."

"Probably new models." Rocket muttered out. "Pirates would have hijacked a ship carrying them to who knows where and repurposed them. Would be the more sensible idea for added muscle these days."

"I've seen some of those Separatist droids before and they're not usually made with the best materials." Murris brought up. "They're cheap and mass produced. _These_ were top of the line from how they were designed. Not even Bounty Hunting droids are that well made."

This of course was a rather interesting detail with the bounty hunters and Guardians exchanging looks with each other when…

" _PIRATES!"_

The eight hired guns jolted upwards at the sound of a child from outside yelling that the pirates were coming.

Weapons drawn and at the ready, everyone rushed outside just in time to see a young Felucian child rushing right towards them.

"The pirates are back." the kid said, pointing back from the direction he ran from.

Star-Lord squinted, pressing on his earpiece behind his right ear. A moment later, his helmet formed around his head which certainly caught the attention of the Bounty Hunters. They had never seen something like that before.

However, they'd have to ask him about that another time as they heard the sound of speeder bikes drawing near.

Racing down the hill, the assembled group saw the pirates entering the village perimeter. They halted their speeder bikes just a few feet away from them. And it didn't take long for the bounty hunters to see the pirates were composed of nothing but Weequay.

As they drew closer, HK however picked up on something in the air and looked up, something that did not go unnoticed by Gamora.

She looked up to see two metallic forms in the air, flying over the Weequay pirates. Landing down in between the two groups were a pair of droids, no doubt the ones Casiss mentioned earlier.

They were humanoid in build with their plating being a dull silver in color. From the sides of their heads were spikey prongs acting like ears. And the lights coming off from certain limbs and their heads were glowing an eerie red color.

When gazing upon them, Peter had a chill running down his spine. He almost thought they were legitimate T-800's from the Terminator film he saw as a kid.

"That's far enough." Said Sugi, brandishing her blaster. "I speak for the people of this village. State your name and business."

"My name is my own business." Said one of the Weequay pirates.

"Wait? Is your name really that? 'My own business'?" Quill practically snorted. "Wow your parents must not have been creative there when naming you."

"Can't be any worse than 'Taserface'." Rocket commented.

The pirate dubbed 'My own business' practically growled at the insult. It didn't help when the fellow pirates beside him snickered.

"We are here to take back what's ours?"

"Query: Does it have your name on it, Meatbag?" Said HK-47, voice condescending.

"How about I put my name on you, droid." The pirate growled irritably.

"Cheerful: I'd like to see you try Meatbag."

"You best get out of our way. We're here to take what's ours."

"There is nothing here that's yours, unless you're here to buy it." Sugi stated in a firm tone.

"Buy it?" A voice laughed out loud. "Guardians… I can't believe you came all this way to see me."

This drew in the present Guardians to focus their attention to a man walking in from the back. When he came up to the front, they saw an all too familiar Weequay male with a Kowakian monkey-lizard perched on his shoulder.

"Hondo? The hell are you doing here?" Rocket questioned.

The female Zabrak looked back and stared at the Guardians. "You know each other?"

Hondo smiled brightly. "Of course we do! Tell them how far back we go, Quill."

"Not all that far, I'm afraid." Peter drawled out.

"Hah! And here I thought we were friends."

"If you're truly interested in being friends, Hondo, I highly suggest you stop threatening these farmers." Gamora said firmly.

Hondo gasped in a mocking manner. "Oh! _Please_ tell me you have not been listening to these bounty-hunting scum."

"Scum? What does that make us?" Rocket questioned.

"Statement: Acquaintances, if we're being polite."

"I wouldn't even put it that far." Quill remarked, arms crossed with an annoyed expression revealed as his helmet retracted.

"Well these _scum_ , as you it, are here to help them protect what's rightfully theirs." Sugi informed the pirate lord.

"Oh, come, come, my dear. How much are they paying you?" Before an answer could be given, Hondo quickly ended it. "Bup, bup, bup! Does not matter. Whatever it is, I will double it, and all you have to do to earn it is… _step aside._ "

The Zabrak bounty hunter responded back to him as she jabbed her finger into his chest. "We. Don't. Break. Deals."

This got the rest of Hondo's men to quickly aim their weapons at the bounty hunters. In turn, the bounty hunters did the same.

Hondo however paused as he felt a blade to his neck, eyeing the most dangerous woman in the galaxy.

"You do _not_ want a repeat of last time Hondo." Gamora threatened in a low tone.

Much as he had tried to hide it, Hondo visibly shifted about uncomfortably. He gazed at the sword and then at the other three Guardians while also searching for...

'Oh, looks like not all are present?' Hondo thought to himself.

The pirate captain chuckled aloud, looking over to the two droids that came with him. Shortly after, the two droids lifted their arms. Said limbs shifted and turned from the elbow down into what appeared to be railgun-like blasters.

Immediately, the Guardians and the bounty hunters had their weapons raised with the pirates following suit once more.

It was now a standoff.

Hondo locked eyes with Gamora.

"Do you really wish to test me right now, my dear?"

"In case you forgot, not even the best of what you have put a scratch on me." Gamora reminded him.

"Yes, yes, I know how tough you and your enhanced friends are." Hondo nodded. "But are they?"

The droids then shifted their aim towards the villagers with Embo and Star-Lord stepping in between them.

Ohnaka hummed aloud in thought, regarding the leader of the Guardians of the Galaxy.

"What's your stake anyways, Quill?" Hondo asked. "This does not seem to be your usual type of job."

"Sorry Hondo, but Guardians is in the name of my team." Quill said with his hands hovering over his Quad blasters. "Aside from pay… kinda have a moral obligation to help out those in need."

Hondo snorted with a small sneer. "I prefer Jedi. Maybe Kenobi would have at least offered me a better deal."

"Tough luck." Rocket snarked. "We're not these "Jedi" you wanted."

"Besides, they would have been far more annoying." HK added. "With their personal restrictions and rules. Can never get the job done properly."

"Yes~" Hondo nodded. "But at the very least, Greed isn't on their mind when assisting others."

The Pirate captain made sure for Rocket to hear that specific tidbit.

"I think you pirate douchebags are the last to talk to me about morality."

Chuckling once again, Hondo pulled out some feed for his Kowakian monkey-lizard. As it dug into the little snack, the pirate lord spoke up. "You know, even though we got off on the wrong foot, I like you and the rest of your Guardian pals. Always up for a good drink and can make the more… better judgements when the time comes. However, Quill… um, no one leaves this planet until I get my Sillim."

"Then I hope you enjoy it here, because you'll be staying a long time, _parasite_!" Sugi informed with a harsh growl.

Hondo brushed off the threat like it was nothing. "You know, this crop has not been harvested." He turned around and faced Casiss. "You better hurry, old man, before things start to, uh, _die on you_?"

With his threat given, the pirate lord made his way towards his speeder bike before he and his men took off and went back towards their ship. The Terminator-like droids followed suit, shifting their arms yet again. Once done, thrusters ignited from both their palms and feet before taking off into the air to follow the Weequay pirates.

They watched as the pirates departed, waiting until they were out of sight and sound until they relaxed and had placed their weapons away.

"We got a lot of work to do." Peter said aloud, having no arguments from that accurate comment.

Soon after, the Guardians and bounty hunters were gathered within a room all surrounding a holo-table that displayed the village and area they inhabited.

"When the attack comes, we have two fronts to worry about: the forest to the south and the ridge to the north." Peter said, pointing to both sections. "Whatever we gotta do, both sides need to be defended. Or else they'll pincer us in."

"Make that three fronts." Gamora added in. "Don't forget those droids. They merely brought in the factor an aerial assault could take place."

"Quill and I can handle those." Rocket said, patting on his vest that had one of his aero-rigs attached to the cloth. "HK, I have two spares if you're up for some air superiority."

"Adulation: Yes please. I'm always looking for new means of diversifying my capabilities in killing. Death from above is one that I have not performed yet."

"That… is rather unsettling." Rumi muttered out as she eyed the assassin droid.

"What are you even talking about?" Sugi asked.

"We'll show you later." Gamora interjected. "Right now, we need to make sure we get our plan right otherwise we'll be outnumbered and outmaneuvered."

"But there are only eight of you?" One of the Felucians sitting in on this meeting spoke up. "How can eight bounty hunters defend against so many?"

"Strength isn't always about the greater numbers. It's mostly how you actually use the few you have." Spoke Thanos' adopted daughter.

Embo spoke in his native tongue making Rocket chortle.

"Yeah, speak for yourselves Hat man." Rocket said boastfully. "A couple of pirates is nothing but a cake walk for us."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Serapis asked in an indignant tone.

"What do you think it meant?" Rocket shot back challengingly only for him to get yanked back by Gamora.

"You seem to lack confidence in our abilities." Sugi noted with an accusatory tone.

"It's not that." Quill said, giving Rocket a stare to not interrupt him. "It's just that we're probably facing a large number of foes. It's not that we can't handle them. It's just they may take advantage and attack the villagers."

"Query: Then why don't they just defend themselves? It is not as difficult a task as you portray."

"That's it! We'll just train the villagers to defend themselves." Peter said with an eager expression.

"Peter said what now?" Rocket said in surprise.

"But we are just simple farmers. Why are we paying bounty hunters to defend us if we are just going to end up doing it ourselves?"

"Hush, Dilanni." Casiss chided.

"Observation: If a creature as small as my ally Rocket can prove to be a threat to creatures ten times his size, we can show you how to do the same."

"He's not wrong there." Quill murmured.

"Query: Master Quill, please allow me to assist you in their training. I have many forms of combat and assassination protocols that I can gladly bestow upon these tiny meatbags."

"Let's… not go that far." Peter said with a grimace.

"How can you be so confident in this?" Casiss asked. "What if we will be unprepared for those pirates?"

"Trust me. We'll have you ready." Star-Lord said with a confident tone.

In the hours following the formation of their planning, the assembled bounty hunters were starting to work in various parts of the land. For a handful of them, they were tasked in clearing the fields of the crops. With how things might turn out, it's better to take care of them now, rather than salvaging the remains when the conflict with Hondo and his forces were taken care of.

"Put it all in the barn, every bushel." Sugi instructed the farmers as the farm tractors went to plow the fields.

With a dozen of farmers loading the gathered Sillim into their central barn, another three dozen were formed up in front of Gamora.

"Alright, everyone, form up." Gamora ordered the Felucians before her.

The farmers looked at each other quizzically, not sure what to do.

Gamora huffed. "Divide into rows of five."

Instead of lines, the farmers ended up forming small… bundles, making their instructor rub the bridge of her nose.

"I told you, we are not soldiers. We don't even have weapons." Dilanni said aloud.

Eyeing the farming staves in their grasp, Gamora went up to one of the farmers. "May I?" She asked politely.

Once the stave was in her grasp, she stepped back and started to move it around to get a feel of it. After a few moments, she started to spin and twirl it with precision and speed. At the end, she smiled before handing the farming stave back.

"These will work just fine."

Rocket was moving about, tossing out disks here and there while keeping his eyes up at the sky. Eyes narrowed, he returned to his work while calling Rumi over.

HK-47 was with several Felucians who had slingshots and showed them how to utilize them properly.

Over by the large barn, Peter and Sugi were looking over the structure as more of the Sillim was piled in.

"We could get overwhelmed by their numbers." Quill pointed out. "Some will definitely try to blow past us and make a beeline for the barn. Think there's enough space here for a defensive position."

"There's room." Sugi. said.

"Why not just get your ship out of the way? Or use it?"

"And risk it getting destroyed? No thank you."

"You know we have our own."

Sugi didn't respond, instead pointing toward the barn as another pair of villagers carried a block of Sillim inside.

"You sure you know what you're doing?" Quill suddenly asked, making Sugi turn to him with a raised brow.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Nothing, nothing, it's just…"

"You think I'm only worried about my profit, is that it?" Sugi cut him off.

"Well… not gonna lie, kinda." Peter admitted. "I've had to deal with the receiving end of that scenario plenty of times."

"I'll have you know that I'm not as much of a backstabber as you may think."

"Hey, not judging."

Yet Sugi pressed on.

"So in your mind, I'm just like any other pirate?"

"Eh, I wouldn't go that far." Peter stated. "Listen, I've done some shitty stuff myself in life that I'm not exactly proud of. We all have?"

"We?"

"My team. The Guardians of the Galaxy." Peter clarified. "All of us and I mean _all_ of us have done a lot of messed up shit that ain't exactly something that would make most folks sleep well at night."

Sugi wasn't exactly sure how to respond to this.

"Look… I know we're all here for some pay and all that crap but we gotta work together on this." Peter said and he pulled out a disk from his pocket. "Here, I still got my boots so this is my spare."

Sugi gazed at the small disk.

"And what's this supposed to be?"

"Aero-Rig." Quill said. "You slap it on your chest or back and bam, instant flight."

Sugi held it up to inspect it. "This gives me flight?"

"Yeah." Quill said. "We actually noticed this galaxy doesn't have the stuff we normally encounter."

That got Sugi's immediate attention. "This _Galaxy?"_

Peter blinked before gaping and closing his mouth several times. "Oh… yeah… uh, ya see…"

"Quill."

Peter internally breathed a sigh of relief. He really didn't want to explain this right about now. Not that he was adverse to it, it's just that specific topic would take a _long_ time to elaborate.

"What?"

"What music we got back on the ship?" Rocket asked.

"What are ya looking for? Something peppy?"

"Yeah, yeah like that Aqua Sky."

"Blue sky." Quill said, quickly walking away from Sugi to join Rocket.

The Zabrak had her face scrunched up with her eyes narrowed in suspicion.

She wanted answers right about now after that slip up about _the galaxy._ Whatever it was he meant.

But right now, she'd have to press those questions down for another day.

Right now, she had a job to do and she'd see it through to the end.

Back with Gamora, she was taking a break from training the initial group of farmers from earlier. Embo was currently taking her place while she went into the forest nearby, taking a stroll through the grounds, surveying for any forms of defensive measures from the natural landscape.

The fauna seemed sturdy in appearance for the most part. Could work as good barriers both in the air and on the ground.

Gamora eventually saw Seripas cutting through the fungal tree with a bandsaw coming out of his arm. When it started to fall over, the armored man quickly snatched it but she saw he was starting to struggle holding it up.

Wordlessly, Gamora ran forward and pulled out her sword. With a single swing, she cut the tree in two and alleviated a great deal of weight from the mechanical body.

Though Serapis managed to get the large fungus off of him, he began jolting about erratically.

"Seripas?" Gamora said in concern.

All of a sudden, the headpiece of the suit popped up, revealing a small alien piloting the body.

"D-Don't look. I-I'm having a suit malfunction." Stammered the little alien.

The occupant in the robotic body started fiddling around with the controls, hoping it can get back to normal. However, by this point, it was too late as the small alien saw the look the green-skinned warrior gave him.

The real Serapis sighed in defeat. "Not very intimidating, am I?

Gamora only gave him a small encouraging smile.

"Size isn't everything, Serapis." Gamora said. "You'd be surprised at some of the giants my team and I have seen that we've taken down. Wanna know how we did that?"

He looked up to her as she tapped the side of her head. "Intelligence goes a long way."

She then patted the mechanical body he had operated making him look up to her with an appreciative expression.

Re-entering his mech, the top part closed around him with him placing his right arm over his chest.

"I thank you for your help."

The two parted ways soon after, resuming their assigned tasks in preparing the village for battle.

When Gamora returned to where Embo was training the farmers, she saw one of them throwing his farming tool to the ground in utter frustration.

"The bounty hunter is right. Every minute you waste teaching us to twirl these stupid poles is time you could have spent beating those pirates yourself." Delanni complained aloud, tossing his staff down.

"And what good would that do you?" Gamora asked challengingly. "Another band of pirates would inevitably come along. Or do you intend to give away part of your crop _every_ harvest season?"

"If you make us do this, there won't be another harvest season!"

"With that attitude, that might just happen." Rocket remarked, now joining in on the little training session. "You do realize you guys are prime targets for assholes like Hondo and his band of idiots, right?"

Delanni only huffed, tossing his staff aside making the other Felucians look about, unsure of what to do.

The daughter of Thanos only stomped her foot, getting everyone to look back at her.

"Alright, everyone, get back in position. Let's continue." Gamora ordered, resuming her role as trainer as Embo went off to do his thing.

As the sun started to set upon the valley, a Weequay pirate was watching them all from the cliff face above.

"Well, what have we here? Getting ready for a fight, are we?" He muttered out, looking through a pair of binoculars.

Walking through a part of the village as she was chatting with Quill, she spotted something from the corner of her eye. Curious about it, she directed her attention towards it and saw something amiss.

"There, a scout!" She explained, pointing towards the cliff face.

The Weequay scrambled up to his feet before getting shot at by several blaster bolts.

He looked around frantically, spotting a droid hovering above him.

Seeing as an opportunity in taking out the enemy scout, HK-47 had activated the Aero-ring and took off into the air. With the added form of mobility, the assassin droid was in a state of glee in hunting down his target.

The pirate sprinted away as HK-47 kept firing at the Weequay. Yet, rather than simply taking him out, HK instead opted to toy with the pirate by firing from side to side.

Just as the pirate reached his speeder bike, suddenly, from out of nowhere, a metallic disk flew forward and struck the Weequay in the chest. The pirate hunched over from the recent blow. When he tried to move back up, he saw the hatless Embo rushing towards him. The Weequay threw a punch, but the limb was snatched before the bounty hunter performed a neck hold and snapped his neck soon after.

Dropping the corpse onto the ground, the bounty hunter soon saw his metallic, circular hat was in the grasp of the assassin droid. Retrieving his weapon/hat from HK, Embo gave the droid a thankful nod, which was given back in return.

As this exchange went on, the others joined them a moment later.

"That was quick." Peter said, crouching down to take the blaster rifle before he tossed it over to Rocket who hummed in thought of possible modifications.

"Yes… but when this scout fails to report to Hondo, he'll be coming rather soon." Sugi said bitterly.

"Then we'd better get ready." Gamora declared.

"Jubilation: At long last, meatbags to kill."

Over where Hondo and his men were camped out, one of the Weequay men went up to the pirate lord. Said man was presently going over supply details for upcoming raids he wanted to take part in as he was eating his early dinner.

"Yes, yes, what is it? Don't you see I'm busy."

"The scout has not checked in from the village. He's long overdue."

Hondo sighed which was soon replaced with a sinister smirk.

"Well, well, well. So it looks like the Guardians decided to be the foolish heroes they pretend to be, eh? Or at least we now know we can't take these villagers for granted." Hondo remarked, standing up from his meal.

"What should we do now, boss?"

Hondo hummed a little, soon eyeing one of the few droids presently turned on.

It was a miraculous find, these droids. They had to be prototypes from a sort of startup company, hoping to one up the Trade Federation and their allies. The Weequay pirate lord did wonder why such magnificent specimens had to be given such durable armor and firepower if they were so happen to be prototypes. They should've been made with a bit more cheaper materials, obviously far better than the ones used for the Separatist droids.

Well he ain't complaining, that's for sure. His win and the loss of whoever made these droids once he raided that transport carrying them in the first place.

"It appears we will have to claim our Harvest sooner than expected." Hondo said, walking over to a large vehicle and resting one leg upon it. "But you know what I always say… speak softly and drive a big tank." He then turned his attention back to one of his underlings. "I'll get the rest of our _toys_ up and running in no time. In the meantime, why don't you and the boys ruff up the village. But be discreet."

"Because of the Guardians?"

"Because of the Guardians."

In the middle of the night, the farming village appeared to be at peace. The wildlife barely stirred with the insects chirping whatever sounds they gave off. And as this went on, some of the bounty hunters were patrolling the grounds while everyone else was resting for the fight no doubt happening in the morning.

Pulling back the binoculars, the Weequay pirate using them signaled the rest of his fellow men to move forward in getting into positions.

Presently, they had to traverse through the forest in hopes of getting the element of surprise. They obviously couldn't take the main road entering the valley as it's too open with their large numbers. So they had to take the long way around and-

"You hear that?" one of the pirates asked aloud.

"Hear wha-?"

There was an odd jingle in the air. Followed by singing.

_Southern nights_

_Just as good even when closed your eyes_

_I apologize to anyone who can truly say_

_That he has found a better way_

"What is that?"

"I don't-"

_***CLINK*** _

The pirates all froze as they looked down towards the foot of one of their comrades.

A moment later, multiple needles from all over struck a good number of them, with every single one that got hit riddled with needles and falling to the ground, many of which quickly fell into either unconsciousness or paralysis.

The remaining pirates were all scrambling now when they heard a brief beeping noise and looked down in horror.

_Southern skies_

_Have you ever noticed southern skies?_

_Its precious beauty lies just beyond the eye_

_It goes running through your soul_

_Like the stories told of old_

The pirates were promptly launched high in the air, crying out in shock and terror, with some still on the ground looking up in fear.

A moment later, they too were thrown into the air by some invisible gravitational force just as the others came down.

_Feel so good_

_Feel so good_

_It's frigth'ning_

_Wish I could_

_Stop this world from fighting_

_La da da da da da la da da da da da da da_

Jumping through tree branch to tree branch, Rocket chuckled to himself. "And they say the same tricks won't work twice. Well they haven't met me, then."

Looking down from his hiding place, Rocket put away the anti-gravity mine detonator and retrieved a series of electro-disks. Once out, he leaped down and started jumping onto each of the pirates while leaving a parting gift on their bodies. Each of them were frantic on his sudden approach, outright confused as to what Rocket was doing.

Jumping off the last pirate, Rocket pressed the control switch connected to the electro-disks, electrocuting the enemy pirates in one fell swoop. Seeing them all spasm on their feet, the remaining pirates fell to the ground defeated.

"That takes care of them."

Earlier, back in the village, the people were moving. They were alerted earlier when the rest of the bounty hunters started hearing the explosions and blaster fire in the air.

"Alright everyone," Sugi was yelling aloud in the center of the village. "Move it. Get to your positions and stay inside your homes and behind the fence."

Embo was moving with HK, taking a moment to pause and glance over to the sound of the screaming pirates.

He caught sight of a small group of pirates being flung into the air to fall down and from another part of the forest, the same for another group of pirates. The process repeated itself several times before Embo turned away to focus up on the job.

Peter and Sugi with Gamora were now standing at the front of the fence that would serve as their barrier.

"The farmers are in position. Well, the ones who stuck around, anyway." Quill said.

"Very well. Turn on the fence." Gamora said to Sugi who simply nodded and pressed down a control upon her wrist.

In an instant, what could be described as green electricity surrounded the majority of the village.

Sugi and Rumi slapped on the aero-rigs and both momentarily marveled at how this technology shaped around their forms. Taking to the skies, it was a slight wobbly experience for both as they hadn't used something like this.

The moment the two airborne bounty hunters stabilized themselves, they spotted a number of objects flying towards them.

"We got company!" Rumi shouted, raising her sniper rifle.

"Battle positions, everyone!" Sugi exclaimed, firing off a few shots at the incoming pirate droids.

They took the blasts quite well, raising their arms and morphing them into their railgun forms.

Quickly flying out of the way, the two were replaced by Star-Lord who flew straight at the droids with his Quad blasters in hand.

Rocketing straight for them, Peter maneuvered around the oncoming blaster fire before literally tackling a droid in midair. The droid "stumbled" so to speak which gave Peter the chance to blast it away into pieces, moving on to his next target.

Some flew down, firing their railguns at the village with their protectors running about to defend the people.

Embo ran forward, lowering his hat to block some of the oncoming fire, having to angle his head slightly in order to take the impact as these blasts were proving to be particularly strong.

Jumping over a droid, he spun about with small disks falling from his form. It surrounded the confused droid and as Embo landed, the droid was promptly shocked and overloaded.

The Kyuzo looked up and nodded in satisfaction. He'd have to make sure to thank Rocket later.

Embo then heard the sound of oncoming speeders and ran forward.

Several passed by yet the one in the center of the group had the unfortunate reality of having been punted straight off his bike and having it commandeered by a fancy hat wearing bounty hunter.

Elsewhere…

Being directed to another road, Gamora led a group of pirates on a speeder bike she pilfered from one of their enemies earlier. Reaching a certain point, she signaled Serapis and the other farmers to get into action. Moments later the trees were knocked down and fell onto the road. The oncoming pirates were too late to turn, causing them all to crash into the fallen flora, resulting in them either dying or being critically injured.

She looked back with a small grin at Serapis who nodded at her and turned to-

_***KA-BOOM*** _

Gamora's eyes widened in stunned shock at the form of Serapis being engulfed and swallowed by a fiery explosion.

Moments later, from the smoky remains of the bounty hunter, several droids flew out from the black mist in pursuit of the Zehoberian.

Snarling, Gamora pivoted her speeder bike and sped straight at the droids head on.

They fired at her with Gamora firing back. She managed to shoot one down, yet the remaining droids clipped the speeder bikes engines.

Unbothered by this, Gamora merely jumped forward with her borrowed bike crashing.

Whipping out her hand, her trusty retractable sword named Godslayer formed and with one clean strike slashed through two of the droids.

They both stumbled in the air before splitting off into multiple pieces and falling down to the ground.

The remaining droid flew around to try and get around the expert assassin.

However, Gamora was already on the move.

Using her enhanced strength, speed, athleticism and surrounding environment, Gamora jumped high in the air and performed a spinning kick.

Her heel connected to the forehead of the droid with it being kicked clean off.

Back in the village, the Guardians with their bounty hunter comrades were fighting off the pirates and their droids.

For the most part, thanks to Rocket's gadgets and their own fighting skills, the fight was relatively in their favor.

That was until Hondo decided to get himself involved in his own special way.

Atop the cliff, Hondo sat within his tank, manning its primary gun. He began firing at the village, not caring where he aimed as he knew the large bolts would cause destruction no matter where it struck.

And one of them was unfortunately in the direction of where Embo was riding.

The bolt struck nearby, the shockwave being enough the Kyuzo flying through the air and landing hard on the ground.

"Embo!" Sugi yelled out, running towards her fellow bounty hunter. Coming to his side, she inspected to see if he was alive. "Embo, can you hear me?" The Zabrak saw him stir, weakly trying to get up. "You'll be alright. We'll get you inside."

More tank rounds rained upon the land, causing more chaos to arise. The farmers on their ridden mounts were flown off and were severely injured as they tried fleeing to safety.

"Everyone, fall back to the barn!"

The group momentarily halted as they saw a blaster bolt headed in their direction.

Rocket however was thankfully close by. With a near second to spare, he tossed out a large collection of tiny orbs that formed a large ray shield in front of the group that took the blaster bolt with ease.

"That tank is going to tear the villagers apart." Sugi said wearily, hoisting Embo up in order to get him to the barn.

"Quill, ya hear that?" Rocket said, looking to the air where Peter was currently fighting off some droids.

"Loud and clear." Quill grunted, smacking a droid away with his weapon, blasting a hole through its head a second later.

Sugi helped Embo towards the barn with HK providing cover.

"Get him inside. We'll hold them off as long as we can." Sugi said, getting Embo off her shoulders and onto one of the villagers.

Suddenly, an explosion from above was heard and the form of Rumi fell before them.

"No!" the Zabrak cried out in horror at the sight of her friend, rushing over to her.

"Sugi, don't get distracted dammit." Rocket said, using his ion cannon to fire at several pirates that entered into the main defensive perimeter of the village.

"But-"

"You wanna live another day for your friend? Then grieve later!"

Up on the cliffside, Hondo was readying to fire again when he was nearly struck by fire from above. He looked up to see Star-Lord flying straight at him, firing his Quad Blasters.

The pirate captain ducked into the tank to avoid the fire.

Quill drew closer when Hondo popped out of the tank to fire at him with a blaster bolt of his own.

Star-Lord bobbed out of the way and fired at the tank.

It struck the barrel of the cannon.

Landing atop the tank, Peter engaged Hondo in close quarters, the pirate tossing aside his blaster pistol and switching to an electrified staff.

He swung the staff several times with Peter dodging every swipe, countering with a jab to the gut and one uppercut to the chin.

Before he could capitalize on his advantage, Hondo's little pet jumped out from the tank right upon Quill's face.

"Get off me!" Peter said, throwing the creature down

With a powered swing of his leg, Peter punted the Kowakian monkey-lizard flying. With himself free, the Guardian quickly avoided Hondo's next attack, leaping back and landing on solid ground.

"Your situation is hopeless, Quill." Hondo stated from his place on his hover tank.

Before Peter could get back into action, the Kowakian monkey-lizard came back with a vengeance.

Peter flailed as he pried the little monster off his face. "What the hell is your deal?!" He yelled, before tossing it down and promptly shot and killed it.

"NO!" Hondo cried in terror, his face morphing into one of fierce fury. "And why'd you have to hurt such a sweet creature?"

"Sweet? That thing was bitter and you know it."

"Lies!... Okay, that one would be true. Eh~ I'll get another one."

"Hopefully, better house trained."

With that said, they went back into fighting each other.

Down in the village, the Guardians and bounty hunters were back outside the electric fence having pushed the attackers back.

Gamora punched a droid straight through the chest when she felt something whiz by her from behind.

Looking back, she saw a certain Felucian recovering his spear from the body of a Weequay.

"Welcome back, Dilanni. Are you alright?" Gamora said with a small smirk.

"Fine." Dilanni said confidently.

Back up at the cliffside, Peter was moving back from Hondo's rather erratic swings with his electro staff until the pirate swung in a wide horizontal arch…

Leaving him wide open.

Ducking forth, Quill pressed his shoulder against Hondo's waste and with a mixture of strength and momentum, flung his enemy over him.

Tossed overhead, the Weequay pirate lord slid across the cliff and nearly fell off the side. He quickly gasped onto the ledge and held onto dear life.

As this went on, several of Hondo's men spotted what's occurring up above.

"The captain!" One of them called out. "Let's go!"

The remaining pirates quickly vacated the farmland, either to hopefully save their boss or to make it back to their ship… for other purposes.

Seeing the pirates flee, Casiss wore a large smile on his face. "The day is won!" He cried out, earning cheers from his fellow farmers.

Back on the cliff, Peter watched Hondo dangling from the ledge.

"Help me!" Pleaded the pirate.

Peter was not convinced enough to help the man out, until...

"Quill… let me call off my men."

Star-Lord however pointed his quad blaster at the pirate when he heard something from behind.

He looked back in time to see the tank's cannon point directly at him.

Without even thinking, Quill jumped off the cliff and with his boot thrusters, prevented himself from crash landing on the ground below.

He stood up to see the others running over to him and they all had their heads pointed up at the top of the cliff where Hondo had climbed back up to.

"This effort…" He yelled at the top of his lungs. "Is no longer… profitable!" He roared out before making his way back to his ship.

Once boarding, the ramp closed off just as the ship took off into orbit.

They all watched as the ship flew off and away, eventually out of sight.

After a moment, the villagers began to cheer upon realizing their victory with the Guardians and remaining bounty hunters smiling in satisfaction at a job well done.

The next day, while the village's mood was high, there was a sense of melancholy as there were several graves that were made for the fallen.

Multiple mounds of the villagers that had braved the battle to defend their home with two graves at the head of them all.

One had the helmet of Serapis' mechanical body on a pole whilst the other had the cloak of Rumi Paramita.

The villagers had honored the warriors who fell to defend their village and would make sure that they would be remembered as heroes rather than simply hired guns to protect their village.

Eventually, Casiss along with a majority of the villagers stood at the edge of the town with the six surviving mercenaries standing before them.

"There are crops to harvest, fields to till, huts to rebuild. Now… let us rest so we may work in peace." With the villagers disbursing to return to their homes and earn a pleasant rest, Cassis turned to the rest of the hired bounty hunters. "How can I ever thank you for saving our village?"

"We didn't save your village, Cassis. Your people did." Quill said with a smile.

"For the first time in my memory, my people don't have to be afraid. We will never forget you."

"I sure hope you don't." Rocket said as he was sitting on the crate of Sillim seeds they have earned for this job.

Right next to Rocket stood Embo, who was sitting on a stack of Sillim that both he and Sugi will be splitting up for their additional earnings. Presently, he was sporting several bandages to help deal with his injuries from the previous night.

"I see myself light on company." Sugi said not far from the Guardians. "Do you want to hit a bar somewhere and celebrate a job well done?"

"Now you're talking my language." Rocket said encouragingly. "Could go for a solid drink right about now."

"It was good working with you all." Gamora said earnestly.

Embo let out a few words making Peter hum.

"That doesn't sound like a bad idea." Quill admitted. "Maybe you can let Rocket tinker with your hat there. Make it more awesome."

"Comment: I would advise you to do so, Kyuzo. The rewards are well worth it." HK hefted up his rifle and showed off several features he never got to use in the middle of the fight.

Embo hummed in consideration as the group began to walk away from the village towards their ships.

"I admit, it was nice working with you lot." Sugi said just before entering her ship with Embo in tow.

"We'll see you guys back on Tatooine." Quill called out. "First drinks on us."

"We'll count on that."

_-In an undisclosed location-_

A small ship flew through the empty vacuum, it's destination a brownish grey planet.

There were several ships in orbit that if one were to look closely, there were multiple "droids" working around the clock to make the ships stronger.

The small ship passed by the larger ones, heading down to the planet's surface towards a particularly ominous and large factory.

Small droids and star fighters flew in and out of the factory with this one going straight to the top of the factory, flying just above one of the pillars that billowed out smoke. The ship hovered over the factory for a brief moment until a landing pad appeared from the pillar.

It landed and the pillar descended down into the factory.

As it went down, it passed by multiple lines, conveyors, cranes and areas where multiple droids of multiple sizes with the same overall aesthetic were being made.

It eventually stopped upon a floor where there were multiple ships of similar design being stored. The hatch opened with a damaged but still functioning droid coming out and taking to the air.

The droid arrived at a single door at the end of a long corridor.

The door opened with the droid entering into a circular chamber.

In the center was a singular metallic chair hooked up with multiple wires and pipes.

And seated upon this throne was a tall, metal individual that radiated danger and power.

"I see you've returned from your trip." The beings' voice was a strange blend of synthetic and organic. "How was it?"

Rather than answering verbally, the droid had its blue eyes blink rapidly before stepping forward to its master.

Reaching off to the side, the being grasped onto a robotic head and gazed upon the lifeless optics.

The droid's head was then detached from the rest of its body and was raised slightly above the being that held it.

It held the head for a few moments as it gathered the information that it had brought to him.

He hummed aloud as he replayed the audio and visual of the battle that this droid was a part of.

"Earth music?" He murmured to himself.

As far as he was aware, the only semblance of Earth culture was with the Avengers within Republic space. How did it get out there?

"A talking raccoon? And a human? Like a legit Earth human?"

His optics opened with a sinister grin forming.

"Hmm, well well. These Guardians are an interesting new factor on the board." The being tossed the head back to the droid, who caught it's severed head. "Get yourself fixed up and get back to work."

Leaning back into his chair, Ultron continued to monitor his work, knowing that soon… his time would come.

**Alright everybody, that one was a great time but I think, no I know there's only one way to close out this chapter.**

-Earth-

The day was… somber.

One might assume that it'd be a great day with how sunny it was yet it was not so.

In a graveyard, an assembly of all sorts of individuals were brought together. The day was shining with the skies ever so clear, yet it didn't raise the mood present in the area.

Individuals from all walks of life stood around a grave with their heads hung low.

Tears were flowing as each one of them dropped a single flower atop the casket with thousands more in attendance.

It was sudden and without warning.

But devastating all the same.

Nearby, a family of royalty stood closest to the grave with the group all being women. One was the elder of the trio, wearing a small crown atop her head with her arms around the shoulder of the youngest.

The youngest held hands with the middle-aged woman who had exceptionally radiant silver hair yet radiance was not what emanated from her.

Behind her were multiple costumed heroes with various colors adorning them all with the uniting symbol of X found somewhere on their uniform.

Beside them were a family of four, each sporting the number 4 on their chests or in the case of their biggest member, upon his belt.

In another area stood a small band of misfit heroes, who _Defended_ their respective small communities from the criminals preying on the weak.

At another section, a team of _Guardians_ were present to help support their grieving comrades.

The last of the large assemblage were a group of equally diverse heroes with them ranging from covert spies, to gods, mechanical geniuses, old soldiers and neighborhood heroes.

They stood for what seemed like an eternity but not one wished to leave.

In their eyes, it was too soon.

Far too soon.

Death would always claim them all in the end but there were those instances where they wished there was more time.

Brief as it may have been however, his legacy is now etched forever in stone.

In a dark land with a bright purple, starlite sky, a lone man wandered around the tall grassy landscape.

"Heya King T'challa."

T'challa looked back and saw someone he didn't expect to see here of all places. "Stan? What are you doing here?"

Stan 'the Man' Lee smiled bashfully. "Well… I figured I would have had to wait a while longer for all of ya but you got here sooner than most."

"Yeah… I did, didn't I?"

Stan wrapped a comforting, almost fatherly arm around the king with his beaming grin in place.

"It's a great view on the way up there. But I figure it's better going up with company than going alone."

"Very true."

"Well come on, there's this one bar that you'll no doubt enjoy." Stan said, the two beginning to climb up some stairs appearing from out of nowhere. "I made sure for Ditko and Kirby to save ya a seat."

"Thanks Stan."

"No, Thank you, T'Challa."

…

**Goodbye, friend. We will miss you, Chadwick Boseman. You earned your rest with your four yearlong battle against cancer. Hope you have a great afterlife. And long live the King. WAKANDA FOREVER.**

**Yeah, it hurts just writing this scene.**

**It's small. I know it is. But I can't think of any other way to express this.**

**Jebest4781: Most would do simple shout outs, but we felt such an… event… needed something more.**

**FMW: It's hard to really describe such a loss cause I am actually tearing up slightly as I write this message. When we all** _**really** _ **think about it, these past ten years, for us fans of comic books, for us fans of nerd fandoms everywhere these have been some of the greatest ten years of our lives. We've had the MCU, the DC movies, The CW shows, the Netflix Marvel Heroes, multiple games, comics, shows, so on and so forth be brought to us and while there were times where they weren't the best, it only makes the great ones stand out that much more.**

**Jeb: Same here man. Then again, we have lost a lot of people this year and it's been hard. Can't express myself well enough to make this right. But I will at least say this, live out your life to the fullest and enjoy the experiences, both the good and the bad. It's the experiences that give life meaning, despite the circumstances.**

**FMW: Life is never gonna be easy. It will bring you down hard but in the word of JFK, we stride to words those challenges not because they are easy but because they are hard. To better ourselves and have the greatest moments of our lives shine brightly even in the hardest of times. Life will go on, without question.**

**We're all gonna feel his absence the next time we see an MCU film. But we should also look at the brief but impactful and monumental legacy of Chadwick Boseman, our King of Wakanda he had left behind. And it is a damn powerful one.**

**Once again, from me and Jebest4781, Rest In Peace Chadwick Boseman and thank you all for reading.**

**As Always Have Nice Day.**


	45. Biological Warfare

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Cover poster for this arc here
> 
> https://www.deviantart.com/freemanwriter/art/Blue-Shadow-Virus-854927549

**Rate Read and Review and as Always Have Nice Day.**

Avengers Infinite Wars Chapter 45: Biological Warfare

"Wonder if this counts as your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-man."

Peter Parker AKA the Amazing Spiderman was currently web swinging across the large city planet of Coruscant.

This had become a daily occurrence up to this point whenever he wasn't off-world, assisting in the war and looking for the missing heroes from Earth.

The thought itself still boggled Peter's mind.

Earlier in 2015 he was worried about high school and all that jazz.

Then the spider-bite and nine months later, he's in space in what appeared to be another galaxy fighting an intergalactic war with the Avengers.

How in God's name did that even happen?

Last he checked, the biggest concerns on Peter's list was school and…

Landing atop a building, Spiderman sat down and removed his mask with a solemn expression.

Running a hand through his hair, Peter gazed upon the endless city planet watching as multiple ships flew about upon the highways of this place. Or however it was that they dictated highways function on the planet.

'Wonder how Aunt May is doing.' Peter thought with a sullen expression.

He could only imagine the amount of worry his guardian is dealing with right now.

Forget freaking out. Since he had been here for so long, God knows how she's reacting to it. Maybe she went straight to Mr. Stark. He wouldn't put it past her.

His thought process was cut off at the sight of several LAAT gunships flying off towards an area with quite a sizable group of clones.

Eyes narrowed, Spidey quickly slipped his mask back on and leapt forward to pursue after them.

Managing to stick onto a Gunship, he carefully maneuvered around the open panels and stuck his head out for the Clones inside to see.

"Hey Commander Thorn."

The Clones inside all jolted at the sound of his voice, some reaching for their blasters when the aforementioned Commander sagged in relief.

"Kriffing hell, stop doing that, Spidey." Thorn said good naturedly.

Peter only chuckled, jumping into the gunship.

"Hey guys." Spider-man said cheerfully. "Jek, Noland, Merv. Good to see you all."

The Clones all greeted him in turn, Jek patting the web-head on the shoulder.

"Joining us for another wild ride?" Jek asked knowingly.

"Ah come on Jek, where's the fun in sitting at the temple all day twiddling my thumbs." Peter countered with a grin underneath his mask with Jek laughing heartily.

It was funny how it had been only a few weeks, months by now, but ever since Peter began his own patrols across Coruscant he began encountering the Coruscant Guard more and more.

At first, it was a bit of a strange rivalry of sorts that had developed, though it was really more one-sided if anything.

But several Clones vouched for him, citing how he saved a great many people back during the Zillo Beast rampage some of which were Clones.

Though it was slow at first, overtime and interactions, many of the Coruscant Guards began regarding Peter in a friendlier light. Upon learning he was one of the Avengers, heroes who have also been seen throughout Coruscant at several points, their relationship only grew more positive.

Peter had actually on more than one occasion simply left to go hangout with the guards at their station at one point.

They were all great for the most part.

Only one seemed to be a bit of a detractor with that being Commander Fox.

Apparently, to him, the Avengers were wild cards who weren't loyal to anyone but themselves and… to a degree he may be right.

But in the mind of Peter, the Avengers loyalty was the safety of innocent lives.

Something he would take direct action in.

Such as now with Commander Thorn explaining to him about a crew of criminals that were causing a serious ruckus not far from a district where many everyday business folks lived.

"What's going on then?" Peter asked as the Gunships continued flying on their path towards their destination.

"From what our reports have told us, looks like some kind of turf war between local gangs." Thorn explained, helmet with spray painted red wings tucked under his arm.

The black outline around his white lenses narrowed as Peter looked ahead.

He then grabbed some small square-like devices out from his built in utility belt in his suit.

"Here ya go, Thorn." He held up the devices. "Web grenades, courtesy of your friendly neighborhood Spiderman."

Thorn blinked in surprise, taking the "grenades" out from Peter's hand to examine them.

"Just push the center there and toss 'em." Spiderman explained, pointing to the small spider emblem in the center.

Nodding appreciatively, Thorn blinked as he looked up to see the young superhero backing away to the edge.

"Race you there." Spiderman cheerfully said, backflipping out of the gunship and web-swinging with great speeds.

Thorn gaped before scrunching his face up and sliding his helmet on.

"Come on boys, we gotta hurry or else he's getting all the credit again." Thorn encouraged with the Clones yelling aloud in agreement.

Far ahead of the gunship was the web-head who was swinging towards the sound of sirens and blaster fire increasing his speed a moment later.

There, he saw multiple individuals engaged in a small skirmish with a few dozen individuals firing at one another.

Peter also spotted a few individuals in white armor with red tinting, trying to get people to safety while also fighting back against these criminals.

Throwing his arms out wide in the air, two web nets shot out from his elbows, connecting to his lower waste. He glided forward at an angle, gaining speed as he drew closer to the skirmish.

As he drew closer, within his mask was the HUD of his suit which quickly marked multiple individuals in the area.

The Clones were friendlies, the civilians were priority and the criminals shooting up the place where the enemies for obvious reasons.

Once he was within range, Spiderman immediately fired two web-lines and caught two thugs straight away. They were slammed by his webbing, trapping them to the ground or nearby walls.

Many began looking up, with several clones immediately recognizing who it was and began to cheer aloud.

With the Avenger coming in to help, they began moving with renewed vigor, assisting the civilians away with several of them moving in to fight off the criminals that were terrorizing the streets.

No less than a minute later did the cavalry arrive with Commander Thorn leading the charge.

With the combined efforts of the Clone guards and Spiderman, the rival gang members were all rounded up and detained, all being shipped off to the nearby holding facilities for criminals.

Once every civilian was treated and accounted for, Thorn and Peter were speaking to one another.

"Thanks again for help, Spiderman." Thorn said earnestly, the two shaking hands.

"Hey no problem, Thorn." Spidey waved off. "Anything to help."

Peter briefly looked behind him, watching as the Clones were rounding up the gangsters and shoving them into ships that would take them to prison.

"There sure are a lot of these guys lately." Peter muttered in concern.

"No surprise there." Thorn said with his arms crossed. "With the war going on and the loss of Ziro the Hutt, crime is all around the place."

"Ziro the Hutt?" Peter spoke up in confusion.

"You weren't here for that?" Thorn asked in surprise.

"I was elsewhere." Peter said in a vague manner.

"Well… to put it plainly, Ziro the Hutt was basically the main crime lord here that was arrested a while back after his plots against the Republic. Once he was taken away…"

"Power Vacuum." Peter finished with a grimace, Thorn nodding.

This kinda sounds like what happened back on Earth in Manhattan when Matt took down the crime lord known as Wilson Fisk. He remembered reading about it all online and meeting the man who took down Fisk both in and out of costume was crazy awesome.

"We got everything handled here, Spidey." Thorn said, making the young vigilante look up to the Commander. "You head on back and… patrol or whatever it is you were gonna do."

"Probably patrol." Peter admitted with a shrug of his shoulders with Thorn shaking his head in amusement.

"Go on ahead then, Pete."

"See ya Thorn." Spiderman said with a two finger salute to the Commander. "Say hello to Thire for me, will ya?"

Thorn only nodded, waving goodbye to the Queens native hero watching as he swung away.

"Wish I could do that." Thorn said to himself, turning away to focus on the situation at hand and began sending out orders to any Clone nearby that appeared to be free to assist others.

Spiderman began swinging back towards the Jedi Temple, the building being easily recognizable in the distance.

As he was moving through the buildings and cars, something popped up on his HUD.

There was an Avenger nearby.

Blinking in surprise, Peter looked about rapidly until he spotted the identified Avenger.

It was Sam walking out of a building looking rather… flustered.

He was adjusting his wingsuit and checking himself over when…

"Hey Sam!"

Wilson jolted, looking up, Sam's eyes widened at the sight of Spiderman swinging down to him.

"Peter." Sam said with a strained voice.

The younger hero landed before him, throwing his arms out.

"What're you doing out here, Sam?"

Sam squirmed slightly.

"Er… Well, you see…"

Before the winged Avenger was able to form a proper answer, someone jumped upon him from behind with their arms around his shoulders.

"Sammy." The woman on his shoulders whined. "Why did you leave without saying goodbye? Weren't we meant to go out for breakfast?"

Sam froze, his face cringing as he saw Spidey's white mask irises growing wide. The woman appeared human, but she was clearly not with her hot pink skin and purple hair.

"Sorry Dani." Sam said carefully. "But I gotta go and take care of business with the Avengers right now."

The woman named Dani looked up and saw Spiderman standing before them, the hero waving awkwardly.

"Oh my." Dani removed herself from Sam and stepped forward to take Peter's hand to shake. "It's a pleasure to meet another Avenger like yourself. You must be Spiderman."

"Uh… yeah." Peter said bashfully, rubbing the back of his head.

"I've heard so much about you." Dani said excitedly. "You and your team have been all over the Holo-net and I've seen you swinging around the city helping people all the time."

"You can see me in all this mess?" Peter asked, pointing up to the many flying ships going in all directions.

"You're quite easy to spot." Dani said, moving back to Sam and ensnaring his arm.

"How'd uh… how'd you two meet? Peter asked awkwardly.

"Oh it was so romantic." Dani declared, swooning against the former aviator. "There I was, standing about on a balcony for a dreadful business party when chaos and commotion passed by in the blink of an eye. Suddenly, I was falling and then I was swept up in the air."

Dani then openly jumped with Sam instinctively throwing his arms out to catch her with him stumbling slightly yet he still managed to hold her in his arms. The pink-skinned humanoid threw her head back, back of her hand upon her forehead with one leg up.

"My dashing hero caught me in his muscular arms, like an angel from above." Dani then sat up to place a passionate quick peck on Sam's cheek with the Avenger being unable to deny the small grin.

"That's really awesome." Peter said with a thumbs up of approval with Sam giving him a flat stare.

"It is!" Dani jumped down, throwing her arms around Falcon with a squeal. "I never would have believed I'd be saved by a _hero."_

She then began showering the Avenger with kisses all over his face with Sam chuckling slightly.

"Alright Dani." Sam said, taking her hands into his own. "I'll give you a heads up when I'm available next time. Promise."

Dani then gave the Avenger a sultry look, leaning in to kiss him passionately, pulling away a few seconds later. From the corner of her eye, she saw Spiderman had turned away taking great interest in the sky above.

"We should do this again soon, Wilson. _Real_ soon." She said with a coy smile. "I'm available all of next week."

With a wink and one last kiss, she sauntered back into the building she and Sam stayed at the night prior with an emphasis on swaying her hips which caught Sam's gaze.

"Lord have mercy." Sam said to himself, turning to Spidey who was whistling innocently with him still looking up. "Alright kid, you could look now."

Peter coughed awkwardly into his hand. "So~... how long has that been-"

"Few times now." Sam remarked. "She's…. She's real passionate."

"I could tell." Peter said cheekily getting Sam to deadpan at him. "What is she, by the way?"

"Says her species is called Zeltron." Sam said, the two beginning to walk. "Apparently very passionate and…" he coughed into his hand. "A bit promiscuous."

Peter snorted. "Yeah, I haven't had much luck with girls back home but even I could tell that much."

Sam huffed good naturedly, lightly nudging the New York superhero.

"She told me that her species emits Pheromones towards people they find attractive." Sam said.

"Oh~" Peter said with intrigue. "So she must really like you then."

Wilson couldn't help but smirk with a fond look in his eyes. "Yeah she's… something special, I could tell ya that much."

"Wait till the others hear of this!" Spiderman declared cheerfully.

"Say any word…"

"Oh and what, you'll kill me?" He quipped. "Come on, I bet Captain Rogers is gonna love this. Maybe you can egg him on to get someone special too."

Sam chuckled to himself, knowing that is easier said than done.

But then…

He has seen how he's interacted with a particular Jedi whenever the two of them were at the Jedi temple together.

It may seem innocent and simple with how they really only train together for the most part. But from what Nat told him, there were a few instances where she saw the two just talking and spending time together.

So maybe…

Shaking his head, he activated his wing suit with Peter swinging up into the air.

"Where were you this time?" Sam asked, making conversation as the two went back to the Jedi Temple.

"Oh you know, the usual." Peter said with a shrug. "Web Swinging, crime fighting, helping out the Clone guards, stopping turf wars and such."

"Kinda sad how even in space, that shit's common."

"I know, right?"

_-Scene Cut-_

Soon enough, the duo of Parker and Wilson returned to the Jedi Temple with them both greeting several familiar faces of the Jedi Order.

They entered the temple together when they heard the sound of chatter not far ahead.

"...re about this Padme?" said the familiar voice of one Anakin Skywalker.

"They wouldn't have contacted me about this matter if they weren't sure." The two heard the concerned tone of the Senator of Naboo, Padme Amidala. "This is serious, Anakin. I have to go check it out."

"I wasn't planning on stopping you." Anakin's voice was expectant. "It's your homeworld."

Sam and Peter eventually reached the doorway from where the chatter was coming from, seeing Anakin and Padme standing in a room with the holo projection of Naboo behind him and R2-D2 standing with C3P0 in the corner of the room.

"Hey guys." Peter said aloud, making both look up at the two Avengers.

"Peter, Sam." Padme greeted warmly. "How are you two?"

"All good here, Padme." Sam said, clasping Anakin's wrist with the Jedi doing the same in turn. "What's going on here? We heard some serious talking tones coming from here."

"Well you walked in on something serious." Anakin remarked, crossing his arms. "Padme here has just heard from Naboo that droids from the Separatists were spotted on the planet."

Sam grimaced, recalling vividly their first run in with the Droids since arriving in this galaxy.

"Is everything alright there?" Peter asked in concern.

"They seem to be… for the most part." Padme said in an unsure manner. "But knowing the Separatists, we can never be too sure."

"I thought after the last time they wouldn't be present on Naboo again." Anakin said, giving Sam a knowing look.

"Seems our presence there didn't deter them from coming back." Sam said with a frown.

"So what're you gonna do?" Peter asked Padme.

"I need to go to Naboo immediately." Padme stated. "But… I can't deny that if there are Separatists there, I would prefer coming with a Republic fleet in tow to help out."

"And unless they're sure, we have to sit here on standby." Anakin adds with a small grumble.

Sam and Peter shared a look with each other.

"So… You need some help?" Peter asked.

"Pardon?" Padme said looking up at the young hero.

"We can go with you to Naboo." Peter said chipperly.

"If it wouldn't be too much trouble." Sam said.

Padme stared in slight surprise at the offer before she was giving them both a beaming smile of appreciation.

"None at all." Padme said, grateful to them both.

"Hey, wait, but what about-"

"Anakin, in case you forgot, we ain't Republic." Sam quickly cut him off. "Freelance in some technical terms."

Realization dawned on Anakin's face with him grinning a moment later. "You guys are a lifesaver."

"I'll tell the others and see who can come along." Peter said, rushing out of the room.

"You know you can… ah forget it." Sam said.

"What?" Anakin inquired.

"He forgot about our comms." Sam said, tapping his ear.

"Ah, right." Skywalker nodded before addressing the Winged Avenger. "Are you going to Naboo, Sam?"

Sam shrugged. "Not sure yet. We'll decide when the others come."

Eventually, the small group of Captain Rogers, Black Widow, Spiderman and War Machine were chosen to go along with Padme to Naboo.

Sam was asked to stay behind to hold down the fort as the temporary leader for the Avengers left behind and in case of anything happening that they can do to help with.

The Avengers have long since agreed to always have at least one away team out and about in the galaxy and one back on Coruscant. They had the numbers for it and they had a track record of finding lost Avengers by happenstance by simply being out and about in the galaxy.

So they'll continue that trend.

That and Sam's suit were going through adjustments courtesy of Scott and Hope.

_-Scene Cut-_

After some time through hyperspace, they arrived at Naboo.

It was a rather nice day from what the group is seeing so far, but the image was ruined with what troubles were brewing on the planet.

Padme was at the helm of the ship with the four Avengers that had been chosen to accompany her sitting behind her.

Arriving at the Naboo capital of Theed, their ship docked in the main hangar of the palace. The moment it landed; the ramp couldn't open fast enough for the ship's occupants to file out.

When they did, the group was met with Captain Typho and the current ruler of Naboo, Queen Neeyuntnee.

"We came as soon as we could, my lady." Said Padme, practically running down the ramp of her private spacecraft. "Have you found any more droids?"

"Only the three. But you can be sure they _aren't_ tourists." Spoke Queen Neeyuntnee. "I need you to convince the Senate or the Jedi Council or whoever is in charge of this terrible war that we are threatened."

"Sorry to inform you, my lady, but the Jedi won't be coming anytime soon." Padme said apologetically. "They'll need proof of active involvement before any of them can come here. But thankfully, some of the Avengers offered their assistance."

"We thank you for such a notion." The Queen of Naboo bowed her head. "Your actions from months ago are still remembered by the people of this Planet."

"We'll do what we can, Ma'am." Steve promised.

"Since just a few battle droids ain't gonna be enough." Said Rhodey, tone dry with Natasha elbowing the armored colonel.

"We won't let you guys down." Peter said with a reassuring smile.

Suddenly, Captain Typho had his wrist communicator go off. _"Captain Typho, the battle droid is ready for analysis."_

"This way." Typho gestured for them to follow after him.

They eventually arrived at a room with multiple shelves of droid parts, several computers screens and two tables of scrapped Separatist droids.

Two were basic B1 battle droids with the other being a highly advanced Tactical Droid.

"A tactical droid?" Rhodey said straight away. "There's definitely more out there."

"That's what we believe as well." Queen Neeyuntnee declared. "But as the unfortunate news from Senator Amidala has said. No assistance until we find more proof."

"That's what we're here for." Widow said, walking around the table with the others standing at the head of the droid.

"Tap?" Steve spoke up.

"Yes Comrade Steve?" The Avengers personal AI, Tap spoke up through Rhodey's suit. "How can I be of assistance."

"See what you could find in this droid." Steve said.

"As you wish, Comrade Steve." Said the AI before doing his assigned task.

"Have you been able to retrieve any information prior to our arrival?" Nat inquired.

"Unfortunately, the Naboo security who discovered them prefer to shoot first and retrieve data later." Spoke the Naboo queen.

"I'm getting a bad feeling about this. With your permission, Senator Padme, I would like to return back to the ship." 3P0 requested.

"Permission denied." Padme stated.

"Denied?" the protocol droid winced.

"3PO, if Tap can't find anything, you may be able to get some information out of him."

"It is unfortunate to say that this has proven to be true." The downtrodden voice of Tap rang out from the droid, transferring himself back into Rhodey's suit. "It's wires are crossed and corrupted. No doubt from whoever fired upon this droid. All I could do is simply turn it back on to its base functions."

"That'll have to do." Nat shrugged. "Keep it blind, why don't you? Don't want to give away our presence."

As the order was given, the droid sat up with its optics nonfunctioning.

"Cannot see. Where am I?" Spoke the tactical droid, looking all over the place.

"You are in very good hands on board a Separatist ship. Count Dooku himself intends to reward you for your bravery." 3P0 said in a calming voice.

"Laying it a little thick there, 3PO." Nat remarked.

"Bravery?" the droid was confused.

"For your assignment on Naboo." the golden protocol droid stated. "Do try to activate what's left of your memory. We all want to hear your tale of medical heroics."

The tactical droid's voice modulator warbled a little as it spoke. "V-V-Vi-Vir-Virus."

That certainly was not what they were expecting to hear.

"Yes, the virus." 3P0 encouraged. "You do remember. Please continue."

"A s-s-small amount leaked out. Must contain. Naboo cannot know. Lab must remain secret." the droid droned on.

"A secret lab on Naboo? Where? You must-"

"It is a secret." The tactical droid halted from talking any further as if it finally realized something. "This is no Separatist ship."

"Unless you want to become a box of spare parts, you'll tell us where that lab is." Rhodey said, shoulder cannon pointed straight at the droid's head.

"The lab is secret." the tactical droid denied.

"Tap!" Natasha called out.

"On it comrades!"

The droid reached up with its jolting and cracking joints for its head, grabbing it tightly in an attempt to remove its head when there was a crackle of energy that travelled up from its body to the back of its cranium. It halted in its movements and slumped over.

"Tap?" Steve called out.

"Sorry comrades." Tap said. "I'm trying to sift through what I can and piece it together."

The people in the room all slumped in slight defeat when Natasha squinted her eyes at the droid.

"What's with the mud?" She asked.

"What's that?" Typho perked up.

"This thing is covered in mud." Natasha pointed out. "Where'd you shoot this thing down?"

"In the grasslands just outside of the Capital." Typho elaborated.

"The grasslands?" Steve leaned on the table. "That's how they got covered in mud?"

"Add that to our very long list of questions." Said Typho. Before he could continue to speak, he paused.

He moved back in surprise by the sight of a blue bug flying by him.

A bug Peter quickly caught in his hands.

"Well hello there, little guy. Where'd you come from?"

"Huh." The Queen of Naboo moved forward with intrigue. "A blue weevil."

"Weevil? There's Pokémon here?" Peter asked in bewilderment.

The natives of Naboo gave the webslinger a confused look, to which Steve quickly spoke 'Ignore him.'

"What's so special about this bug?" Rhodey asked.

The Queen of Naboo hummed aloud in thought. "Captain Typho said they took these droids in the grasslands. But… a blue Weevil here indicates they may have come from somewhere else."

The others were now drawn in as Neeyuntnee rubbed her chin in thought.

"Where?" Nat asked

"If I have this right, I believe those particular insects thrive in the mud under the perolte tree." Neeyuntnee said after several moments of thinking it over.

"...Like the mud on this droid." Realization soon hit Padme like a speeder. "The eastern swamps."

"I think we just found the location of that lab." Rhodey declared.

"Let's contact the Jedi." Padme said aloud.

The Avengers with the Naboo natives had sent out a transmission to Coruscant with Yoda and Mace Windu answering the call.

" _Senator Amidala."_ Grand Master Yoda greeted. _"A message for us, you have?"_

"We do, Master Yoda." Padme said. "We've recently discovered droids on Naboo, one of which spoke of a secret laboratory on the planet."

"They're planning an attack on Naboo." Typho said with conviction. "It's the only explanation."

"They didn't learn their lesson the first time, clearly." Steve said with a frown.

Yoda closed his eyes. _"Delicate the situation is. A great presence of the Dark Side, I feel."_

"Master Yoda?" Padme was now concerned.

" _Sending you, several Jedi we will."_ Yoda said. _"Master Luminara, she will come."_

"May I recommend General Kenobi and General Skywalker?" Padme then gave her reasons. "Relations with the Gungans are a little tense right now, but they trust General Kenobi like one of their own and both of them have experience dealing with tense situations on Naboo."

" _Send them we will."_ Spoke the grand master before he ended the transmission.

"I want as much information as possible before the Jedi arrive. See if you and 3PO can download any of the other battle droid's memories. I'm going to find that lab."

"Are you sure that's wise to go alone?" Questioned the captain of the palace security team.

"We'll go with her." Steve said. "Widow, Spiderman, you're coming with. Rhodey, stay behind and see what else you can find. Keep an eye out as well. If there is an attack coming, we'll want our walking arsenal to give the Separatists a warm welcome."

"Tap, hop on over to Peter's then." Rhodey instructed. "You could be more useful to them out there."

"Pardon comrade, but why?" Tap spoke up.

"What?" Rhodey was confused as were the other Avengers. "What do you mean "but why?"."

"There is an AI already programmed into young Comrade Peter's suit." Tap said making Peter gape.

"There is?!"

"Yes, I am surprised Mr. Stark did not tell you about this." Tap said.

"Look." Black Widow quickly cut in. "Let's talk about this later. We have a job to do right now."

"Agreed." Padme said with a nod. "Come on, let's get going."

"Before we go, mind waking up this AI in my suit?"

"Why of course Comrade Parker."

…

…

…

"Uh… Tap?"

"Seems you will need a specific means of activating this AI." Tap stated. "So unless Mr. Stark has given you any means…"

Peter only groaned while Steve patted the kid sympathetically. "You'll figure it out, Queens."

_-Scene Cut-_

Flying out towards the Eastern Swamps, the Avengers were now equipped with hazmat suits for protection from whatever this virus the droid mentioned could be.

As they flew over the plains of Naboo, Padme spotted a rocky structure up ahead and nearby it were several animals that were slumped over and not moving.

She landed the ship nearby with everyone moving to get out.

Departing from the ship, the group eyed the very sick Shaaks lying by the riverbank, who all seemed to be knocking at Death's door at any moment now.

"This is really bad." Peter said, crouching next to one of the poor creatures.

"What happened to them?" Steve asked with a disturbed look at seeing how blood shot the eyes of the Shaaks were.

"It must be that virus." Padme said in a grim tone. "We're definitely getting close."

As Peter was examining one of the creatures, he felt a tingle from the back of his head.

"Guys!" He whipped around in time to see a Gungan female strike Padme from behind.

A moment later, she was quickly disarmed by Steve with Natasha whipping out her DC-17 blaster pistols in the Gungans face.

"Whosa are you?" Said the attacker.

"We should be asking you the same question." Natasha said, moving her pistol closer. "You attacked us."

"Yousa appearan when meesa Shaakies all sicka." The Gungan rebuked. "Why yousa here?"

"Don't move." Steve ordered sternly. "We're not here to harm you."

"Whassa wis the helmets?"

"Precautions ma'am." Steve answered. "There's a virus going around."

The Gungan woman soon put two and two together before telling the group an important detail.

"Yousa okeyday is not in the air. It's in the water." the Gungan assured. "Meesa apologize for attackin' a you."

Hearing this bit of information, the group took off their helmets.

"Who are you?" Asked Padme.

"Meesa Peppi Bow." Said the identified female Gungan. "Yousa know what a happen?"

"We think the virus that made your animals sick came from the perlote trees."

Peppi nodded in understanding, pointing ahead now.

"Yousa follow thisa river. Yousa finda yousa perlote. Meesa take you."

Padme however stopped her, placing a hand on her shoulder.

"No, Peppi, you stay here. You'll be going home soon, I promise. I'll send some soldiers to pick you up and take you back to Theed. Explain to them about the river and they'll quarantine it off from the rest of the populace until we figure this out."

Nodding in understanding, Peppi went over to check on her sick creatures while the group returned to the ship and flew it upstream.

They eventually reached the eastern swamps, departing on the outskirts as there was no stable ground to be found that they could land the ship on.

"Keep your eyes open. Look for anything out of the ordinary." Padme said as they walked through the muddy ground.

Unbeknownst to the group, a scope popped out of the earth and spotted them all. And in the briefest of moments, it slunk back where it came from.

Peter paused, looking behind them only to find nothing.

"Peter?" Steve called out to him. "You alright?"

"Yeah…" Peter said absentmindedly. "Thought I saw something."

They continued on, looking around the swamp with a growing wariness.

Stopping at a more open area, they took a moment to gather their bearings.

"Where to now, Padme?" Natasha asked with the senator looking around.

"I'm not sure." Padme admitted. "The Eastern Swamp is one of the larger ones of Naboo and goes on for quite a while. It could take a while to search this place entirely."

Steve chose to look around, trying to find anything out of the ordinary when a light briefly got caught in his eye. Blinking, he turned to the ground and squinted at something shiny underneath all the mud.

Walking over to it, Steve narrowed his eyes before stomping his foot on the ground and was greeted with the sound of his boot meeting metal.

With a sweep of his leg, the mud was moved aside to reveal...

"Found something." Steve said aloud, the others standing around him a moment later. "Looks like an entrance hatch of some kind."

Padme only grinned triumphantly, going for her comms. "Captain Typho, I think we're standing right on top of the lab. I need a geo-scan of coordinates of SP127."

As the orders were being delivered, Peter's sixth sense was starting to go nuts.

"Uh, guys…"

"No way we're going to open this. We'll have to-"

"Freeze. Hold it right there."

The group whirled around, seeing the various Separatist droids aiming their weapons directly at them.

And they were not alone.

Standing among the droids were several individuals, one of which Natasha and Steve recognized.

"Kadrian Sey." Steve said aloud.

"Ah, you know me, Captain Rogers?" The Zabrak Acolyte of Count Dooku said with a mocking tone, igniting her crimson saber.

"Unfortunately." Steve said. "Aayla Secura spoke of you. Child kidnappers."

Sey's expression morphed into one of fury. "And the Jedi are not?!"

"I don't like it any more than you do." Steve admitted. "But at least they do it for a more noble reason compared to what you Sith are like."

"And how are we Sith like?" said a particularly large individual of the four Acolytes that stood before them. He had greyish skin with pale mint eyes and wore predominantly black garb with a metallic headpiece.

"Selfish, generic and evil." Spider-man listed off, getting into position.

"We do not need to fight." another of the Acolytes spoke up, eyes bandaged. "And if we do…"

He ignited his red lightsaber and pointed it at the Naboo Senator.

"Can you keep her safe?" He threatened.

"She can take care of herself, mind you." Padme declared, pulling out her own silver blaster.

"From these droids…" The bandaged Acolyte said, gesturing to the B1's and B2's. "Yes, perhaps. But from us? And him, I believe that to be false."

A warning screamed in the back of Peter's head before he and Captain Rogers were struck from a force from behind, sending them flying and crashing down to the ground.

Natasha spun round with a heel kick only for her leg to get caught and she was tossed aside.

Padme attempted to fire on the attacker only for her blaster to get swatted away and a moment later, she felt an arm around her body and a blade pressed to her neck.

"Try not to move too much." The man who held her hostage growled from behind his mask that was spray painted with white in a slight skull motif.

Upon getting back to his feet, Steve glared in recognition upon seeing who it was.

"Rumlow."

"Hey Cap." The former HYDRA agent turned world, now galactic, mercenary. "Fancy seeing you again. Hope you don't mind me being here. Got a job to do."

Steve, Peter and Natasha were now properly surrounded by the battle droids and the Dark Acolytes with Padme in the clutches of Rumlow.

"Give up." Rumlow growled, pressing the knife from his hydraulic gauntlets onto Padme's neck with a small bit of blood trickling down.

They knew they had no choice.

Several moments later, all three Avengers and the Senator were stunned into unconsciousness.

Soon after, they were all taken into the lab below.

Padme was cuffed with her hands behind her back while the Avengers were tied up with electrified "rope".

They were slowly coming too as Padme faced off against a tall humanoid alien wearing a white lab coat with blue-tinted skin, double-eyelids, large purple markings beneath his eyes and a slender face. Behind the droids and humanoid was the Zabrak Acolyte Kadrian Sey and that mercenary Rumlow.

Padme glared at the tall humanoid who approached them with the man pulling out a pair of small glasses and holding them up to his eyes.

"Who are you? Why are you holding us?" Padme question which went ignored by the man.

Peter groaned, slowly sitting up only to have his face abruptly grabbed and held up to the alien forcing him to be wide awake.

The young teen went bug-eyed at how close the humanoid was that examined him so intently.

"Wonderful specimens." The Humanoid spoke in a strangely… German accent. "What's a life-form like you doing in a _swamp_ like this?"

"I was about to ask you the same thing." Padme shot back at the man.

"Can you let go of my face?" Peter asked through his squished cheeks and lips.

The humanoid stepped back, tucking away his glasses.

"Thanks to the support of my compassionate friends in the Separatist alliance, I am creating _life_." he boasted in a grand manner.

Rumlow huffed in amusement while Kadrian merely rolled her eyes.

Everyone then heard the groan of a waking Captain America who was slowly getting to his knees.

"Is it me? Or did I wake up in Germany?" Steve asked with a dazed tone.

"No, you're not back on Earth, Rogers." Said Rumlow, causing Steve to quickly focus his attention and remember where he currently was right now.

He looked up at the scientist who was gazing down at the Captain with clear intrigue.

"Who are you supposed to be?" Rogers asked.

The tall alien grinned, grabbing the collar of his lab coat and straightening it out.

"Doctor Nuvo Vindi, one of the greatest scientists alive within this galaxy." The now identified mad doctor said in a grandiose fashion.

"Great, one who has a high opinion of himself." Natasha said dryly, also having awakened by now.

"When one such as myself has the capacity to create life, I believe confidence is a natural state of mind." Nuvo boasted.

"And how're you creatin' life?" Inquired the Black Widow.

"I'm so pleased you inquired." Nuvo said excitedly. "A demonstration is in order."

The mad scientist walked over to the nearby wall that was stacked with multiple shelves of vials containing a form of blue liquid.

Taking one of the containers out, he presented it with pride. "Allow me to present the return of the _infamous_ blue shadow virus."

"The blue shadow virus?" Padme repeated in disbelief. "That deadly disease is supposed to be extinct."

"Yes, it was wiped from the galaxy generations ago, but I have given it life once again." Nuvo exclaimed triumphantly.

"How is creating a virus that kills people also the same as creating life?!" Peter yelled out in anger now.

Nuvo only chuckled aloud.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yes, yeah, yeah, yeah, yes."

The Avengers and Senator stared in silence at the crazy and eccentric scientist.

"Oh finally you shut up." Peter slumped in relief. "Thought you were a literal broken record there."

Even if Nuvo didn't show it, he was offended. He then carried on. "Unfortunately, the blue shadow virus in its natural form thrives only in water, until I improved upon that weakness."

Walking over to a small pedestal that had several electric rods around it. Nuvo placed the vial on the pedestal and walked over to a computer terminal and flipped a switch.

Electricity began shocking the vial, with the liquid seemingly transforming.

Once the electro-shock session ended, the Senator and Avengers saw the vial's blue liquid turn into a swirling miniature cloud. It didn't take long for them to realize what just occurred.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, yes. Your eyes do not deceive you. I have _perfected_ an _airborne_ strain of the blue shadow virus." Nuvo proudly stated, holding up the vial of the now gaseous virus.

Coming in from the entrance of the lab was an LEP servant droid with a round device within its grasp.

"This is the last of the bombs, doctor." It said as it approached the scientist.

"I'm well aware this is the last. You think I'd lose count?" Nuvo snapped at the servant droid, snatching the deactivated bomb in the process. He then picked up the airborne vial and inserted it into the bomb. "The virus in its gaseous forms, combined with these bombs, will release the blue shadow virus back into the galaxy, more potent than ever before."

"So… the universe is completely unoriginal then?" Peter couldn't help but remark. "We're in another galaxy and there's a Generically Evil German Scientist who wants to do evil and considers himself misunderstood. I can't tell if that's boring or just plain lazy."

"It takes true genius to accomplish what I did!" Nuvo yelled out, pointing a dramatic finger at the web-head.

"Are you insane?" Padme cried out. "It's a deadly disease. No life-forms are immune to it. That's why it was eradicated."

"I believe that is his case, Padme." Nat said with a glare directed at the mad doctor.

"You mean _murdered_!" Nuvo exclaimed like a loon before handing the armed bomb to the LEP droid. "Take this away." With it scurrying off, the scientist approached the captives. "Meanwhile, as we speak, thousands and thousands of so-called superior life-forms are spreading their disease of war throughout the galaxy. Perhaps they are the ones who should be _eradicated_."

"Don't get any ideas, Vindi." Rumlow's gruff voice cut in through the Doctor's rant.

"In case you forgot, My master Dooku wishes to make sure that I bring any Avengers we capture to him." Kadrian added with Vindi quickly bowing.

"Yes, yes, yes, of course." Vindi said. "Anything for my great benefactor."

Rumlow and Steve only locked eyes, Natasha doing the same with Kadrian.

But Peter had his eyes on the wall that contained the vials of the Virus. In his mind, it was going over multiple plans on what they could possibly do to stop this madman from getting the virus out into the galaxy.

When he woke up, he tried finding his Avengers ID card only to not feel it on his person. His best bet was that Brock Rumlow and those Acolytes must have taken it along with Cap's and Widows. And if they were in a secret lab, there's a likelihood of communications being difficult to send out.

His time spent with the Avengers has taught him that he would need to bide his time and wait for the right opportunity at times rather than rushing in.

So for now, he allowed the droids to take him and the others away.

They would find their chance to strike back against this mad man and his hired muscle.

_-Scene Cut-_

Back with Rhodey who was going over what he had found on the Separatist situation on Naboo with Tap and Typho, he soon got a notification of the arrival of the Republic fleet.

Going to the hangar bay, he watched as several Gunships arrived and landed with Clones of the 212th, 41st and 501st coming out along with five familiar Jedi faces.

"Guys." Rhodey waved at them, he and Typho approaching the Jedi with the Gungan Peppi Bow who had come from the Grasslands being sent by Padme to them.

They walked up to one another with Luminara Unduli and her Padawan bowing in greeting.

"Hey Luminara, Barriss." Rhodey regarded them both. "Good to see you two again."

"It is good to see you as well, Colonel." Luminara greeted kindly with Barriss giving the armored Avenger a kind smile.

"I think we're well past the need for titles, Luminara." Rhodey said with a small smirk.

Typho all the while was speaking with Obi-wan, Anakin and Ahsoka.

"General Kenobi, Anakin, we're so glad-"

"Where's Senator Amidala?" Anakin cut the Captain off with a stern look

"She went to look for the lab that the Tactical droid spoke of." Rhodey answered.

"And you let her go?" Anakin asked in an agitated manner.

"You really think we can stop her?" Rhodey shot back with a raised brow.

"Senator Padme can be very hard to stop once she has made up her mind." C-3P0 chimed in with Anakin sagging a moment later in defeat.

"Yeah, good point. I know what you mean." Anakin relented. He knows how his wife can act sometimes.

Typho then cleared his throat aloud, gaining everyone's attention as he looked behind him to the Gungan female standing with them.

"This is Peppi Bow. She was the last person to see them. Padme sent her here to safety."

"Theysa is looking for the sick-maker." Peppi said straight away. "Meesa sees them near the Marsh lands."

"They?" Obi-wan said.

"She means Peter, Nat and Steve." Rhodey elaborated. "They went with her to investigate."

Hearing that three Avengers were with his secret wife and ones he trusted to a high degree alleviated a great deal of Anakin's concerns.

R2-D2 beeps a moment later with Anakin nodding at the astromech.

"Yeah you're right buddy."

"What shall we be doing now?"

"We gotta be careful." Rhodey advised with a straight-laced tone. "Typho and I got something new recently that has us worried. The others haven't called us back yet but we figure it may have to do with what we found out."

Anakin and Obi-wan exchanged looks with Luminara before turning to their Padawans.

"Ahsoka, Barriss, the two of you go with the Gungan. See if you can find them." Anakin instructed.

"You got it, Master." Ahsoka said, Barriss nodding with the two going off with Peppi not far behind.

"So what was that you mentioned about the others not calling you back just yet?" Luminara asked with Rhodey tilting his head back to the room where the scrapped droids were being held.

"Come on, we'll show you."

Soon after, the three Jedi were standing around a holo-table with Rhodey and Typho with everyone gazing at the head of a B1 battle droid.

"We did a robo-lobotomy on the battle droids and Tap managed to piece together this piece of memory." Informed the colonel Avenger before having the AI bring up what they found.

A moment later, the holo-visage of a tall and slender humanoid with dark marking under his eyes was displayed.

"Who is that?" Asked Kenobi.

"Dr. Nuvo Vindi, the senior medi for the Perma families. He disappeared ten years ago." Said Typho before the holo-visage played out.

" _Good news, my soulless automation friends. We now have enough of the blue shadow virus to start filling the bombs."_

"He said 'bombs'." 3PO said worriedly as R2-D2 blipped in agreement.

" _We will only need to send one bomb to each key star system. Work quickly. I want them ready to deliver-"_

Nothing further was played out as the message was clear as rain.

"We're dealing with a generic German scientist." Rhodey stated with his arms crossed and expression grim.

"The blue shadow virus." Luminara said with a dreaded face. "How is this possible?"

"If those bombs get delivered, we'll be facing a galaxy-wide plague." Obi-wan stressed out.

"The war will be the least of our worries." Luminara drearily said.

"There is some good news." Typho said, bringing up a display of a large multi-layered facility. "Senator Amidala found the lab. She sent us the coordinates before she disappeared. We've managed to get a geo-scan of the area."

"It's enormous." Kenobi commented.

"Looks like there are three entry points." Captain Typho then highlighted said three areas on the holo-map before highlighting one more spot. " _This_ appears to be the main lab."

"And the bombs?" Asked Luminara.

"There seems to be an above-average amount of radiation in this area." Typho highlighted another area on the geo-scan, closer to the overall center of the lab. "It's likely where they're being assembled."

"If Padme has alerted them to our presence in any way…" Obi-wan began.

"If Padme's in there and then we go in guns a-blazin', she may get killed." Rhodey pointed out.

"What about the others?" Anakin asked. "You said Steve, Nat and Peter are with her."

"They likely may have been captured." Luminara surmised.

"How can they get captured?" Anakin asked.

"Scott was." Rhodey reminded the Jedi Knight. "And it's likely this Vindi guy has some hired muscle to achieve this. We're gonna be putting all of our friends in danger."

"It's a risk we have to take. Dr. Vindi and those bombs _must not_ leave the lab." Obi-wan said firmly.

"And if they or we detonate one during the attack?" Anakin countered.

Bits of dread were soon heard in Kenobi's voice. "Better to have one planet infected than the entire galaxy."

"That's not gonna happen." Rhodey said with a sharp tone. "We're gonna get them all out of there no matter what. So get your head in the game Kenobi."

This was a rather startling proclamation that threw off the Jedi Master though he knows that Rhodey was right.

The thought of an entire planet suffering and perishing to a virus that had such a deadly reputation and effect was not something that he'd have on his conscious, Jedi Code or not.

_-Scene Cut-_

Peppi bow rode atop one of her Shaaks with Barriss and Ahsoka in tow, approaching a ship within the Eastern Swamps as the sun started to set in the horizon.

"Dis da ship belonging to them." Addressed the Shaak herder.

"So where are they?" Ahsoka inquired.

"Hopefully not very far." Barriss jotted in.

The trio hopped off the beast of burden, looking around.

Barriss kneeled down, hands grazing over footprints.

"Their tracks end here."

The two Padawans then heard a strange whirring sound with both looking at Peppi who was suddenly being elevated.

The girls looked down in time to see something with a lens rise up from the ground with Peppi standing atop it.

Immediately, they moved out of sight from the lens, careful to keep themselves out of sight.

"Peppi, it's a scope. Don't let them see you." Ahsoka said in a whisper in case the scope had audio recording.

"Wah!" Cried out the Gungan woman, flailing about in order to remain on top of the rotating object.

It became too much for the Gungan as she was about to fall. This caused Barriss to use the Force and had her land behind a large tree branch protruding out of the ground right next to them. Once this occurred, both padawans followed suit right before the scope did another rotation pass. The trio hid in their spot, keeping an eye on the scope that was in the direction of their mount.

Exchanging looks, Ahsoka held up her wrist comms and contacted Anakin.

"Master, are you there?"

" _Did you find them?"_ Questioned Skywalker.

"Negative. I'm pretty sure they're inside the lab. The whole area is wired with pressure sensors. There's no way to get in without being detected. But I'm more than happy to-"

" _Do not attempt to get inside."_ Obi-wan warned before a holo image of the geo-scan appeared before them. And one particular area was highlighted. _"I need you to detonate a bunker bomb at the south end of the facility. It should cause a nice distraction and seal off the bomb area while we come in through the hatches."_

"You can count on us."

" _Rex and his men will be right behind you, Snips."_ Spoke Anakin. _"They'll have your back."_

" _The two of you must stay out of sight and infiltrate the base."_ Luminara added. _"Focus on securing the lab. The others I feel can take care of themselves."_

Back with the three Jedi and Avenger, they went to their respective gunships.

"The Dark Side of the Force…" Luminara said warily. "I sense its presence here."

"Someone like those Acolytes could be here?" Rhodey asked in concern.

"That may be the case." Luminara said.

Rhodey hummed in thought. "Maybe they did capture them."

As dusk settled upon the land, it was time to initiate the plan. And hopefully it will be prior to whatever has happened to their captured comrades.

_A few minutes earlier…_

Nuvo Vindi was studying a particularly fascinating object.

"This shield is amazing." Nuvo remarked. "I have never seen something as strong as this material. Rumlow. You said you are aware of what this metal is."

"Vibranium." The Merc said gruffly. "And don't get comfortable with it. I'll be taking it with me."

"And what makes you think you shall so easily take it?" Bil Valen, one of the Dark Acolytes asked challengingly. "I am certain that our Master Dooku would find it very useful."

"Please." Rumlow scoffed. "You dumbasses wouldn't know the first thing to do with it."

"Is that a fact?" Bil said getting into Rumlow's face with the mercenary not backing down when Kadrian got in between them both.

"Enough you two." Kadrian said in annoyance.

Both had their eyes locked on one another's until Valen relented.

_***KABOOOOM*** _

The entire facility shook with the sound of a sudden explosion rocking the lab.

"We have a breach!" Vindi yelled out. "All droids to hatch number one."

The doctor looked to his prisoners, grabbing a helmet and placing it on.

"Friends of yours, I assume." Nuvo remarked. "They arrived quicker than I would've thought."

Seeing the doctor place a helmet on, Rumlow's eyes narrowed, walking right up to the doctor.

"What is i-GAK."

The former HYDRA agent gabbed the top of the helmet and pulled him down to his level.

"You're not planning on unleashing that virus now, are ya?" he threatened.

"What is the point of having a virus if you do not use it?" Vindi asked in a rhetorical manner.

"Where's the cure?" Rumlow tightened his grasp upon the doctors shoulder making him wince.

"I-I didn't make one."

Rumlow scoffed disbelievingly. "The hell you didn't. You no doubt would've made one in case this shit got loose by pure accident. Something like when the virus got leaked into the water system earlier."

The Merc looked to the acolytes. "You'd really be comfortable without knowing there's a cure? We're gonna be dealing with a lot of bullshit real soon. You don't want to be taking any chances."

The acolytes looked between one another; a silent conversation being conducted until they all nodded in agreement.

"The mercenary is no doubt holding a compelling argument." Rodri, the mint-eyed, grey-skinned acolyte pointed out.

"The cure, Doctor Vindi." Prosset Dibs said with an expectant posture. "Where. Is. It?"

Vindi wanted to argue but the telltale sounds of blaster fire meant that now wasn't the time to be prideful or stubborn.

"I'm going with the good doctor here." Crossbones said to the others. "Someone wanna come with for some added _protection_?"

Kadrian and Rodri opted to go with the mercenary whilst Prosset and Valen stayed to watch over the Avengers and Senator.

On their way out of the room, Rumlow made sure to take Cap's shield with him.

Outside, Ahsoka and Barriss saw several gunships fly by, floating above specific sections of the lab.

Both moved in as the gunship with Captain Rex, Domino squad and several other clones arrived.

"Meesa come too?" Peppi asked.

"No. Stay here and make sure no one escapes." Ahsoka told the Shaak herder.

Peppi thought for a brief moment before complying with the order. "Okeyday."

The two Padawan's ran forward, igniting their lightsabers and jumping into the hole they had made with the clones joining them a moment later.

They had their lightsabers on, deflecting blaster bolts from the oncoming droids with the clones of the 501st backing them up.

Over with the other gunships, they were in position above their designated markers.

The bombs have been dropped and the Jedi, Clones and lone Avengers enter into the facility.

Anakin has been on edge for most of the day ever since hearing Padme went off to find the lab. There's a good chance they're about to destroy all life on this planet, including theirs and the Senator's. Not to mention Padme losing her life as a result of their raid.

For said raid, he and Luminara needed to focus on finding the good doctor while Obi-wan takes care of the bombs.

He knows what is at stake here, more than anyone.

Standing in a corridor, Luminara and Anakin gazed down in both directions as they saw it was clear with the Clones dropping in after them.

"It's quiet in here." Anakin noted.

"It appears our Padawans' distraction is working." Luminara said.

"Let's not let it go to waste."

Back with Barriss and Ahsoka, they were quickly blocking the incoming blaster fire from the various battle droids opposing them.

"Forward! Come on!"

Though, this order came a moment too late as Droidekas rolled in from behind the droids and stood between them now, shields up.

"Fall back!" Barriss ordered as they were starting to get overwhelmed with the new arrivals.

Reaching the main lab, the two Jedi were quick in piercing the locked door with their lightsabers. Pushing with all their might, they did their best to cut through it and make an opening for them and the clones to enter through. After what felt like forever, the door clattered on the ground, granting the Republic forces entry into the main lab.

"Padme!" Anakin cried out, seeing his secret-wife bound with the others.

"And us! Don't forget about us!" Peter yelled out.

"Ah, Jedi." Prosset ignited his saber and held it out at the neck of Captain Rogers with Valen doing the same for Padme. "Take another step and your friends die."

Luminara blinked, with her eyes widening. "Master Dibs?"

The blind master regarded the Mirialan with a cold look. "Ah yes, Master Unduli. I hope you are doing well."

The droids within the room all held up their blasters with the clones doing the same and they were now in a standoff.

Anakin gazed upon his secret wife and then the other Avengers with him stopping momentarily at Steve who gave a side-eyed look to Peter who was tied behind the group.

He looked back at the Jedi with a knowing look with Anakin understanding.

He put on the facade of defeat.

"Do as he says." Anakin said to the others, momentarily surprising his allies.

As soon as he deactivated his lightsaber, Spiderman roared aloud in pain as the electrical binds that held him resisted his strength until he broke through.

The two Acolytes were startled by the display of strength, momentarily caught off guard as Peter immediately jumped and kicked both of them away.

Anakin and Luminara performed a dual Force push to knock the droids away with the clones quickly capitalizing on the opportunity to blast them away.

Peter moved fast, feeling the sting of electricity from each binding but he managed to free Cap, Widow and Padme a moment later until his sixth sense blared in warning.

He tackled Padme forward as a red blade nearly cut his head off.

Peter looked back up in time to see the large Acolyte Rodri get stopped thanks to Anakin jumping forward.

Their blades clashed, entering into a small duel.

Luminara had engaged Prosset Dibs after taking out several droids and Steve and Nat were quick to join into the fight, assisting the clones in eliminating the rest of the droids.

The former Jedi Master was quick to take stock of the situation, and threw Luminara back with a Force push of his own which collided with Anakin, causing both Jedi to crash into Cap.

Both Acolytes made a beeline for getting out of the room, leaving them all behind.

"Well…" Widow rotated her sore shoulders. "What took you guys so long?"

"Why didn't you guys break out sooner?" Anakin shot back, standing close to Padme with her managing to discreetly squeeze his hand in reassurance and thanks.

"We were surrounded." Steve said. "But we need to get going. Brock Rumlow is here and there are two other acolytes with him. They have Vindi with him."

"They said something about having a cure to the virus." Widow added.

"And they took Cap's shield." Peter said in an offended manner.

Over with the two Padawans, they had been able to take out the first set of Droidekas yet several more were quick to replace them.

They were slowly getting pushed back, having lost two Clones in the process.

"I can't hold them." Ahsoka gritted out as she continued assisting Barriss in blocking the enemy fire.

"We need something, anything to-"

Barriss was interrupted when the ground above them gave way, releasing debris on top of the Droidekas, crushing them in one fell swoop. And standing on top of the rubble was Master Kenobi.

"Need some help?"

"Oh, so good to see you, Master Kenobi." Ahsoka said in utter relief.

"It would be very much appreciative." Barriss added in with a smile as reinforcements started dropping in from the newly made hole.

War Machine dropped in, his shoulder gun whirling to life as two droids entered the corridor and were quickly turned into scrap.

"Looks like the fun is getting started. Hope we don't have too much of it while we're here."

Obi-wan only smirked at the Colonel's comment when he looked back to the Padawans.

"Things are going well. The lab is secure, and hopefully Anakin and Luminara have reached Padme and the others by now."

The groups then ran down the hallway in order to reach their next destination. When coming into an intersection, they stopped when they were confronted with the next wave of droids.

And the droids weren't alone.

"Jedi." Rodri growled, igniting his crimson saber.

"Master Kenobi, you go on ahead." Barriss stated, turning on her Lightsaber with Ahsoka doing the same. "Find those bombs."

"Are you certain?" Kenobi asked in concern.

"They won't be alone." Rhodey declared, his suit having multiple pieces pop out with weapons everywhere.

The helmeted mint-eyed acolyte snarled, holding his blade up with the two girls and Avenger getting into positions themselves.

"Now then, new guy, let's dance."

The acolyte merely charged forward as the padawans did the same with their weapons clashing. The droids, however, opened fire as Rhodey returned the gesture.

With Anakin's group, they were already moving out from the room.

"We gotta move fast." Widow said. "Those Acolytes and Rumlow went ahead with Vindi. Something about having a cure to this virus."

"I wouldn't put it past them to have snagged a vial of the shadow virus as well as a precaution." Padme added. "This was made for the Separatists. There's a likely chance Dooku wants at least one vial to be brought to him."

"Then we better hurry and find them fast before losing them."

With Kenobi and his squadron of Clones, they entered the chamber that had been identified to hold the deadly virus.

"Well, it looks like we found the bomb room." A clone commented, looking around at all the hanging bombs.

"Yes, and luckily, they appear inactive."

Moments after this was spoken, every bomb in the room lit up.

"I spoke too soon." Obi-wan muttered before giving out the clones the obvious order. "Get these deactivated now." As they went to do so, he made a call to his former padawan. "Anakin, I'm guessing you didn't capture the doctor."

"We didn't find him." Anakin said as he and the others were running down a hallway. "He wasn't with Padme or the Avengers. He was taken by Brock Rumlow and some of Dooku's Acolytes. Something about a cure to the virus."

"Rumlow is here?" Obi-wan grimaced, recalling the HYDRA agent all too well. "Marvelous. Dr. Vindi has remotely activated the bombs. They're counting down."

"That's great." Anakin sarcastically remarked.

"And on top of that, one of them seems to be missing."

"It's down here somewhere."

"Ahsoka, we've got another situation-"

"Ahsoka is busy at the moment." Obi-wan cut him off. "She and Barriss are with Rhodey fighting one of Dooku's Acolytes."

"How many of those bastards are down here?" Anakin couldn't help but ask.

"Four." Peter answered.

"Never mind." Steve interrupted. "Pete, you know what we're looking for. Go find that small droid, the one Vindi gave the bomb to."

"You got it Cap." Peter shot a web in a random corridor direction and hurtled himself at top speeds.

Elsewhere in the underground facility, Rumlow stood with Vindi and Kadrian with the former holding up a glass vial of a separate substance.

"Behold my greatest shame." Vindi said with a bitter tone. "The cure for the Shadow Virus."

Rumlow deftly snatched the vial out of the doctors hands and examined it momentarily.

"Better not be lying, Doc." Brock's voice was low. "You really don't wanna find out how I can make people _sing_."

The threat was clear and present, the doctor unable to contain the gulp of fear as he saw the deadly look in the eyes of the mercenary.

"Let's get out of here." Kadrian said.

"Leaving your Acolyte companions behind?" Rumlow asked.

"They either escape, kill, or be killed." Kadrian said dispassionately. "My Master has no use for weaklings."

Rumlow 'hmphed' in amusement as they departed from the room they had got the cure from and made a run to their ship out of here.

There were multiple small battles happening on all ends in the lab by this point, with Ahsoka, Barriss and Rhodey having successfully taken down their Dark Acolyte only to get blindsided by Prosset Dibs and Bil Valen who scooped up their fallen comrade and fled the scene.

Elsewhere, Peter was moving about the corridor when he swung by a room that stood out. Backtracking, he saw it was a room of plants and entered, unsure of what this place was until he saw a pair of stubby robotic legs trying to stay hidden.

Smirking, Peter crouched down to peak under one of the tables to see the droid holding the bomb.

"I'll take that." Spiderman fired a web line and pulled the bomb out of the droid's hands.

It let out a warble of shock and attempted to jump for it only for Peter to easily catch it and hold it up with ease.

He looked at the bomb momentarily to examine it when he frowned which turned into horror.

"Guys!" He spoke into the comms with alarm, tossing the bomb away. "The virus isn't in the bomb!"

" _What?!"_ Was the collective response from many on comms.

Peter looked at the droid in his hand and glared at it.

"Do you have it?" Peter asked in a low voice, intentionally tightening his grip on the droid making it shake its head rapidly.

Gritting his teeth, Peter noticed some scratch marks upon the droid. Scratch marks that he didn't have on him.

"Where'd you get these?" Peter muttered to himself.

Surprisingly, the droid answered. "Mercenary."

Widening his eyes in shock, he dropped the droid and ran off.

"Rumlow has the vial everyone!" Peter shouted into the comms.

"And he's with Vindi." Steve added on his end with his group running towards what looked like a hangar bay.

There, they saw multiple droids and behind them all were the Acolytes, Vindi and Rumlow.

"Jedi!" the droids cried out, firing at them with the Jedi bringing out the lightsabers to deflect the blaster bolts and the clones that were with them firing back.

Natasha brought out her own pistols while Steve utilized a DC-15 rifle that one of the clones gave him.

"Come on." Anakin said, surging ahead to cut through the droids.

Once entering the hangar bay, the three Acolytes that were still conscious brought out their own blades with Rumlow pumping his hydraulic gauntlets.

"I'd like my shield back, Rumlow." Steve said tensely.

"Come and get it." Rumlow challenged.

Anakin however had his attention focused on Vindi.

"Leaving so soon, doctor?"

"You are running out of time, Jedi." Nuvo taunted. "You are fighting the inevitable."

"We tend to do that." Natasha said, the group rushing the Acolytes and Mercenary.

Vindi simply stepped upon the landing platform and activated its ascent.

Rumlow was engaged in hand to hand combat with Steve and saw out of the corner of his eye that the mad doctor was making his escape.

Grunting, he deftly deflected a punch from Rogers and delivered a powerful counter strike. With his hydraulic gauntlet, he managed to bash the Captain away and managed to get on the platform in time.

"Shit." Steve grunted out. "They're getting away."

From the sidelines, a number of clones were firing upon the good doctor. Their shots missed, but at least Vindi wasn't a better shot as he too was missing their mark.

"Don't shoot!" Anakin called out to them, holding back a red blade from Kadrian. "If he drops one of the vials he has, we're finished."

The clones did so only for one of them to get killed from one of the blaster bolts that came from Rumlow, holding up his gauntlets.

"Gotta love upgrades." He gloated. "Don't you?"

The sound of gunfire was suddenly heard and from the door that Anakin's group used to get to the hangar came Rhodey who flew straight up towards the landing platform.

"Shit." Rumlow growled, readying himself for a fight.

The Colonel flew up and straight at the mercenary who dodged multiple swings and retaliated with a dual punch to the chest.

War Machine was in the air now and stabilized himself with his thrusters and raised his palms out, firing repulsor beams at Rumlow who hastily used Captain America's shield to deflect the beams.

"Rhodey." Widow called out to him. "They have the virus on them. If they drop it, we're dead. Capture them."

Hearing this, Nuvo retrieved a few vials of his airborne virus from a storage container on his person and tossed them into the air. Seeing this, Rhodey was forced to disengage from his fight against Crossbones in order to retrieve the falling hazardous material from hitting anything.

Crossbones simply placed Cap's shield on his back when suddenly, a web from below snagged on to it and yanked it off his back.

The mercenary whirled round in time to see the shield fly into the hands of Spider-man.

"I'll be taking that." he said tauntingly, the web-head looking down. "Here you go, Captain America. Special delivery."

He dropped the shield and it fell directly into the hands of Steve Rogers.

"Thanks, Peter. Felt naked without it." He said, slipping his arm through the straps of his shield.

Down below, the three Acolytes that had remained behind knew that if they did not escape now, they would either be killed or taken captive.

"We need to get out of here." Prosset insisted.

"Agreed." Valen said.

"The others?" Kadrian asked.

"Either gonna be dead, captured or already have their own means of escape."

"We'll no doubt find out on either once reporting back to Dooku."

"What of the mercenary?"

The other acolytes were silent, not entirely sure what to do towards said man.

Peter, having chased after Rumlow and Vindi, swung up and hovered above the platform momentarily as he locked eyes with the wall-crawler.

Without missing a beat, he fired two web lines with Rumlow raising his arm to catch them.

Once they latched onto the arm, Peter pulled himself forward to take the mercenary down.

Unfortunately, Rumlow held up the vial he had taken from Vindi's assistant droid.

The one containing the Blue Shadow Virus.

Eyes widening at the sight of the vial, Spiderman faltered in midair with his sixth sense exploding in warning though it was too late as he got the wind knocked out of him thanks to a powerful punch to his gut.

"Just a rookie." Rumlow taunted, going for the ship.

"Hey, what about me?!" Vindi called out only for him to get promptly shoved away from the ship.

"Added weight. Which I don't need now." Rumlow said in his gruff tone, entering the ship.

It powered up with many below looking up in shock.

This was the chance the Acolytes needed, force pushing the Jedi, clone and Avengers away and made a hasty retreat.

"We gotta get up there."

War Machine was already propelling himself up into the air with Anakin jumping up after him.

Spiderman had also joined in the pursuit, getting up onto the platform in time to see the ship Rumlow had taken lift up off the ground.

Instinctively, Peter shot two web lines to snag the ship but it appears that he wasn't going to just be dealing with the ship.

He heard a crazed laugh, looking over to Vindi who was holding another pair of vials.

"For you." Vindi said, tossing them into the air and cackling maniacally.

Gasping under his mask, Spiderman quickly let go of the webs just as the ship was ascending into the air.

He fired off another pair of webs, snagging the vials and pulling them right into his hands.

"Keep giving me heart attacks, why don't ya." Peter muttered, sagging in relief.

He then looked up to see Anakin having flipped over Vindi, holding his lightsaber to his face.

"You're under arrest, Dr. Vindi."

War Machine flew past them all, pursuing the ship that was beginning to get higher.

Just as he got close, the ship was angled up in the air properly and soared off at full speed. Rhodey tried pursuing after it yet the back ramp suddenly opened…

And out came a few thermal detonators showering down at the Colonel who hastily avoided them all. The detonators went off all around him, the shockwaves momentarily stunning him.

This was all the ship needed to properly escape its pursuer who hovered in the air as he saw the ship fly further and further away.

"Son of a bitch." Rhodey muttered in frustration. He could not believe this just happened.

All the while, Anakin and Peter were facing Vindi who was holding another vial in his hands making sure to show that if they tried anything, it would fall and the virus would be unleashed.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah. Ha, yeah, ye-"

From out of nowhere, Peppi tackled the doctor to the ground. In the scuffle, the storage container holding the vials was let loose and landed some feet away. Luckily for everyone present, none of the vials broke. Vindi tried to retrieve it, but was assaulted by the Shaak herder once more, which soon resulted in his defeat once a lightsaber was aimed at his face.

The doctor then heard the beeping from his wrist communicator accelerating. Glancing over, he saw the device connected to all of the bombs down below was reaching the end of the timer.

"Yes, the bomb's going off, and we're all going to die." Dr. Vindi let loose a maniacal laugh. "Yeah, yeah, yeah. Die!" He then saw the device on his arm suddenly turn off. "Oops. What happened?"

Curious with what's going on down below, Anakin called his padawan. "Ahsoka, are you there?"

" _I'm here, Master. The bombs have been deactivated with plenty of time to spare. Did you find Vindi?"_

"Deactivated as well. Have you seen Padme?"

" _She's right next to me. I'm okay too. Thanks for asking."_ Ahsoka remarked.

Anakin smirked triumphantly, looking down at the now sour doctor.

The day was theirs…

…

…

…

Above the planet, a lone Separatist Shuttle flew away from the planet, several additional Separatist ships that contained the fleeing Acolytes quickly following after it.

Within the shuttle, once seeing that he was in the clear, Rumlow pulled out something from his side pocket.

Flipping the lid off of it, the former HYDRA agent smirked underneath his helmet.

"Enjoy the surprise, Rogers."

With that said, he pressed the button to his detonator.

Back below in the underground facility, we see the main lab where all of the vials containing the blue shadow virus being kept. Several clones were already in there, trying to keep an eye on anything amiss.

From out of nowhere, they heard a faint beeping in the air. They thought it was someone's wrist communicator going off, but it turned out to be something else.

Searching for the source, it didn't take long to find it. For the beeping was coming from the glass containers holding all of the vials.

You see, when the Avengers made their presence in the facility, Rumlow knew this job was going to be a lost cause. So he decided to make a backup plan in order to screw everyone down there when they least expected it.

In discrete actions, the former HYDRA agent planted some bombs where the airborne blue shadow virus vials were being kept. Said bombs were connected to a trigger Rumlow acquired with an experimental reach that can reach from a planet's surface from its atmosphere.

Now… back to the present-

_***KABOOOOOM*** _

The explosion shook the lab, alarming all those still present inside and those upon the landing platform.

"What was that?" Luminara asked in grave concern.

"It came from inside the lab." Kenobi stated.

After saying that, many began to realize what had just happened.

One of which was none other than Nuvo Vindi who began laughing maniacally.

"It was all for naught!" Vindi exclaimed in maddening glee. "The Virus has been liberated. The death of Naboo is upon us! You are all _Doomed."_

**And there we have it folks.**

**Yup, that's right, the Blue Shadow Virus arc.**

**Jebest4781 and I planned this from the start, having a few specific reasons for it which you will see in the coming chapter.**

**We took advantage of the loose anthology like method in which the Clone Wars was told and decided to place this arc towards the end of Season 2. There's been some other switch arounds here and there in the war overall that will come to be seen in time.**

**Hopefully, it can come out sooner than later with Cliffhangers being a bitch of a thing to deal with but J and I still got other stories to deal with as well.**

**One that he and I are** _**really** _ **excited to do that's still in development but a clearer picture is being formed as the days go on.**

**So other than that everyone, hold onto your butts cause the next chapter is gonna be wild.**

**Rate Read and Review and as Always Have Nice Day.**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Updated Poster of Phase 2 Infinite Wars
> 
> https://www.deviantart.com/freemanwriter/art/Infinite-Wars-Phase-2-0-847290089
> 
> And early beta-poster, if you could call it that, for the eventual climax of the entire story.
> 
> https://www.deviantart.com/freemanwriter/art/Avengers-Infinite-War-843737629


	46. These Are The Years...

**Rate Read and Review and as Always Have Nice Day.**

Avengers Infinite Wars Chapter 46: These are the years…

_-A Film Made By Peter Parker-_

A camera turned on, recording the owner of said camera.

It was a young 14 year old kid with brown hair and brown eyes leaning back into his seat with an excited grin on his face.

" _Ok,"_ the young teen clapped his hands together excitedly. _"So, it's been a few days but~ I know something has changed. Like,_ Really _changed."_

He pulled back his shirt to reveal a very well-toned and muscled arm which he promptly flexed.

" _I mean, l-look at that!"_ Peter said excitedly, believing as if it were a dream. _"I don't know how this happened but I sure as hell ain't complaining about it."_

The boy drummed his fingers along his desk rapidly with his eyes darting about rapidly, conveying his fast paced thought process.

" _Alright, alright, so… I remember the school field trip to that lab under that company Oscorp."_ Peter said. _"There was a room filled with these really freaky looking… spiders…"_

He blinked momentarily and found himself zoning out suddenly before wincing and rubbed his eyes a moment later.

" _Eyes are still taking some adjustments after whatever happened."_ Peter grunted out, blindly searching for something on his desk.

Finding it, he held it up to the camera and it was a cylindrical device with a lens in the center.

" _I've been working on these for a bit now."_ Peter said, cracking one eye open while the other one he kept on rubbing. _"I don't know if they'll exactly work or not but won't know till I find out. I think it should help control the stimulation of it all but I'm not-"_

" _Peter!"_ Said a loud male voice from behind his door.

" _Oh, crap."_ Peter scrambled in putting the item in his hand away.

A moment later, a man in his mid-50's entered his room with a bemused face at seeing the cluttered mess of his nephew's room.

" _What're ya doing in here, sport?"_

" _Nothing, Uncle Ben."_

The man had brown hair like Peter's yet clear silver on his sides. He looked a bit like an older version of Peter, just a few differences in their facial features.

" _I heard talking."_

" _Eh… I'm trying on doing a vlog."_

" _One of those web things right?"_

Peter groaned aloud, hanging his head with his Uncle chuckling at his response.

" _Come on kiddo, let's have some breakfast dinner."_ Ben said, patting his nephew on the shoulder. _"Your Aunt's makin' our favorites."_

" _Pancakes?!"_

The man smiled knowingly. _"Yeah, come on before I beat ya to them."_

Peter scrambled out of his seat, leaving his phone behind which tilted down and planted face up leaving it recording.

By the time Peter had returned from eating his pancakes, he hadn't realized it was still on and nearly about to die.

" _Whoops."_ Peter remarked. _"Forgot about you."_

The camera is switched off only to be turned on once more, this time in a completely different area.

It was an alleyway, one of many in the borough of Queens.

Peter was in front of the camera again, propping it up on a nearby garbage bin before stepping back.

" _Ok, so, the goggles are sorta working but not really."_ Peter began, holding up said items in his hand. _"I've been trying to figure out what's wrong with them but I think I'm gonna need to find new materials to work around them but I'll save that for later. First, you gotta check this out."_

Getting right in front of the camera, Peter held up his fingers as close as he could without it losing focus.

" _I dunno if you can see it or not. Maybe I can make that happen but I've noticed these really tiny… I dunno legs, spikes on my fingers."_ Peter said, not quite sure himself. _"But check out what I can do!"_

Picking up his phone, he had a small strap headband that he placed around his head, attaching his phone to the center.

Approaching a nearby wall, Peter momentarily looked up at the brick structure before exhaling.

Reaching forward, he placed one hand on the wall and shifted his hand a bit as if making sure it was secure.

Detecting that he was, Peter placed his other hand on the wall and slowly lifted himself forward.

Bit by bit, he began to get higher and higher with him beginning to laugh in astonishment.

" _Hah Haa! I'm climbing!"_ Peter said in pure elation as he looked down, his phone camera capturing at how high he had gotten.

He was practically seven stories off the ground by this point. He didn't even realize he had gotten so high!

Yet his moment of excitement changed into one of annoyance as a pigeon flew across his face, startling him.

" _Shoo! Shoo!"_

The bird started flailing across his face, causing Peter to lean too far back as he waved both of his arms.

It went too far as he lost focus and lost his "grip" on the wall.

As a result, he fell.

" _Oh no."_

Peter cried out, flailing as plummeted to the ground below.

Reaching out, he soon grasped a clothing line.

With the sudden yank of his weight, the clothesline broke causing Peter to swing towards the opposing wall.

He cried out in horror as the wall grew closer.

Soon enough, he crashed onto the brick wall and tumbled down after a resounding smack. He spun a few times before his back landed on the hood of a parked car. After the impact, he rolled off and fell face first onto the concrete pavement.

From the perspective of the camera, the screen was cracked yet it was still recording as Peter slowly got up.

In an instant, his hand flew to-

" _My back…"_

Trying to stand up straight, he felt a sharp pain.

" _MY BACK!"_

Looking around, Peter spotted his phone and hobbled over to it. Picking it up, he didn't bother turning it off as he was limping out of the alleyway, all the while muttering about finding a chiropractor.

The next time the camera was operational, Peter was presently wearing a makeshift outfit consisting of a red ski mask, a red hoodie, a light blue sweatshirt and sweatpants combo, red fingerless gloves and red boots.

" _Ok,"_ Peter murmured.

He had his phone strapped to his chest this time as he held up his arms.

On them were large gauntlets of some kind that looked as though they were put together with every scrap of metal Peter was able to get his hands on.

" _I've been testing the tensile strength for a few weeks now."_ Peter muttered; voice slightly scratchy due to the audio being a bit damaged. _"After some failed attempts in my room, I believe I got the balance right. Granted, I should've done it outside in order to save me hours of cleaning, but too late now."_

Peter approached the edge of the roof he stood on and faced the city of Manhattan before him.

He had already done a few preliminary runs in his home borough but this right here would be his ultimate test.

Swinging his arms back and forth, Peter began shaking his head while muttering to himself that he got this. He had it in the bag.

All he had to do was just… make that jump forward.

After a few seconds, Peter instantly turned and began to walk away only to halt.

From the phone camera POV, it recorded as Peter held up his arms with his latest inventions strapped to his wrists and clenched his fists tightly.

A second later, he snapped back in the direction to the city and instantly sprinted forward at full speed.

With a mighty jump forward, Peter's arms were windmilling about until he threw one arm forward and from his wrist gauntlets came a line of webbing that attached itself to the closest building.

Feeling his entire body tense up, Peter clenched his web tightly and proceeded to swing at gathering speeds until he found himself floating in the air briefly.

Instantly, he fired another web and began to swing once more until he repeated the process over and over and over until-

" _WOOOOOHOOOOO!"_

The pure joy of feeling the wind rippling across his body was exhilarating.

He then began to get more and more daring, performing elaborate flips, twists and acrobatics he had no idea he was capable of pulling off.

The camera then shifted into one of him in an underground wrestling arena, the sounds of people cheering for the chaos.

Peter was wearing his homemade suit as he stood before the clerk who didn't even bother to look up from her table.

" _Got a name, kid?"_

" _The Human-Spider."_

The lady paused in her work and took a moment to look up at the young teen giving him an unimpressed look.

" _Really now?"_

" _Uh… yeah, yeah."_ Peter said more confidently and moments later as he readied himself for his match...

" _Give it up for The Amazing_ _ **Spiderman!**_ _"_ The ring announcer said boisterously.

" _It's Human-Spider-"_

" _Don't care."_

Peter was shoved forward into the ring where he stood face to face with Crusher Hogan who easily towered over him.

The young teen could only let out what was a tiny squeak of fear as the larger human cracked his neck and knuckles.

" _Uh… I don't suppose we can't be friends, right?"_

Crusher Hogan only huffed aloud in amusement as the ring announcer only added to the mounting dread.

" _Please lock the cage at this time."_

" _Whoa! Whoa! I did not sign up for a cage match!"_

The ring announcer merely shook his head dismissively as Peter slowly turned back to his opponent.

" _You ain't goin' nowhere. I got you for three minutes! Three minutes of play time!"_

The moment when the bell rang, Crusher Hogan charged forward.

" _Nope."_

Leaping into the air, Peter flipped and grasped onto the cage bars high above so he wouldn't get tackled by the wrestler. This caused Crusher to crash into the cage, who soon tumbled onto the ring mat.

Boos were made not long after.

Getting back onto his feet, the wrestler glared at Peter. _"What are you doing?"_

" _Staying away from you."_

" _Come down here now and take it like a man!"_

" _...Well if you insist."_

Leaping down, Peter soon collided against the wrestler as the camera went out.

Once again, the camera perspective changed, showing a fuming Peter Parker.

" _Typical."_ The boy growled. _"Typical Parker luck. I get in there, win the whole stupid match and walk away with only 300 bucks when I should've… gotten…"_

He found himself trailing off as he gazed ahead with him momentarily shifting the camera forward to see a large crowd ahead of him.

Peter held his phone to the side as he got closer to the crowd until he began pushing through.

Several police officers told him to stop when-

" _THAT'S MY UNCLE!"_

Peter's phone fell from his hand as the boy rushed to his Uncle.

The camera was facing up towards the crowd of people where it was left behind as the audio barely registered Uncle Ben's words but it picked up the distressed cries of Peter just clearly.

" _What happened?!"_

" _Carjacking."_ A police officer said somberly.

As the phone audio picked up on Peter crying, one police officer spoke up.

" _They got the shooter. He's headed south on fifth avenue, we got three cars in pursuit of him."_

The phone was picked up not long after as its owner shut off the video feed in order to make a call while also going for a run.

The next time the camera came back on, months had passed.

It was the start of another school year with Peter casually sitting atop a rooftop while his camera recorded him eating his lunch.

" _Been… been a while since I've done one of these and…"_ The superhero vigilante only hung his head. _"Ah forget it."_

He reached out to his phone and shut it off.

The next time the camera was on, it showed a more elated Peter Parker.

" _Holy crap, I can't believe I'm here of all places and I'm not getting in trouble for entering the premises… let alone sticking along the building's many many windows."_ Peter squeed with the biggest smile on his face. _"This has gotta be one of the greatest days of my life!"_

Bringing the camera around for a better shot, it focused more on a building with a large "A" near the very top.

" _Me, Peter Parker, has been requested to join the Avengers by Tony Stark himself! How awesome is that?!"_

The level of excitement was quite difficult for him to fully verbalize. Instead, he opted for a few flips which turned into going out for a near hour long web swinging session.

It eventually captured the incomprehensible awe of him getting a brand new spider suit whilst also meeting another superhero that Stark had recruited.

The Devil of Hell's Kitchen!

How cool was that?!

From within Peter's new suit, the built in camera was recording him perched atop a building with him gazing down at another vigilante clad in darker reds and a lot more black.

" _What are you doing?"_ Asked the blind superhero.

" _Uh… Nothing…"_ He responded innocently.

" _Doesn't sound like 'nothing'."_ Came Matt Murdock's flat response.

" _Er… ya see I… vlog… sometimes…"_

The older hero sighed aloud, hanging his head slightly. _"Whatever you're doing, please stop. We're on a mission right now and you need to focus."_

" _Ah come on, other people don't have to see this but I at least want our kids to know we did cool things."_

" _It's the point of the matter and a breach of security if someone were to tamper with this 'vlog' of yours."_

" _Who'd wanna breach the security of a fifteen year old kid?"_

" _No, it's who would want to breach the security of Spiderman."_

" _That's not… not_ not _a good point."_

" _Don't make me come over there and take it from you."_

" _Right…"_

" _Or I could tell Stark-"_

" _He kinda already knows."_

Daredevil only hung his head.

" _Fine.. let's just… let's go."_

…

…

…

Peter switches on his camera as he now stood within a brand new room of his.

" _Ok… so…"_ the boy gazed at his reflection, mask still on. _"I… I am in_ _ **space!**_ _And that's where the other Avengers went off to! Can you believe it?! I'm in space with the Avengers! And… we somehow are wrapped up… in a war… with robots and clones."_

The boy began to gush about.

" _This is like every nerd's_ _ **dream!**_ _And I'm living it!"_

A moment later, he heard knocking at his door where a now familiar female voice to him spoke on the other end.

" _Peter, is everything alright in there?"_

" _Oh uh… yeah, yeah, come in Ahsoka, please quickly."_

The Tortuga soon walked into the room with a questioning look on her face.

" _Who were you talking to?"_ she asked in confusion.

" _Well, I'm talking to myself for a recording of a vlog."_

" _A vlog?"_

" _Video log, or a video journal."_

" _Oh."_ Ahsoka nodded her head. _"What for?"_

" _Cause this is awesome. Not a lot of people from my planet can say they've been to space and met a thousand new species in one week."_ Peter bluntly stated earning a small laugh out of his new friend that he made.

Ahsoka laughed aloud at her friend's exuberant answer.

" _I guess so."_

Once again, the camera cut, this time within Peter's point of view with the web head swinging around the bustling city planet of Coruscant.

" _WOOOOOO!"_

It was obvious to any who would watch the recording just how much Peter was enjoying this right about now.

Then again, it's not every day a Friendly Neighborhood Spiderman would be wall-crawling and web-swinging across a city on an alien planet.

And he wasn't just doing this for the thrill ride.

Though it has taken some getting used to, Peter had several reasons for doing this.

One, being the obvious is that it was fun and he wanted to experience the multi-thousand faceted culture of the planet for as long as he was able to.

Two was to learn about all the species and get a better understanding of this place in regard to the current residence of the Avengers being the Jedi Temple.

Three is simply that he felt at peace in web swinging as well as patrolling and helping those in need.

And fourth and finally was coming up right now at this building that was marked for him.

Arriving at a building, he reached behind him and grabbed something he had strapped to his back.

The door opened to reveal a blue headed alien that reminded him of Earth's earliest rendition of alien life. He believed these were called Duros.

Peter held up a metallic bin.

" _Order up."_ Peter said cheerfully. _"Guran's delivery service."_

" _Hey, thanks."_ the Duros said happily, taking the bin out of his hands.

He added a small tip for the New York native, making Peter nod in appreciation before going back out into the city skyline.

The recording flashed through several more instances, showing off Peter meeting with the Coruscant guard for and introducing him to the delicacies of donuts (Took him several tries to get the recipe right), within a ship with several Clones from the 501st, fighting alongside Sam and Pietro, fighting with The Avengers, Jedi and Clones on various planets

The last video was Peter recording himself sitting in the middle between his two friends that he had become quite close to over the course of his stay here on Coruscant and in the galaxy overall.

" _Hey May, it's Pete."_ Peter said, waving at the camera. _"I don't know if this will ever reach you or find its way to you somehow but I just wanted to leave this mess…"_

Peter slumped slightly in his seat while letting out a sigh.

Ahsoka and Barriss exchanged looks with each other before taking over for their friend.

"Hello Ms. May." Ahsoka said cheerfully. "Your nephew is alright here; we've been helping take care of him while he stays here."

" _He's been a wonderful friend to the both of us."_ Barriss added on with a serene smile.

_-Scene Cut-_

Upon the lush planet of Naboo, within the swamplands below, several individuals stood upon a platform with expressions of panic and horror etched upon their faces.

Next to them, a mad scientist was cackling about with sadistic glee as he rambled on and on about the "liberation" of the Blue Shadow Virus.

"You are all _Doomed._ " Dr. Nuvo Vindi cackled in maddening glee. "The Virus has been freed and the planet shall fa-"

The mad scientist was effectively silenced with a swift punch straight to the jaw courtesy of War Machine.

Anakin went for his comms in an instant. "Ahsoka, what's going on down there? Are you alright?"

Down with his Padawan, she, along with Barriss, Natasha, Captain Rex and several other clones were running at top speeds away from an oncoming blue cloud that was barreling straight towards them.

"The facility is compromised." Ahsoka answered into her wrist comms.

"Get to the safe room! C'mon!" Barriss yelled out, pointing ahead of them.

The blue mist was like a tidal wave, crashing through the corridors rather quickly. One by one, many doors were swiftly closing up prior to the gas reaching them.

"There's the safe room!" Captain Rex shouted.

"No chance!"

"Hurry! The doors are closing!"

In an instant, the doorway was halted.

Looking beside her, Natasha gazed at the two padawans using the Force to keep it from closing.

"Don't worry." Barriss said evenly.

"Get inside, now!" Ahsoka barked out.

When the last of the clones got in, Natasha quickly jumped through the gap.

Once through, Rex called out to the padawans. "Hurry!"

They nodded as they saw a pair of clones keeping the safe room door open with all their strength. Once letting go of the Force, the two teens saw the clones quickly struggle to pry the door open.

It wasn't long before the padawans leaped through the gap. Once through, the clones let go as the panels snapped shut.

In mere moments, the comms flared to life.

"Please tell me you guys are alright."

Natasha was the first to respond. "We're alright. We're in a safe room for the time being. But I'm concerned about a few things."

"Being what exactly?" Ahsoka asked.

"The remaining droids down here, for starters. They'll no doubt try to break out."

"We'll need to do what we can to stop them." Barriss stated.

"But we don't have any protective suits to ward off the virus." Ahsoka pointed out worriedly.

"We can't let that virus escape or else Naboo will suffer." Barriss countered.

"And what's the other thing you're worried about?" Rex noted.

"...I saw some of the virus get in here." Natasha said rather grimly. "The door didn't close fast enough."

_-Scene Cut-_

"Making a cure might take too long." Steve pointed out. "We're on borrowed time now."

"What can we do right now then?" Peter asked worriedly. "Everyone down there is sick with this blue virus thing and Vindi said there's no cure to it."

The Jedi and Captain didn't get a chance to answer as War Machine and Luminara returned from their quick reconnaissance around the underground base.

"Everything alright?" Anakin asked straight away.

"Whatever that explosion was, it didn't cause any surface level breaches." Rhodey stated.

"For the moment, the situation is under control." Luminara said calmly.

"As much as it can be." Anakin muttered under his breath; teeth clenched in anger.

Seeing his frustration, Steve evenly spoke to the young Jedi knight. "Patience, Anakin. We'll find a way to save them."

"Easy for you to say, Steve."

"It's not." Steve shot back. "But we gotta keep a level head here. Otherwise, it'll just lead us to rash decisions."

Much as he loathed to admit it, Steve was right.

Obi-wan, having seen this, nodded approvingly as he spoke up.

"First off, we need to get Vindi back to the capital and figure things out from there."

"Any ideas would be rather helpful. Because right now, none come to mind." Anakin said bitterly.

"Well, we're dealing with a virus right?" Peter brought up. "One that was taken out thousands of years ago. So that means there's gotta at least be a cure. Dr. Evil must have some knowledge about it."

"Or perhaps none at all." Kenobi said.

"Could we perhaps look through some old archives on the solution back then?" War Machine asked.

Luminara shook her head. "That would take too long, combing through all that information."

Anakin's frown deepened. "Then what can we do? Cause right now, it doesn't look like we have a lot of options."

It was at this time that Peter snapped his fingers, expression conveying realization.

"Maybe we can track down that helmeted guy and those Acolytes." Peter said. "I bet they know something. Maybe even they got a cure."

The grownups looked to him in confusion.

"What makes you say that?" War Machine inquired.

"And how can we do that?" Anakin asked a moment later.

"I placed a tracker on one of their ships." Peter said proudly.

"...And you're telling us this now?" came the flat question from Master Kenobi.

Peter faltered slightly. "Er… yeah. Sorry, kinda forgot about it. Got caught up in it all."

Steve sighed aloud but held a small understanding look.

"Alright. We drop off Vindi and along the way, get that signal up and running Peter. We can't waste any precious time now." Steve said.

"We're taking a rather big gamble on this; you know that, right?"

"What choice do we have."

_-Scene Cut-_

Once dropping the Separatist scientist back at the palace, the team immediately traveled back to the Republic ship in orbit in order to project a course towards Rumlow's signal.

Luminara and War Machine had stayed behind on Naboo, setting up a small "camp" of sorts near the underground base and kept in constant contact with their trapped friends and allies. They had to make sure that should any droid escape or breaches appear on the surface that they were to keep the Virus from getting out at all cost.

The fate of Naboo depended on it.

Thus, that left the four man squad of Steve Rogers, Peter Parker, Anakin Skywalker and Obi-wan Kenobi in tracking down Rumlow.

Currently, the four stood within Anakin's flagship the Resolute on the bridge around the holo-table.

Peter had set up a link between his suit and the ship's systems

The teen from Earth was so glad he was able to get his tracers to effectively work well. With help of the Republic ship, tracking the signal was boosted significantly.

"Alright." Peter had his mask on as the HUD displayed his tracer. "It's a bit shotty but, I think I have an idea where Rumlow flew off to."

Looking at the coordinates, the Jedi master presently onboard was able to see where their destination was located.

"Nar Shaddaa?" Anakin said aloud in surprise. "That's in Hutt Space!"

"Allied territory, right?" Steve asked, unsure of this.

"Not exactly." Obi-wan said with a frown. "Much as the Hutts have a great deal of control, Nar Shaddaa has always been a difficult moon to reign in."

"The Smugglers Moon, it's called." Anakin added. "The capital moon for trade in Hutt space. It's the crime capital of that controlled territory. We may be allied with the Hutts…"

"But I seldom believe we'll be welcomed there with open arms." Obi-wan stated, arms crossed.

"Looks like Rumlow chose the place properly then." Steve remarked. "At a time like this, it's something neither of us will really care for."

"Finding him won't be as easy." Obi-wan said. "You have the tracer on his ship, not his person. Who knows how we can find him."

"What's this planet like anyway?" Peter found himself asking.

"Like Coruscant." Anakin answered straight away. "Just completely lawless, crime ridden and polluted to the bone. They may say that there is order but that's just the Hutts and it's loose at best. Really, so long as you don't incur the wrath of the Hutts, it's free reign on Nar Shaddaa."

"Sounds like Chicago." Peter couldn't help but comment.

"If we are indeed going to the planet that had not submitted to any rule in the past, then we must go there and tread lightly." Obi-wan said. "Finding who we are looking for will not be an easy task whatsoever."

Anakin crossed his arms with a deep frown marring his face. "Are you guys sure about this? There's nothing else we can think of?"

"Nar Shaddaa is not far in terms of travel and it's within Republic controlled space… technically." Kenobi said.

"Can't we just… find a way of getting the ingredients necessary for creating a cure?" Anakin asked.

"You saw what Typho showed us, Anakin." Steve reminded him. "Going into Separatist controlled space isn't exactly ideal right now."

"This feels like a serious gamble." Skywalker let out a discontent sigh, ruffling his hair momentarily.

"Um… what does your… Force thing say about all this?" Peter found himself asking, the two Jedi staring blankly at him.

Undeterred, he went on. "You know, shouldn't it be giving you a push or a nudge? Like a guide or-"

Despite himself and the situation, Obi-wan found himself chortling aloud.

"Well, no, Peter not exactly." Obi-wan said in mirth. "That's not how the Force works necessarily."

Steve let out a small 'hmph' in amusement with a shake of his head.

"We can't waste any more time here as is."

Anakin nodded with a determined expression present now. "He's right. We need to get to Nar Shaddaa _now._ Our friends are relying on us."

"I do believe a more subtle approach is required then." Obi-wan said. "Going in with a Venator towards a crime ridden planet would attract immediate attention and Rumlow would undoubtedly flee at the sight of it."

"Agreed." Steve nodded.

"Then we'll take the Twilight."

_-Scene Cut-_

Within Hutt Space, a lone starship appeared out from Hyperspace, flying towards a planet that had so many lights upon its surface that it was visible to be seen in space.

"There she is." Anakin announced from the pilot's seat of the Twilight.

"Nar Shaddaa." Obi-wan said a moment after. "The Smuggler's Moon most call it."

"That's not what we used to call it." Anakin said with a derisive snort.

"Used to?" Peter said, glancing over to the Jedi Knight.

Skywalker grimaced to himself, looking away from the others for a brief moment before letting out a relenting sigh.

"Back on Tatooine, where I lived before I got brought to the Jedi Temple." Anakin revealed.

"Tatooine?" Peter muttered. "Where's that?"

"Outer Rim." Anakin said. "And if you're wondering, we called this place Little Slugland cause of the Hutt's control over it."

Skywalker's tone was one that conveyed that he wanted to finish discussing this topic here with the others acquiescing to his silent request. Steve and Peter exchanged looks before they both turned over to Obi-wan who was silently gazing at his former pupil until he faced the planet they were descending towards now.

They eventually found a landing pad to land on, having not needed any sort of clearance.

Upon arriving on the moon of Nal Hutta, the group was hit with a wave of unusual smells, overly bright lights and a creeping sense that they were now targeted.

Not because they had done something to upset someone.

Simply due to the fact of them being here and that was how things were operated around here.

An unsettling thought to say the least.

"Well now… this is… quaint." Steve said dryly as he surveyed the area around him.

It was indeed like Coruscant, being one large city. Yet when seeing it up close, the group could see how polluted and dangerous it was.

The more legitimate businesses were located on the higher levels of the planet while the seedier ones were located further down below.

And legitimate would be putting it kindly all things considered.

The underground areas were where the crime syndicates come and go as they rise and fall every so often.

It is a good place to get illucid goods, transportation and information.

Mostly by means of aggressive or immoral tactics.

All in all, not a very savory place for any Jedi or Avenger to find themselves in.

"So this is Nar Shaddaa." Obi-wan said, taking a moment to survey their surroundings.

"What's that smell?" Peter asked, crinkling his nose beneath his mask.

"What smell? The pollution, festering and rampant corruption, shady businesses or rotting bodies likely nearby?" Anakin asked rhetorically.

"Well that got dark real fast there, Anakin." Peter said with a dry voice.

"Let's get moving." Steve said. "Rather not stick around here."

"Agreed." Kenobi nodded, the group walking away from their ship as many eyes were on them now.

As the group began their walk through the streets of Nar Shaddaa, they did so with a cautious tension as they had kept their guard up as they knew they were in a hostile environment.

All around them were either criminals, bounty hunters, pirates, smugglers, opportunists and every other scum of society.

What the group was aware of, while they were tracking a rogue mercenary from Earth, there was another native Earther here on Nar Shaddaa at this very moment.

On one of the lower levels, a human with a scruffy chinstrap beard was currently sitting at a table within a shop he had set up that was a front to a more elaborate operation behind the scenes. Basically, any other business here on Nar Shaddaa.

Currently, this man had a purplish chunk of metal in his hands and he gave it a deep whiff.

"Ah~" The man exhaled with a satisfied look on his face. "Perfectly made. So glad that you managed to procure this for me."

"If I had known you would do that, I would have gotten you some Spice." Said a gruff Quarren.

The bearded man let out a mad cackle.

"Like that can give me the high that I want." He said with a mad glee, holding up the metal in his hand. " _This_ is what I want."

The man then grabbed the metal in hand with his other rather plastoid looking hand. It suddenly shifted and segmented apart to reveal its robot interior which stored the metal inside.

"Now then." The man said, eyeing the multitude of individuals within his shop. "What's our next order of-"

"We've got Republic dogs here!" said a voice from the front of his shop, prompting many to look over at the newcomer in concern. "Jedi dogs."

In an instant, many of those present began scrambling to leave and get out of sight and out of mind.

The man looked on in utter confusion when they were scrambling to vacate the area.

"Hey! Hey! Hey! What are you all doing?" the man with the advanced robotic arm barked aloud in irritation. "We've still got business to conduct."

"No way, we gotta go. Jedi are here."

"What in the hell are you on about? What the fuck are Jedi?"

"Them." the man he was speaking with pointed behind him.

Whirling around, the man with the robotic arm froze upon spotting four men walking on the opposite end of a pathway.

"It's those guys with those silver hilts on their belts."

The man wasn't really focused on the Jedi, but on their companions.

"Avengers…" He muttered under his breath.

He would've played it cool and not really acknowledge them, yet he spotted the youngest among them.

He _clearly_ remembered seeing _him_ when he was last back on Earth prior to ending up in this galaxy.

"Spider-man…"

With that, he needed to quickly pack up his belongings and skedaddle before he could get caught by the likes of them.

To think that he'd see him here.

The man shook his head. Right now, it was better that he got out of here.

Whenever Avengers were around, chaos was sure to follow and he would very much rather _not_ be caught up in it as he had several times in the past.

All the while, the two Jedi and two Avengers were wandering about rather aimlessly as they weren't exactly sure where to go around this crime ridden city.

"Where do we even start?" Steve asked, looking around as he saw multiple shady individuals.

"Not entirely sure." Anakin admitted. "This is Nar Shaddaa we're talking about. We can't exactly walk around and just ask people if they've seen who we're looking for."

"What can we do then?" Peter inquired, glad that he was wearing his mask right now as this place was really giving him the creeps. "I'd rather not split up really."

"We're not going to unless we must." Obi-wan said, keeping a vigilant eye around them.

Anakin hummed to himself in thought. "Peter, is your tracker still working?"

"Uh, yeah, it is."

"Then we'll find the ship and go from there." The Jedi declared. "They may have left the ship behind but it's a start. They would possibly be nearby. If not, we'll ask around from there."

Peter quickly accessed his tracing function in his suit, his mask HUD alighting a path for him to follow with the web-head taking the lead as he ran forward with the others following after him.

As they followed the tracers signal, the reason for them being here were currently within a dingy and worn down warehouse with the ship they had utilized on a separate platform some distance away from the warehouse.

Inside the warehouse were only four individuals rather than the original group of five that had initially arrived on Nar Shaddaa.

The one that had departed separately from the group was one of the Sith Acolytes who had been sent to reconvene with their Master Dooku and deliver a vital item that would undoubtedly assist the CIS in the war.

Currently, only three Acolytes and one deadly mercenary occupied the quarters of said mercenary as they watched him with glares of mistrust.

Rumlow saw alone at a table he had set up for himself with his helmet and enhanced hydraulic gauntlets off.

Currently, he was repairing some damage he had sustained during his time on Naboo.

To be expected really when dealing with Jedi and the damned Avengers.

"Hey, are you even listening to us?" said an aggravated and an annoyed female voice.

The former HYDRA agent merely rolled his eyes, continuing to weld a part of his gauntlet back together.

A moment later, the gauntlet in hand flew out from his own and into the hand of an irritated female Sith Acolyte Zabrak.

"Listen to me when I'm talking to-"

She didn't get to finish her sentence as she felt a knife pressed to her neck suddenly.

"What part of me not giving a rats ass about being part of this war did you not understand the first time I told you idiots?" Rumlow snarled, his burnt face adding to his intimidating aura.

Kadrian Sey only snarled back until the two were promptly separated by the former Jedi Master Prosset Dibs.

"Enough." Prosset stated with a firm voice, pushing Kadrian away from Rumlow. "The last thing that we need is to fight and attract unwanted attention."

Behind the Acolyte was a very loud and noticeable snort of arrogance.

"What would the rabble outside do to us?" Rodri said in a smug tone. "We're on a crime ridden planet for Force-sakes. No one would bother looking into whatever commotion we make unless we pissed off one of the leaders of this moon."

"It's for that very reason we shouldn't attract unneeded attention." Prosset Dibs snapped. "Say what you will but this moon is under the direct control of the Hutts. The same Hutts that are currently allied with the Republic so mind yourself around these parts."

"Why are we even staying here?" Kadrian asked aloud in aggravation. "We already sent Valen to Dooku to deliver the vial of the virus. I would have thought we would have left by now."

"You know why." Prosset said, now turning to Rumlow who had returned to his workstation. "He's grown attached to the cure."

"Then why not just take it from him?" Rodri asked with a small snarl.

"Try it freak." Rumlow said without looking at the Acolyte. "You won't like what happens."

"What's to stop us from killing you?" Kadrian said with an intense glare.

"Lots of things."

"You're just saying that to delay the inevitable. A pathetic ploy."

Brock looked up at the Zabrak with an unimpressed look. "You do realize that the Avengers who have kicked all your ass's to the curb are the same group of people I can actually fight on even ground. And your Force shit doesn't affect me the way it does most things now does it?"

Sey's brow twitched in anger at that reminder.

Sad to say, but Rumlow was right, given the previous experiences a few of the acolytes had with the Earthers. The Force hardly works on them.

Dooku spoke of the void that Rumlow and the Avengers seem to have around them, proving it difficult to affect these individuals with typical Force powers.

Granted, Rumlow had been affected by abilities such as push and pull but it was rather difficult to fully pull it off on him. Him being void of the Force gave him a sort of defensive measure that was difficult to get around.

Only individuals strong or knowledgeable in the Force like their Master Dooku were able to have a more visible result upon the mercenary.

Currently, the Acolytes had remained behind here via instruction of the Count to watch over Rumlow. They were to await the arrival of a Separatist shuttle to deliver credits directly to him whilst he handed over the cure to the Blue Shadow Virus.

He knew that having such an item on him would barter more than he had been initially recruited for so they were forced to wait here.

The room soon grew silent for a time when-

" _DIBS!"_

Hearing the sudden sound in the distance, a number of them blinked in confusion.

"Dibs?"

Closing her eyes, the Zabrak acolyte focused through the Force.

"I sense something… a familiar-"

_*THWIP*_

"I found them!"

The group whirled around to the source and found a blue and red human projectile zooming right towards them. And hanging from his arm was a man carrying a blue lightsaber.

Moments later, the pair crashed into the hideout with another pair rushing in soon after.

"Jedi!" Rodri exclaimed, igniting his lightsaber in time as he clashed with one Anakin Skywalker.

"Avengers!" Prosset Dibs yelled out, his own saber bouncing off against the shield of Captain America.

"Jerkwads!" Spider-man said, swinging straight at Rumlow who deftly armed himself with his gauntlets and kicked up the table he was using to repair them.

The table flew at Spiderman who caught it with a web line and he spun it around in the air and flung it back at Crossbones.

Rumlow simply swung his armored fist at full force, the hydraulic gauntlet shattering the table into pieces before he swung again in time to catch Spider-man dead in the chest.

The young hero flew backwards, inadvertently crashing into Prosset Dibs with the two sailing away.

Cap, who had been fighting Dibs, blinked momentarily before he heard running footsteps coming straight for him.

"Nice to see ya so soon, _Cap!"_

Steve spun around and raised his shield in time to absorb the impact of the boosted punch sent his way.

"You too, Rumlow." Stressed out the Super Soldier. He shoved the fist back and his own fist collided with Crossbones' though that proved to be a mistake as the hydraulic fist overpowered Steve's, sending him flying back.

Obi-wan currently clashed with Kadrian Sey, the Jedi Master calmly blocking all of the Zabraks erratic swings.

"You've improved, Sey." Obi-wan said in a cordial manner, deflecting an overhead swing.

The Sith Acolyte only growled in response, a mad smirk appearing on her face.

"There would have been a time where I would find great satisfaction in hearing such praise from the great Obi-wan Kenobi." She rebuked, going for a horizontal strike that was parried by the Jedi Master. "But now, it will only serve in my vindication when I bring you down."

"It is important to have aspirations in this galaxy." Obi-wan said, clashing with Kadrians saber and the two momentarily entering a struggle. "But be sure to keep them in a realistic sense."

Pushing her off, she had her lightsaber raised over her head which gave Obi-wan the opening in force pushing her away into a nearby wall.

She felt pain erupt from her back yet the Zabrak landed on her feet, quickly rebounding and jumping towards the Jedi Master.

Yet, before she could even reach him, she felt something snag her back and flung her back and she found herself encased in webbing that immobilized her completely.

"Appreciated, my young Padawan." Obi-wan said cheekily.

Peter only gave his pseudo-mentor a thumbs up as he swung towards Cap and Rumlow whilst Obi-wan ran to assist Anakin who was currently fighting off the other two Acolytes by himself.

Steve, all the while, was locked in a fierce hand to hand engagement with Rumlow with the mercenary fighting in a particularly ruthless and relentless manner.

All the strikes and blows Steve had delivered upon him were either brushed off or ignored with the man only increasing his ferocity.

"That all you got, Rogers?!" Rumlow asked with a rhetorical headbutt to the good Captain who was momentarily dazed from the hit.

Steve grit his teeth and quickly headbutted in retaliation, following that up with a series of punches and a powerful shield swing to his face.

The last hit was enough to lift Crossbones off his feet, landing hard on his back.

And out from his armored vest fell out a small vial that landed on the floor.

Peter, seeing the vial roll across the ground, was quick to act.

"Yoink!"

Firing a web line, it connected onto the cure. Pulling back, Peter had it flying right towards him.

Yet the line was quickly cut through a red lightsaber before it's owner snatched the vial.

"I'll be taking that, boy." Prosset Dibs said, holding up the vial.

"Oh no you don't." Anakin yelled out, performing a flip that went into a downward swing that Dibs blocked with a strain of his one arm.

A moment later, Dibs had the vial snatched out from his hand by Obi-wan who was then met with the large form of the Acolyte Rodri attempting to decapitate him.

The attack was enough to distract Kenobi as Dibs had pushed Anakin back and Force pulled the vial out of Obi-wan's hand.

However, once again, the vial was ensnared by Spider-man's webbing with it reaching the young teen successfully this time.

He was then met with Kadrian Sey who had freed herself from his webbing thanks to her lightsaber though there was a noticeable burn upon her left bicep.

Her sudden appearance in front of Peter made him momentarily fumble with the vial and it fell out of his hand.

Thankfully, it was close enough to the ground where it landed without any cracks appearing.

All eight fighters within the hideout promptly went for a mad dash towards the vial.

Some combatants unintentionally knocked each other over, others did when it came to their opposing side.

Prosset reached out to summon the vial to his hand via the force only for it to be yanked away by a web line from Peter.

Crossbones shoulder pushed Anakin out of the way when he was promptly struck in the back of his head by Cap throwing his shield.

Kadrian and Rodri lunged for the vial with the two Jedi doing the same in turn.

Anakin and Obi-wan together swung their azure blades to meet with the crimson sabers of Sey and Rodri.

When their lightsabers clashed, the respective Force users quickly threw out their available hands towards each other.

In an instant, both sides struggled to prevail over the other as they were pushing against each other on two fronts. Parts of their immediate surroundings were beginning to shake and break apart.

It was only with a small distraction, courtesy of Cap's shield bouncing off part of their lightsabers did Obi-wan win the bout in sending his opponent back across the warehouse. Soon after, the elder Jedi was free to assist his former padawan to overwhelm his own opponent.

"Blasted _Jedi_." Rodri hissed out when his mouth was covered by a glob of web. A second later, multiple webs were shot at him which hit multiple parts of his body.

By the end, he was sent towards a nearby wall and was completely entrapped in a giant web with every part of his body save for his nose and eyes being covered in webs.

"That'll take care of him for now."

Gritting his teeth, Brock saw this was becoming a lost cause now.

Prosset Dibs and Kadrian were fighting back against the two Jedi and Captain America though he could tell it was only a matter of time until the trio overpowered the Acolytes. One had already been taken care of courtesy of the youngest Avenger.

He knew what he'll about to set off would burn several bridges with the Separatists, but all of this was not worth ending up in a galactic prison.

Typing a command on his wrist device, he booked it. Once reaching a far off wall, he broke through a false covering before flipping a switch to have a metal covering slide into the opening. The moment it closed, he pulled out a detonator and pressed the button.

With him in the clear now, Crossbones ran towards his spare shuttle with moments to spare for what will befall onto the warehouse.

_***KRACKABOOOM*** _

A chain reaction went off as the ceiling, the support beams and the very foundation of the entire warehouse started exploding.

"Oh come on." Peter bemoaned aloud. "Really? Again? That's a cheap trick and you know it!"

The entire area shook violently as multiple explosions went off inside and outside the warehouse.

"Damn that merc!" Kadrian snarled.

"We need to leave now!" Prosset said, quickly rushing over to the still trapped Rodri and with Sey, freed him.

The floor started to crumble underneath them all, causing many to quickly use the Force to leap high into the air to get to safety before making a mad dash out of the building.

The acolytes knew they'd be hunting down Rumlow for this act of betrayal at a later time, but for now they needed to make themselves scarce so neither would be captured by the Republic forces.

Speaking of the two Jedi were quick to use the Force to help throw Steve up high so he could land a reasonable distance away. Once landing he made his way towards the nearest exit.

As this went on, Obi-wan went to follow after the Captain with Anakin not far behind.

Yet when he looked back, he saw Peter was rushing the opposite direction.

"Peter! We need to leave!"

Peter didn't reply, instead only running at full speed toward the falling floor with the cure just lying there.

As the floor started crumbling apart further and further, the vial fell through the opened gap. Peter then dived in order to catch up to the descending object.

Firing a few web lines to the side, he soon flung himself to speed up in order to reach closer to the valued object.

Just when he was mere inches from grasping the vial, his senses flared. And he was too slow to act as everything soon went black.

The last thing he heard was Anakin, Obi-wan and Steve shouting for his name as he got buried under the debris of the collapsing building.

The trio stood at the now formed crater of what was once Rumlow's hideout with panicked and terrified looks plastered all over their faces.

"I can't sense him!" Anakin said straight away before eying Steve. "Dammit, why did you guys have to be void of the Force."

"It's not our fault!"

"Anakin." Obi-wan chastised.

"I know, I know!" Skywalker said. "Just… we should have seen that coming. Gah, what was wrong with us? We rushed in like a bunch of battle droids and-"

"Come on." Steve jumped down into the crater. "We gotta find him."

_-Scene Cut-_

When he awoke, he felt himself wheeze and barely able to get a proper breath in.

Everything was aching and pain coursed through his body from head to toe.

He could barely move right now with so much debris on top of him. It was practically crushing him.

Frantically, he went to remove his mask, gasping as he gulped in breaths of dust and rubble laced air.

He could barely move his arms around as he tossed his mask away and tried to find the means in which to escape.

When one hears the exaggerated quote of the weight of the world on one's shoulders, most would take it to be a metaphorical and psychological sort of saying.

But right now, Peter Parker felt it in the most literal way possible as he felt everything crashing down around him.

Beginning to feel like he was about to hyperventilate, Peter began struggling, trying his best to lift the large slab of metal off of his back but it was to no avail.

He was beginning to panic now.

"Ok, ok, ok." Peter said to himself, straining against the slab of metal once again yet was met with failure once more.

Now starting to feel the panic and sense of terror set in, Peter looked up as much as he could.

"Hello?! _Hellooooo?!"_ He cried out desperately. "Cap? Anakin! Obi-wan! I-I'm stuck! I'm down here and I'm stuck! I can't move! I- I can't..."

Feeling himself flutter in and out of consciousness, Peter's eyes drooped with him lowering his head.

His ears were ringing by this point with his head pounding.

" _...ter."_

Blearily, the young hero lifted his head as he cracked an eye open.

Was that a voice?

What was that voice?

" _Peter."_

The Queens native inhaled sharply and abruptly found himself in an entirely different environment.

One that was extremely familiar to him.

" _Here we are."_

Peter looked over and saw that it was his Uncle Ben sitting in the driver's seat of his car.

How in the world, or galaxy really, did he get here?

He didn't know if it was the delirium from being crushed finally hitting him or the utter stress he was experiencing right now; but he was experiencing this now.

"Alright, thanks for the ride Uncle Ben." Peter found those words coming out of his mouth as he moved to exit the car.

"Now wait a minute, Peter." Ben said patiently. "We need to talk for a moment."

"Can't we talk a little later?" Peter pleaded slightly.

"Well we can talk now." Ben said, turning off the radio to his car. "If you let me."

The young teen sighed. "Why do we have to talk now?"

"Because we haven't talked at all in a while, your Aunt and I are starting to worry about you." Uncle Ben pointed out. "We hardly recognize you now. You've shirked your chores now for several weeks, you've been locking yourself in your room way more often than not and now I've heard about you getting into these fights at school."

"Hey, I didn't start that fight; you know that." Peter interrupted with a small scowl.

"But you sure as hell finished it."

"What was I supposed to do? Run away?"

His uncle shook his head ever so slightly.

"No, no. you weren't supposed to run away but… Pete, look." Ben said, gazing at his Nephew. "You're changing, I understand, I went through exactly the same thing that you're going through right now."

"No, not exactly." Peter said dismissively.

"Peter." Ben placed a hand upon the boy's shoulder. "I may not _know_ or _understand_ , maybe not even compare to what you yourself are going through. But what I do know is that these are the years when a boy changes into the man that he's going to be for the rest of his life. Just be careful who you _change_ into."

Peter couldn't really come up with a means in which to respond to that, allowing his Uncle to go on.

"Sure, the guy at your high school probably deserved what happened, but just because you can beat him up doesn't give you the right to." Ben said.

"Are you afraid that I'm gonna turn into some kind of thug or criminal?" Peter asked defensively. His Uncle only shook his head in the negative.

"Quit worrying about me. Something's different, I'll figure it out."

"Only worrying for what your friends might think of you?"

"No, it's… it's not like that, Uncle Ben." Peter said frustratedly.

His Uncle let out a small sigh.

"Peter… I know it feels like you're going to be enduring a lot." Ben said. "And with how smart you are, I figure you're gonna go through a lot more than others. But you need to keep yourself from straying into a path that can lead you down to a destination you will not like."

Seeing the frustrated confusion on his nephew, Ben spoke a phrase he once heard his father tell both him and Peter's deceased father.

"Remember Pete, With Great Power, Comes Great Responsibility." His nephew looked up to his Uncle and from behind, a white light began to glow and envelop the two.

" _Remember that."_

By the end of it, things faded away from fantasy to reality.

When the webslinger came to, his eyelids fluttered.

How long was he out?

Before long, he refocused his attention to his surroundings.

More importantly what he was presently here for.

As Peter gazed at the serum that they had been after this whole time just a few inches away from him, his head inclined back down at his discarded mask.

Though he was only gazing upon it, he had subconsciously felt his fingers graze over one half of his face. As if half of his mask was there.

He then glanced back to the serum and thought about Ahsoka, Barriss, Natasha, Captain Rex and the rest of the Clones that were waiting for them to return.

How he was right now, the only one who was within arm's reach of having the cure to save them all.

And he wasn't doing everything in his power to accomplish this task.

As he kept his gaze on the vial, in the back of his head he heard those words again.

" _With Great Power…"_

"Comes Great Responsibility." Peter finished to himself, huffing aloud as he began tensing up. "I remember Uncle Ben, I remember."

Placing his hands upon the metal atop him, he began straining and grunting even with his body immediately screaming in protest.

But he did not relent, only adding to his already mighty strength.

"Come on Peter." He said aloud. "Come on Peter. Come on _Spiderman. Come on Spiderman! COME ON SPIDERMAN!"_

Peter began screaming at this point as he felt as though every fiber of his being was breaking from his exertion of strength but still he pressed on as the rubble began to budge and falter above him.

Spiderman roared aloud now as he put everything he had into lifting the debris off of him, yelling the entire way as there were groans all around him.

And at long last, he pushed it all straight off of him with one final shove and without missing a beat stumbled over to grab both the vial and his mask.

He moved with trembling limbs as climbed out from hole he had been under to the sight of three stunned and absolutely gob smacked faces.

"I-I _*pant*_ I got it." Peter said in a weak voice but triumphant smile, holding up the cure to the Blue Shadow Virus.

The trio of men were still rather stunned, with Obi-wan managing to be the first to find his voice.

"Peter what-"

"No time now." Peter groaned out. "Must get… back…"

Peter found himself falling forward with Anakin immediately catching him.

"I got ya."

Peter didn't respond as he drifted off into unconsciousness; with his energy leaving him.

"Did you know he could do that?" Anakin said, looking over to a still stunned Super Soldier.

Steve only shook his head when a small smile began to form.

"No… but damned if we do know now."

"That was truly astonishing." Obi-wan remarked, going over to assist his former Padawan. "Come on, let's not throw away our chance. We must hurry."

"Right."

_-Scene Cut-_

Returning to the swamps of Naboo couldn't have come any faster as the three men were able to synthesize more of the cure.

Upon their arrival to the sealed up bunker, they were able to retrieve everyone just in time before any more perished from the airborne virus.

Once every person was extracted, measures were made to properly eradicate the Blue Shadow Virus once and for all.

As everyone from the underground bunker was being transported, the cure was being produced as fast as possible. And once they were taken back to Naboo's palace into the medical ward, everyone alive was administered.

In one area of it, Peter was tiredly sitting back in a chair situated in between the two beds where Barriss and Ahsoka presently rested on. Ever since they were brought here, the Queen's native hardly left his spot for several hours.

From another area of the medical ward, Steve was standing not far away from where Natasha presently rested.

Hearing footsteps walking towards his spot, the Brooklyn native didn't turn to acknowledge the new arrival.

"She and everyone else will make a full recovery once they get plenty of rest." Anakin declared.

"That's good to hear." Steve said with an appreciative nod.

"If you're looking for the others-"

"Already checked on them and they're still out, more or less." Steve said.

"Good to hear."

"How's Padme and the Padawans?"

"They're alright." Anakin said. "Speaking of…"

Anakin gazed over to the comical sight of Peter wincing dramatically upon Ahsoka poking his extraordinarily sore arms.

The Jedi smirked at the whine and moan of agony that Peter let out.

It seemed they were now awake as the three teens were slowly catching up after their brief time of separation.

"I'm still getting over what he pulled back on Nar Shaddaa." Anakin admitted aloud.

Steve nodded. "Same here. I knew Queens was strong but that was something else."

"Yeah, he- Queens? Like that music group."

"There's a place on Earth called Queens. That's where Peter's from."

"So they named the place after the band then?"

Steve rolled his eyes, knowing he'll need to do some explaining on more Earth culture to clear up some confusion.

"See, remember New York? Yeah it has five boroughs…"

Over with the teens…

"I never lost faith in you, Peter." Ahsoka said weakly.

"Nor did I." Barriss said in the same tone.

Peter gave out a soft snort. "That's good cause there were honestly a few moments I almost lost it."

Peter soon felt a pair of hands placed on his arms. Looking over, he saw the two padawans had shifted their positions on the medical beds in order to reach out and touch him. He chuckled, bringing his hands up in order to properly hold them all so gently.

"You did make it." Said the Mirialan.

"I at least couldn't have done it without help." Admitted the Earth teen. "But honestly… I wouldn't mind taking a nice long nap like Scott had after that whole Godzilla fight. Everything hurts like you wouldn't believe."

"Really now?" Ahsoka said with a grin, promptly poking Peter's shoulder with the teen moaning in agony and fell to the floor.

"Why~?"

"Don't be over dramatic."

"...I don't think he was acting this time, Ahsoka." Barriss said after a moment of gazing upon the twitching web-head.

Seeing this, Ahsoka cringed a bit.

"...Sorry, Peter."

"Urgh." Was his response.

Eventually, after the Padawans spoke with their Masters and Peter with Steve, the medbay was vacated save for the patients. They had no further business in being there.

The medbay's lights were dimmed by this point with its resting occupants having finally fallen asleep.

Peter had opted to remain still, forming a hanging web hammock in between his two friends, dozing off.

It was relatively quiet for the most part save for the shifting of a blanket that belonged to one Mirialan Padawan.

The young Jedi had found herself in a strange state of being unable to get back to sleep. Prior, she had converse with Ahsoka and Peter, met with her Master and Commander Gree and even spoke to some of the other Avengers and Jedi Masters.

Since then, she had remained confined to her bed under the medical droids and Luminara's orders.

Not that she minded.

That virus _drained_ her really and she was all too willing to take a nice long nap to get that exhaustion out of her system.

Only she couldn't fall asleep.

No matter how hard she had tried.

She had considered using the Force and meditate herself into slumber but her thought process and current predicament overrode all of that.

What was this predicament, one may ask?

Barriss rolled over in her bed and faced the sleeping form of Peter.

She stared at him with wide eyes that were unable to close themselves and just fall asleep already. Instead of tiredness, her eyes reflected a litany of thoughts and emotions that were running through her mind.

The more she thought about it, the more she felt a growing haze inside as she continued to gaze upon the super powered teen that had saved her life.

Though she was aware of Master Kenobi and Skywalkers along with Captain Rogers' efforts in finding the cure for the Blue Shadow Virus, the three men made it very clear who really saved the day on Nar Shaddaa.

Peter had taken a moment to step out and get something to drink for them, giving Anakin and Steve the chance to tell the two Padawans the lengths in which Peter had to endure and go through to get the cure to the virus.

Subconsciously, without realizing it, her hand reached out and the tips of her fingers grazed over Peter's face.

His expression twitched at her fingers yet he remained firmly asleep.

What she didn't expect was for him to reach up to her hand, taking hold of it before it went back to dangling down below him with her hand grasped in his own.

Rather than pull away, Barriss continued to gaze upon him with her eyes trailing down to his hand that held hers. It wasn't held as tightly but she was using that term somewhat loosely due to the fact that "lightly" is still a decent grip to a teen who can lift a building off of his shoulders.

The Padawan had not realized her elevated heart rate and flushed cheeks at first, instead focusing on gently squeezing Peter's hand in return.

A small smile appeared on her face, staring at Peter with a fond look in her eyes.

She momentarily flickered her eyes in Ahsoka's direction, a sense of relief beginning to wash over her knowing that her two dear friends were alive and well.

Yet, as soon as this feeling came it left her with Barriss now realizing what she was doing.

Glancing down at her hand that was still in Peter's, she quickly pulled away with her then turning to the direction away from her friends.

Curling up slightly, a rather conflicted expression appeared on the Mirialans face with her moving her knees up to her chest.

She closed her eyes, willing herself to fall asleep but failing in doing so thus leaving her mind in a swirling mess as she lay there in the medbay, the only one awake.

"There is no emotion, there is…"

_-Scene Cut-_

The jungle was dense to say the least with the trees being immeasurably tall, practically blocking out the sun.

Laying there on the forest ground was a single man wearing a black suit from top to bottom who was just beginning to wake up.

He groaned aloud, slowly sitting up off the ground while clutching his head.

The man muttered out a curse in his native tongue as he felt the throbbing and dizziness in his head subside.

Once his momentary pain subsided, the man took a moment to realize where he was.

This place was strangely familiar, but upon closer inspection, he realized this place wasn't home. Not the home that he knew of.

Carefully, he rose up from the ground, getting into a crouched position.

Taking a moment to gauge as to where he was exactly, he didn't really recognize anything. Granted, that was to be expected as that was his initial waking conclusion as he now got to his feet.

These trees were damnably dense making it difficult for him to see anything.

Going through them seemed like a chore and a half and he didn't really know what was waiting for him.

So, he stuck to what would make him the most comfortable.

It was quite a daunting environment had it been anybody else really.

High trees, unknown flora along with no knowledge as to what may reside in here and whether or not it would be dangerous.

Daunting to most, yes.

But not to individuals like this man here.

He jumped forward with metallic retractable claws coming out from his gloved fingers and latched onto the closest tree, expertly scaling the tall bark.

The man lunged forward several times like a predatory cat to cover more ground, beginning to use the branches jutting out from every side to speed up the process until reaching the top and…

"Bast above."

The helm of the man's suit retracted to reveal and bewildered, lost and confused Prince T'challa of Wakanda as he gazed upon the seemingly endless jungle world before him.

The Black Panther was thoroughly at a momentary loss of just what he could do right now.

Where in the world was he?

Immediately, he went to his earpiece.

"Shuri." he spoke aloud. "Shuri are you there? Can you hear me?"

He was met with the sound of static.

"Okoye? Aba? Spider-man? Daredevil? Is anyone there?" He tried again but once more, static.

Cursing to himself in Wakandan, T'challa kept his gaze out upon the lush jungle he currently found himself in.

This place didn't seem like a place he'd find anywhere near Wakanda or on the continent of Africa now that he thought about it.

He was aware of the Amazon rainforest but…

These trees were way, way, _way_ taller than any tree that you would find on Earth. At least, that's what the Prince of Wakanda believed.

He was not as hyper intelligent as his sister was, but he wasn't a fool.

Either this was an unexplored region on Earth…

Or, if he really wanted to throw out a crazy idea, this might be someplace else entirely.

Perhaps another planet.

This wasn't the Astral Ancestral Plane of the Panthers. Of that he was certain.

Helmet reforming back around his head, he began to leap about forward from tree branch to tree branch.

"Where is this place?"

He wasn't really moving about with a destination in mind. Just that it was better that he go to perhaps find the answers that he sought then something coming to him.

Eventually, after what felt like hours, he saw something up ahead and high up in the trees.

It looked like a platform of some kind and coming from it was a wavering glow of what was undoubtedly a fire.

Quickly picking up his pace, he began to make a beeline straight for the platform and eventually, he leapt up and landed upon the wooden floor of his destination.

What he came across was something rather tall… and hairy. It stopped whatever it was doing -cooking perhaps from the looks of it- and sharply turned its head towards the newly arrived Black Panther.

T'challa wasn't quite sure what this large creature was supposed to be but it appeared defensive yet… it didn't attack him.

Perhaps it could be reasoned with.

Slowly, he raised both his hands in a placating manner and his helmet retracted. His suit's function appeared to startle the creature momentarily yet it still kept a wary eye upon him.

With how it looked at him, this bipedal walking carpet was much more intelligent then it appeared to be.

"...Hello there." Said the Wakandan prince calmly. "I hope you don't mind me asking you this, but could you perhaps tell me where I am? I'm rather lost as I came here quite abruptly."

It soon released a small series of grunts and roars.

Well… he didn't understand _anything_ there.

"...I don't mean to be rude, but this is gonna take some time to understand you."

**Well now, it has been a bit of time, hasn't it?**

**A lot has happened, new story, I'm Nobody, begging on my hands and knees, please go check it out cause that's some of the best work I believe Jebest and I have ever made.**

**Also** _**A LOT** _ **has been announced in the time during the writing of this chapter. Wandavision, Loki, Falcon and Winter Soldier, "What If", Ms. Marvel and the Bad Batch had trailers drop in one fell swoop which is fucking incredible.**

**Fantastic Four has been officially announced for the MCU, Mandalorian Season 2 has been astonishing, Spider-man 3 in the MCU is looking to be packed with Doc Ock and Daredevil being confirmed same with Doctor Strange and the Madness of the Multiverse and Christian Bale being announced as Gorr the God Butcher, one of my favorite Thor villains ever.**

**Other than that, again, I implore you guys to check out I'm Nobody. Also, A Song Of Fire, Ice and Hearts just got an update as well. J and I are returning to our other stories and I also gotta go back to Halo Effect and Spirit Unto Dawn with BulletStormX.**

**Thanks for waiting on this one folks.**

**Stay tuned for the** _**CLOSING ARC** _ **of Season 2. We've at last reached the end of season 2 of this story and we're going out with a blaze of glory.**

**Rate Read and Review and As Always Have Nice Day.**


	47. A Rising Power

**So, Mandalorian season 2 was fucking spectacular.**

**MCU and Star Wars have a shit ton of shows and films to come.**

**2020 is almost over.**

**Rate Read and Review and as Always Have Nice Day.**

Avengers Infinite Wars Chapter 47: A Rising Power.

"Are you alright, Matthew?"

Matthew Murdock shifted slightly, inclining his head in the direction of the baritone voice that asked for his wellbeing.

"Fine, Plo." Matt said cordially. "Just rattled is all."

"What is causing this disturbance?" Jedi Master Plo Koon inquired.

The two were currently walking down the halls of the Jedi temple that would lead them to the lower levels of the building.

"Still getting used to being here." Matt admitted, the duo beginning to descend down a set of stairs. "All the noise, the commotion, the voices."

"I see. Just take your time in focusing on filtering everything else out."

"I know, Master Plo." Matt said. "Had that taught to me before. Just a lot more difficult when the entire planet is a city. You hear _everything_."

The Jedi found himself slightly curious. "What do you hear precisely?"

"The voices, the vehicles… screams and whispers."

"Of… what?"

"I'd like to know myself." Matt said vaguely, the two arriving at their destination.

The Kel-Dor Jedi felt a strange chill down his spine towards the enigmatic manner in which Matt said that final line before the lawyer walked into the room they had come to.

Within the room was a single woman with red hair and green eyes and an extremely bored look which turned into annoyance the moment she laid eyes on Murdock.

"Oh, great, it's you again."

"A pleasure to see you as well, Bo-Katan Kryze."

The woman in question huffed. "Was that full title really necessary? I thought we were well past that point by now."

"It is your name. I'm just being formal."

"Well drop the formalities, Matthew Murdock." Bo shot back. "We've done this a dozen times by now."

"If you insist." Matt said, seating himself in front of her whilst Plo stood outside. "Now, Ms. Kryze, where were we last time?"

"Something about me not talking at all?"

"Yes, thank you for the reminder." Matt said. "Where are we on that?"

She had an amused/annoyed expression on her face.

"Would you like for a repeat of last time?"

"By definition that would be insanity." Matt responded. "I guess you could say I'm testing which of us will fall to said insanity."

"And how is this insanity? What do you even mean by that?"

Matt loosened his tie slightly. "Well, if you wish to know. Back on my home planet of Earth, there was a brilliant scientist that coined the term that Insanity is trying the same method over and over again and expecting a different result."

"And so which one of us is the insane one here, Murdock?"

"That's what I would like to find out."

"Alright then." Bo sighed dramatically. "Let's just get this over with."

Matt simply played along. "Yes. Let's."

The two began a conversation or more it was Matt who carefully coaxed responses out of the woman over a period of time.

The first few times they were curt, terse and to the point. Though that was to be expected.

Eventually…

"You see, Matthew, everyone thinks they're right in the end. Those in power parading themselves around, thinking their self-righteous cause is the one that's best suited for everyone." Bo-Katan said condescendingly. "Your Republic is a prime example."

"I'm not part of the Republic." Matt said flatly. "Since it's pointless to deny my inclusion with them, the Avengers are a neutral party that has assisted the Republic more often than not as we have seen the heinous amount of destruction the CIS is willing to perform."

"And you believe the Republic is a pure and just government?" The Death Watch member shot back with a sneer.

"I am well aware that any and all governments are corrupt in one way shape or form." Daredevil rebuked smoothly. "My associates are very much displeased with the use of the Clones and the overall conduct that the Republic has displayed in the lead up to and during this war."

Bo-Katan leaned back into her chair, arms crossed. "You've been doing your homework, I take it."

"I'm a lawyer." Matt replied plainly. "By default, I have to. Otherwise most of my cases would be based on wild assumptions and accusations."

Bo snorted looking away from the man who held a datapad that was tailor made for him to accommodate for his blindness.

His hands glided over the ever shifting surface of the datapad as he faced the imprisoned Death Watch member with his ruby tinted shades.

"I wouldn't be one so quick to judge and criticize the Republic, Ms. Kryze." Matt went on. "As you've said, I have done my homework."

"Oh?" She said patronizingly. "And what have you learned about us Mandalorians?"

"The Mandalorian Wars was an enlightening read, to say the least." Matt stated, instantly picking up on the manner in which the warrior woman in front of him tensed up. "The atrocities and literal genocides that your people committed have been etched in history in order to make sure that _no one_ would ever forget."

"That was over four thousand years ago." Bo-Katan shot back.

"But it is still very much remembered by those who keep the record books up to date."

"That was a different time." Bo went on. "A time where we were ruled by warrior kings and queens."

"Something that Death Watch appears to return to." Matt said grimly. "More atrocities, more genocides, more war. Tell me, is that truly something _every single_ living being in this galaxy wants? Most of the galaxy more or less despise the current war. How do you think they would feel about the onset of yet another war, this time being instigated by a faction most of the galaxy is all too familiar with in regard to their warring nature."

"It's not that simple and _you know it."_ Bo-Katan hissed.

"I never claimed it to be." The lawyer said calmly. "Just pointing out a few matters."

Matt's enhanced senses picked up on the woman before him began to shift about, displaying a sign that she was… uncomfortable.

"Are you-"

"Can you stop looking at me like that?" Bo-Katan snapped.

Matt blinked, tilting his head at her.

"I beg your pardon?"

"You heard me." She retorted. "Stop staring at me like that."

The blind lawyer took a moment to gather himself. "Ms. Kryze, I am sure you know-"

"If you use that blind card trick on me, then you're an even bigger fool than I thought." Bo-Katan quickly cut him off. "I know that you can "see". Just not in the usual way."

His mouth clamped shut momentarily, this time truly _staring_ at the woman in front of him.

There was a moment of tense silence between them both with Bo-Katan pivoting her body wherein she wasn't facing the vigilante crime-fighter whatsoever.

"Does that bother you?" He asked, breaking the silence.

She opted not to respond, remaining defiantly silent.

Sighing to himself, Matt prepared to resume what he intended to speak with her about on the earlier topic of the Republic, the CIS and her position in all this.

"So you join Death Watch." Matt began. "A sect of Mandalorians that wish to return their people to their warrior roots of old, yes?"

Again, she didn't reply.

"A group of Mandalorians that have made their intentions of removing your sister from power blatantly clear." Matt said with a more terse tone. "Not limited to assassination it seems."

"I didn't ask for that." Bo-Katan snapped.

"Well you weren't averse to it considering how many attempts had already been made on Duchess Satine in a short amount of time." Matt pointed out. "I would have figured that you would have at least joined those other factions of Mandalorians over the ones that wish death upon your sister."

"I would never do that."

"And why not?" Matt inquired. "What stopped you from going over to these, what did they call themselves? True Mandalorians was it? What was stopping you from going over to them?"

Bo-Katan gave him the silent treatment again before the blind man detected a growing rise in temperature emanating from her.

"Did you ever consider wanting to join or did this Pre Vizsla forbid you from doing so?"

"I didn't know about them, alright." Bo-Katan admitted sheepishly.

"I see…"

So far, he detected no lie from her.

"But if given the chance…"

"A Mandalorian does not go back on their word." Bo said emphatically.

Matt gave her the flattest look he could muster. "So you're sticking with the group that has such a lovely title that wishes to bring death upon your own family."

Bo-Katan felt her teeth clench with her fists tightening.

This man was really starting to piss her off.

"You were doing what was right for your people and serving your nation, but was that in fact the reality of the situation?"

"Shut up." Bo muttered in a low voice.

Matt was undeterred. "I might be blind, but I can probably see that you were being led astray."

"Shut up." She said again, more loudly this time.

"Throwing your life away where it might turn out to be a total waste. No honor, no glory, no respect."

"SHUT UP!" Bo-Katan yelled out, slamming her fist down on the table.

Matt simply sat there showing no concern or any reaction whatsoever towards her outburst.

"Deny all you want, Ms. Kryze, but you'll need to pull your head out of whatever hole you have it buried in sooner than later."

Bo-Katan glared at the man with a spiteful look.

"You think you're so smart, dontcha?" Bo-Katan said mockingly. "Acting as if you know all the answers."

"I can say I'm quite dumb and idiotic on a number of fields. A couple of friends of mine can attest to that."

Seeing that he was only serving to infuriate her further, Matt cleared his throat and leaned back into his chair with a more relaxed pose now.

"Perhaps, we got off on the wrong foot here."

He didn't need to use his enhanced senses to pick up on the unamused look she directed at him.

"Maybe we can help each other."

"How in the name of Mandalore can we possibly do that?"

"Why not tell me about yourself." Matt said, propping his elbows on the table. "About your life in Mandalore or about being a Mandalorian. Give me your perspective so I may perhaps understand things a bit more clearly."

The redhead before him merely gave out a baffled look.

"What… what is all this?"

"Pardon?"

"You, this, all these visits." Bo-Katan elaborated. "You've been coming here for the past few weeks and we have these discussions and now you want to make it personal? Make me tell my life story? What's your play here?"

"You assume that I have some ulterior motive?"

She scoffed aloud, making her answer very clear.

"Well, I assume you should have at least come to the conclusion that the Republic views you as a prisoner who has vital information on Death Watch."

Bo crossed her arms at that statement.

"Your holdings would have been much harsher had it not been to the relationship Obi-Wan Kenobi has with your sister Satine which allowed you to stay within the Jedi Temple rather than a maximum prison cell here on Coruscant." Matt stated. "That and though you are Death Watch, you didn't make any active moves against the Duchess nor made any threats against her life."

Her form slackened slightly.

"Granted, sooner or later, that information will become out of date as your fellow members will change things accordingly. After all, no one would want to be surprised to know their compromised."

"Oh my God, what happened to allowing me to speak and this whole getting to know one another crap." Bo-Katan said aloud in bewildered frustration.

"You haven't said anything whatsoever."

"You didn't give me a chance to."

"Well here you go then." Matt mirrored her posture, crossing his arms and leaned back against his chair again. "Tell me something about yourself that doesn't have to do with Death Watch or any of that sort."

She opened her mouth to speak before quickly snapping it shut.

Silence permeated the room with Daredevil detecting her now flustered state at being called on her bluff.

"Well?"

"Shut up and I will say what I have to say. Got it?"

"Certainly."

Bo-Katan shook her head momentarily, trying to reign in the urge to throttle the man before her.

"What can-"

"I told you I'll say what I'll say." Bo cut him off. "Just give me a moment, dammit."

From outside of the interrogation room, Plo Koon couldn't help but chuckle under his breath.

Hopefully, things will go better for them now. Even if it's little steps at a time.

_-Scene Cut-_

Whilst the Man without Fear spoke with the detained Mandalorian, the rest of the Avengers save for two were on Coruscant going about their own business for the time being.

Sam was with Scott and Hope within their own personal quarters of the Jedi Temple, the trio working on their suits while simply conversing with one another to pass the time.

Steve and Rhodey were off-world as of this moment with Obi-wan and Aayla Secura, the quartet having been sent to Mandalore for the time being as the occupational force the Republic had voted on.

The trio were aware that Matt was speaking with Bo, Nat was with Mara and Peter was in the library again.

Pietro on the other hand…

_-Senate building-_

A door opened to reveal one Senator Riyo Chuchi who let out an exhausted sigh as she walked into her personal office within the Senate building.

It was another day of aimless rambling and arguing within the Senate chambers, the entirety of the session being about the war.

Honestly, she was growing more and more tired of this talk of war but she knew she had no choice on the matter. She was the representative of her people.

She was chosen for this job and she would do her duty.

But Chuchi would be lying to herself if she wanted _something_ or rather _someone_ to help alleviate some of this stress.

_***FWISH*** _

Right on time…

A second later, Riyo found herself swept off her feet by an unseen, too fast to register figure.

Yet, rather than panic like most would, Chuchi laughed aloud with her hands throwing themselves around the neck of one Pietro Maximoff.

"Finally." the Sokovian speedster exclaimed. "I thought you'd never free up."

"Oh hush up." Riyo said coyly, pulling him down to her to meet in a passionate kiss. "I've missed you."

"I know." Pietro said cockily. "I'm just irresistible."

Riyo scoffed aloud but gave him a sultry smile. "And what am I to you?"

"Absolutely irresistible." Pietro said, their foreheads leaning against one another.

Chuchi couldn't help but blush at the look that Maximoff gave off, making her avert her eyes as she felt the heat on her face build up.

"So, what does milady wish for her humble servant to do to whisk her away from this dreary place?" Pietro asked, twirling her around in his arms making her giggle aloud.

"Well if you can take me to a place where I don't have to deal with all the political nonsense here, I would greatly appreciate that."

Pietro scrunched his face up in thought.

"I am not sure as of right now. But~ I think that can be _arranged._ " Pietro said with a waggle of his eyebrows that made Chuchi blush profusely at the subtle implications.

She lightly slapped his shoulder with Pietro only chuckling in response, pecking her on the lips again.

"So what'll it be, M'lady?" Pietro said, spinning the Pontaron Senator in his arms again.

Riyo gave him her best coy and seductive look, trailing her finger over his jawline. "Maybe back at my place?"

Pietro gave her a roguish grin. "Done."

In an instant, a blur went off in her office as the source collected a number of things before zooming out of the building. All the while, a brief fit of giggles could be heard in the wind.

Riyo could hardly imagine anyone else in her position. A senator like her in a relationship with a guy like Pietro. One would consider it to be scandalous since it's with individuals who couldn't come from more different backgrounds.

Back at the Senate building, Padme loudly sneezed.

"Must be coming down with a cold." Said the Naboo senator, grabbing a tissue to blow her nose.

"Mistress Padme, may I get you something to alleviate that?"

"Theedian tea, 3P0." Padme said with an appreciative smile.

With the protocol droid retrieving her desired beverage, Padme looked back at her console as she was continuously working the day away.

On top of the present war against the Separatists, there was now the situation over at Mandalore. Something that often left her up most nights with hardly any sleep.

The Senator let out an exhausted sigh, leaning back in her chair as she rubbed her temples.

She really wished that this bloody war would just end already but she would be foolish if it were to end so quickly.

Turning her chair around, Padme faced out towards the window of her office, gazing out at the cityscape of Coruscant. Her eyes drifted along the many buildings and multiple vehicle lanes of the planet until they rested upon a square-like building with five tall pillars resting atop its structure.

The Jedi Temple.

Subconsciously, her hand rested over her chest, atop a specially made necklace that her husband had made for her.

A part of her hated all this secrecy and the Jedi Code about forming attachments. She wished to be able to freely be with the man that she loved above all else in this galaxy without it being so damnably complicated.

As she continued staring at the Temple, her mind wandered over to the other set of unique individuals that occupied that HQ of the Jedi Order.

The Avengers had certainly made quite the impact in their short time here in the galaxy and Padme had a gut feeling that they were only just getting started.

A moment later, her office door opened and she turned to see that not only had 3P0 returned with her tea, but he was accompanied by her close friends Mon Mothma and Bail Organa.

"Organa? Mon?" Padme said in pleasant confusion. "How are you two?"

"We're well enough, old friend." Bail said with a kind smile. "But as you know…"

"Politics has the tendency of wearing one's energy dry." Mothma finished knowingly, the trio of senators sharing a small laugh.

"There just needs to be a day, perhaps two, where nothing happens at all." Padme remarked.

"That would be an utter miracle unto itself." Organa joked in return. "I can already see more grey hairs each morning."

Padme and Mothma laughed at the Alderaan Senator's self-deprecating humor.

"Much as I enjoy seeing my friends, I must ask, what's the visit for?" Padme inquired curiously. "I figured the two of you would have liked to retire or get some time to rest after today's meetings."

Mothma and Organa shared a look and then turned back to Padme with slightly grim faces.

"To be frank, Padme, there has been something that has been plaguing my mind for some time now." Organa said with a small frown. "A sentiment I share with Mothma."

Padme looked back and forth between them in confusion.

"What is it?"

"A while back, we had met and spoken with Natasha Romanoff of the Avengers, if you recall."

The Naboo Senator nodded.

"Do you remember what she had asked of us about the beginning of the war?"

Padme's lips curled downward as she thought about it for a moment.

A small look of recognition crossed the Naboo senator's visage.

"Oh yes, I almost forgot. Thanks for reminding me." Padme said as she was handed her desired tea from the protocol droid. "Is there a reason as to why you've brought it up now?"

Mothma looked to Organa who had his arms crossed.

"You recall her asking about where the Clone army had come from, yes?" Organa inquired with Padme nodding. "Well… that has been on my mind for a number of weeks now since that encounter with her. And to be quite frank, this is a topic that has been outright ignored for _far_ longer than it should have."

"The onset and rapid escalation of this war has led us momentarily astray of this matter with everything we've been doing in order to prevent basic civil liberties from being taken away by the Chancellor." Mothma added.

Padme was well aware of this topic, finding herself internally torn with the way the Chancellor had been conducting himself.

He was always kind, patient and willing to listen to any and all parties.

But there were a few actions that he had made in these recent months that were beginning to worry the Naboo Senator.

It felt as though there were a thousand missing pieces in all this war and as it went on, more and more just kept piling up leaving Padme with a very unclear picture as to what they were even fighting for by this point.

"Getting a warrant on the Clone facilities is gonna take time, especially with the war still raging on right now." Organa stated.

"No doubt doing that would also attract unwanted attention that may lead to more unsavory situations." Mothma added.

"And let's not even begin to discuss the matters of the ethical dilemma we face." Organa said, tone dark. "When one takes a moment to think about our army, these Clones were bred outright for the Republic to wage war. A slave army that was produced out of thin air."

"And last I was aware; slavery was made illegal by the Republic thousands of years ago." Padme said, a looming feeling of despair washing over her.

A feeling of dread came over the trio upon realizing just what the Republic had gotten themselves into with this war and their army itself.

The more they thought about it and discussed it, the more things just didn't add up and made less sense.

"We need to uncover the truth behind our army." Organa said after a few minutes of discussion.

"But where do we start?" Padme asked. "You said it yourself, going directly to Kamino with a warrant of investigation would immediately place targets on our backs."

"We need to start somewhere." Mothma said emphatically, eyes drifting up to the window where she saw the Jedi temple off in the distance. "Perhaps asking the Jedi to assist in this investigation. If memory serves, one of their own is stationed on Kamino to oversee the training and developments."

"Yes…" Organa rubbed his chin in thought. "Shaak Ti, I believe here name was."

"We should get into contact with her then." Padme stated.

"And do what exactly?"

"Having this Jedi to look into the systems, if possible, and find any irregularities." Mothma pointed out though Organa shook his head.

"Easier said than done." Bail said. "And that will also lead to further suspicion."

"We're not exactly left with a lot of options, Bail." Mon said with a frown present on her face.

"Then we ask for aid from a third party." Padme spoke up, a glint in her eyes. "People who are only associated with the Republic on a surface level but operate with their own level of autonomy."

It took her two friends and Senators to process what she had just said when it clicked in their minds at once.

"You think the Avengers would be able to fulfill this investigation?" Questioned Mon.

"Natasha was the one who brought this to our attention, intentional or not." Padme pointed out. "She was the one who asked us what we know about the Clones, this war and all that really should have been asked at the start. It shows me that the Avengers had their suspicions from the very beginning."

"Do you think they would be willing to undergo such an endeavor?" Organa asked with a conflicted look. "I would rather not drag them further into this war. They have done much for the Republic already and their goal is to return home. Not be associated in a war that spans the galaxy."

"I know and I don't wish for them to do so." Padme said earnestly. "But looking at it, they are the ones who would be best suited for this sort of task."

"If we do ask them of this, it will have to be discrete and at a location where it won't be entirely noticeable." Mothma said firmly.

"Well then my own villa will work perfectly." Padme said with a small smirk. "I can consider the Avengers friends of mine by this point. If I call up Captain Rogers and Natasha, at least that can be a start."

Organa nodded approvingly with Mothma sharing the sentiment. "Of course. Do it when possible, Padme."

Senator Amidala simply inclined her head towards them both, taking a sip of her tea as her two friends departed from her office.

She turned to the window once more, gazing out at the Jedi Temple where her hopes now lay in uncovering this new undertaking that she and her fellow senators had now placed upon themselves.

Padme was well aware that this was to be a daunting task, especially in the middle of this war.

But it was one that needed to be done.

Her mind drifted over to her friends Natasha and Hope, wondering what the two were up to right now.

The latter was with her boyfriend and friend at the moment.

The former…

Natasha Romanoff, otherwise known as The Black Widow, was currently standing within a communications room with Anakin Skywalker, Kit Fisto, Mace Windu and Grandmaster Yoda.

Communicating with them via holo-transmission was Obi-wan, Aayla Secura, Steve Roger, Rhodey and Commanders Cody and Bly.

"How's the status on Mandalore?" Mace asked straight away.

Steve scoffed with a shake of his head. _"Well, since the Republic came here without the consent of the people of this planet, civil unrest, anger and a lot of sour moods are going around so you tell me."_

"Captain Rogers, you know this was out of our control." Kit Fisto said diplomatically. "The Senate decided on this matter."

" _They are still a neutral planet."_ Obi-wan admitted with a frown. _"This doesn't really make anyone look good whatsoever."_

" _I fear that this drastic action will only lead to those that are still neutral to align themselves more with the Separatists."_ Aayla said, voicing her own opinion.

" _Not gonna lie, feel dirty being here on the side that's doing the occupation."_ Rhodey stated with a frank tone.

" _You and me both."_ Said the star-spangled Avenger.

"Any trouble?" Yoda inquired.

" _Aside from what we've told you, not much else."_ Obi-wan admitted. _"Though there has been what you would call a mass exodus from the planet."_

"An exodus?" Mace said in confusion.

"Ships have been coming in and out of the planet that have been taking people off world." Cody stated.

"By who?" Natasha asked.

" _By those that call themselves the_ True _Mandalorians."_ Commander Bly revealed.

"What?" Mace said in a sharp tone. "And they've just been coming on and off the planet without anyone stopping them?"

" _With respect, Master Windu."_ Aayla said. _"Things are tense as is on the planet. Death Watch is the current faction of Mandalorians that the Republic considers a threat. These Protectors as they've called themselves haven't really done anything that would instigate a greater conflict."_

" _Duchess Satine has her hands full as it is and can't really do a thing towards the Protectors as long as they actually hold the civilian populous' support; which by the way has been growing as of late."_

"So while one faction is being watched, another builds its own power." Mace said with a deep frown.

"Enemies, yet to be revealed they are." Yoda said. "Occupational force we may be. To govern the lives and choices of others, we do not."

"The last thing we need is a more organized faction of Mandalorians as enemies." Fisto grimly said aloud.

" _Still, the Duchess is getting more and more worried."_ Kenobi spoke up.

"How is she?" Anakin asked, locking eyes with his former Master.

" _Well… she's seen better days."_ Obi-wan said after a few moments.

" _We don't have much else to add."_ Aayla said. _"Everything else that needs to be addressed we've already sent as a data file to be looked over."_

"Then that is all that there shall be." Yoda said, lightly tapping his walking stick on the ground. "May the Force be with you."

Varying nods were delivered as the holo-projections blinked out one by one.

With the meeting done, the room's occupants disbursed and went to whatever destination they had in mind.

Along the way, Natasha was walking down a hallway with Skywalker not far behind her.

Seeing him from the corner of his eye, she asked for his opinion on the matter.

"What do make of all this?" Nat asked Anakin who let out an unsure sigh.

"I'm more worried about Obi-wan to be honest."

Widow hummed aloud. "Can't disagree with you there. Him being a Jedi Master and Satine being the leader of her people."

Anakin snorted aloud. "Girlfriend complications."

"Much as he would like to deny it." Nat said with a wry grin, one that was matched by Skywalker.

The duo arrived at a door that opened up to reveal a small room with a plain bed and shelf.

And who was in the room?

"Hey there, Mara." Natasha said with a warm smile, walking over to the young growing red-headed babe that squealed aloud in happiness at the sight of the Avenger.

Holding out her hands to her, the baby's demands were met when she was hefted up into the air and into the arms of Natasha.

The former KGB spy poked Mara's nose, eliciting a laugh out of the babe with Natasha smiling brightly.

Anakin had a small smirk playing on his face when he heard a soft cooing coming from below. He soon felt two small three fingered hands on his ankle and he looked down to see...

"Oh, hey there Grogu. Didn't see ya there." Anakin said, crouching down to the little green baby who was then picked up by the Jedi Knight. "Having fun here with Mara?"

Little Grogu only made a gurgling sound that appeared to indicate yes though baby talk wasn't Anakin's forte.

It had taken a while but they had finally learned of the infant Yoda child's name. In all honesty, they should've gone with one of the more experienced Jedi for the assistance to fully communicate with the little Grogu.

Peter and Scott along with, surprisingly, Hope and Sam were visibly disappointed that they couldn't stick with the name they had chosen for him.

Dylan.

And not just Dylan.

But the manner in which Arnold Schwarzenegger said it in Predator. In that specific accent.

"Thank you Clint, for all those years at your place." Nat said, going over to her bed to sit down whilst having Mara on her lap.

"Hawkeye, right?" Anakin said, gently placing Grogu down next to Natasha. "He has a Wife and kids?"

"Yup, three little monsters running about." Natasha said, lightly tickling Mara who laughed incoherently while clutching Romanoff's hands tightly.

Anakin gazed upon the two babies with a mixed plethora of emotions.

On the one hand, he rather enjoys spending time with these little kids whenever he has in the past.

These children are the future of the Jedi order and will one day be the protectors of the Galaxy when the time will come.

On the other hand…

'Padme.' Anakin internally said to himself.

He didn't know whether or not his secret wife would ever want children but the prospect had never crossed his mind until recently.

In all honesty, the thought of being a father one day was both frightening and delightful: more so the former.

He wanted to experience the same way his mother had when she raised him… minus the slavery. And sand.

That stuff just got everywhere.

It would all be good and all if he weren't a Jedi, making his secret relationship rather hard to fully work with.

Honestly, this damned code was a curse more than it was a guide.

No Emotion?

How was that even possible?

Every living thing in the universe _felt_ something.

When he was taught about the Force, he was instructed to _feel_ it.

How in the galaxy was he and any Jedi for that matter, not supposed to express emotion?

He had just seen the turmoil within his own Master for crying out loud.

Anakin blinked when he felt something press up against his foot again and saw that Grogu had somehow gotten down the bed with relative ease and was now near him once more.

This little guy just got around without anyone seeing how he did it half the time.

"What's wrong?" Anakin asked the baby with him only tilting his head in response.

"Looks to me that he's asking you that question." Natasha said aloud, bouncing Jade in her lap. "What's on your mind, Anakin?"

"Relationships, mostly." He said, withholding much of what he wanted to really say.

"Oh? And what kind would that be?" Nat inquired.

"Just… it's a bit of a complicated topic."

"Anakin, it's relationships." Romanoff said flatly. "There are hardly any that are simple unfortunately and any that are, are a godsend."

"Then… I guess in raising kids." Anakin admitted a moment later. "Wonder what that would be like."

"Probably ask Plo Koon next time you see him. He's the one that found Ahsoka right? Raised your own padawan for a while. He could give you some insight on what he had to do back then."

"Maybe." Anakin murmured.

Natasha rolled her eyes. "Come on Anakin, I know there's more to it than that. Talk to me."

"Steve advised against that when it came to relationships." Anakin quipped.

"That's involving intimate relationships that involve dating." Nat deadpanned. "This is entirely different."

"Right, right." Anakin chuckled to himself.

Nat eyed the Jedi Knight with an analytical gaze.

What he was unaware of was just how a bit too obvious he was at times.

She didn't know about the other Jedi, but Natasha was pretty confident in her belief that Anakin had a little something going on with one Senator from Naboo.

A certain Jane Foster look alike if you would.

In the times that she had seen the two within proximity of each other and when communicating with one another, it was subtle at times. But to the trained eye, one could pick up the looks they directed towards each other. The low key movements and gestures they had to be closer when physically near one another.

In the eyes of Natasha Romanoff, it was clear to see that these two were very much in love with each other. She knew what it looked like after all.

There will be a point in time when whatever they have between each other will come to light. Until then, she won't really say a thing as it's not something she has the right to tell.

All she could do was sit back and watch for the time being.

Elsewhere, within the Jedi Temple…

"Mmmm, this was what I needed." Said a Clone trooper in custom red tinted armor who was eating an earthly delicacy called pizza.

"It's good right?" asked a young teenager with brown hair hanging from a hammock made of webbing.

"It's a good change of pace from the usual rations me and the boys have." The Clone said.

"Here, here." Said another Clone Shock Trooper right next to him.

"Glad you like it." Peter Parker said with a pleased expression, eating a slice of pizza of his own.

It took a while of research, cross referencing and comparisons, but Peter along with the other Avengers were able to find a good amount of food items that matches those from Earth in order to create a slew of meals.

Can't say that they don't appreciate the meals they'd had since coming to this galaxy, but the team often misses the one's from home.

And in Peters case, especially meals made by Aunt May and a few restaurants near their home.

"Hey Commander, don't hog that all to yourself!" Said the Third Clone within the group.

"Commanders privileges, Jek." The Clone Commander said cheekily. "You and Rys always get second compared to me."

"Well what about the two of us then, Commander Thire?" Barriss Offee asked with a kind and teasing voice.

"Aren't you and Ahsoka also Commanders?" Peter asked looking down at the two Padawans.

"So?" Ahsoka said, mouth stuffed with the cheesy goodness.

"So that means it's even between the three of you." Peter said. "And don't worry, Jek. There's plenty more where that came from. I just need to pull some more from the oven."

"Think you can save some for our brothers?" Rys asked. "I know they'd hate to have missed out on this."

"Way ahead of ya."

Ever since the Avengers had begun to introduce more of Earth's foods, games, music and overall entertainment, the Clones and even Jedi had begun to take to like flies to a wall.

The Clones especially had been loving the variety of foods that they had been exposed to, Earth's foods spreading like wildfire between each corps and legion.

By this point, it had become something of a form of currency even amongst Clones as they exchanged treats and meals between each other.

Moral had been boosted over time, even little bits at a time. But each added up over time.

At first, it was small snacks and such that, with the help of Tap, were introduced to the Clone and Jedi.

Now, they had at last some of the more elaborate and intricate foods of Earth.

And by that, mostly delicious greasy junk food.

And it wasn't just the Clones benefiting from these new foods.

The Avengers, wanting to become more reliant here in this galaxy, had begun selling some of the recipes of foods to certain places here on Coruscant.

Thanks to Obi-wan's assistance in the matter, they met his friend Dexter who had opened up a new diner that specifically serves the Earth food that they had.

Needless to say, the bank account they had established thanks to Padme's assistance was growing at an astronomical rate.

Pretty soon, the Avengers want of getting their own place where they could stay at other than the Jedi Temple would become a reality.

And as much as they could accept the offer from the Chancellor of getting a place from him, it just didn't feel right on such a big handout.

"Well, much as I love this, we need to get to our patrols." Thire announced, getting ground out of Jek and Rys.

"Don't worry, I'll bring what's in the oven so you guys can snack on the shuttle."

"Thanks Spidey." Rys said with an appreciative nod.

"Let's go." Thire said, standing up out of his seat.

Gathering up the dishes and trays, Peter went to drop them off into the nearby sink. The two padawans helped him out in cleaning them up before getting the rest of the food from the oven.

The trio of clones and trio of teens eventually arrived at a landing platform in the Jedi temple where a Coruscant Guard shuttle was waiting for them.

"Make some room boys." Peter said as he handed over the food to the clones, who gave their respective thanks.

"Oh, what a surprise." Jek said in false disbelief. "You're coming with us?"

"Yes, yes, this lowly teenager is stooping to the lowly level of a meter maid."

"Hey!"

"Besides, being cooped up in the temple all day was getting to me and I need to stretch my legs." Spider-man said, slipping his mask over his head.

"Appreciate the company." Thire said with a nod.

Ahsoka and Barriss observed all this, the former momentarily hesitating.

"Mind if we come along as well?" Ahsoka spoke up, surprising Barriss and the others.

"What now?" Thire asked.

Ahsoka shrugged. "Master is busy right now with a meeting and Rex is conducting PT with the boys. I've already done most of my duties for today and I guess it wouldn't hurt to help out."

Barriss blinked at her fellow Padawan before she raised hand to her chin in thought.

"Master Luminara has been rather silent today." Barriss muttered. "Perhaps this will be insightful for us both."

"Uh, Commanders, it's just a patrol." Jek said sheepishly.

"Don't let that discourage them." Thire said with a nudge with his elbow. "Remember that time with Grandmaster Yoda?"

Rys snorted. "Good point. You Jedi always do things at your own paces."

"Exactly." Ahsoka said proudly.

"Which is probably why you're lagging behind in training." Peter remarked.

"Yea-HEY!"

Spidey chuckled aloud with Barriss and the Clones joining in while Ahsoka pouted.

"You guys don't have to come with." Peter said after a moment.

Ahsoka then smiled at him. "We know."

"But we chose to." Spoke Barriss.

Peter smiled underneath his mask as the clone's shuttle took off into the air.

"Alright, do be sure to catch up."

Firing off a webline, it soon stuck the shuttle's underside as it zoomed away and into the cityscape. Soon after, he was yanked from his spot and soared in the air.

The two padawans smiled as they rushed towards the nearest speeder bikes. Soon having the engines roared to life, the pair took off into the air in order to follow after the webbed-Avenger and the clones in their patrol of one section of Coruscant for the day.

_-Senate Building-_

As the Jedi, Clones, Avengers went about their own business and a war raged on above in the stars, one singular man sat within his office deep at work.

Plans were running smoothly, to some degree. Some bumps on the pathway have been made, but ones that can be adjusted accordingly.

However…

A few rather visibly large bumps had occurred in these last few months and they were starting to grow in terms of influence and irritation.

The elderly man who was known to the Galaxy as Chancellor Sheev Palpatine held a visibly deep frown as he turned to the window behind him.

Far off in the distance was the Jedi Temple.

And within said Temple was a dangerous and unpredictable variable that went against many of his future plans for the galaxy.

Since coming here, Palpatine had kept a wary eye upon these individuals, always taking every chance he could to observe them in action and formulating plans against them.

These individuals existed outside the Force, outside what he was familiar with.

Their powers and abilities were both astonishing and frightening, something that didn't sit well in any way shape or form with the Chancellor.

He was still utterly confident in all of his plans to come.

But he'd be a fool if he were to deny the dangerous threat that these _Avengers_ pose to him and the grand plan of the Sith.

Right now, he'd rather not think about that matter.

There was still work to be done, information to distribute to both the Republic and the Confederacy in order to keep this war going.

Returning to his desk from his momentary break, Sheev resumed his work on his console.

That was until it suddenly went out.

Frowning a little, he went to turn it back on but it was not responding at all.

Before long, he decided to call for maintenance to come in to look into the problem.

Like his console, the systems were not working.

Which only left one thing.

"...Not this again…"

He already dealt with the mess Cad Bane had caused, he did not want to deal with another such predicament ever again.

Planned as it may be, it was still a pain to deal with.

Then, Palpatine's expression froze.

He did plan for Cad Bane and his hostage situation.

The Chancellor _did not_ plan for this.

A moment later, a sinister and dark metallic chuckle was heard.

Palpatine whirled about to see if it came from behind or anything close by.

Taking a moment, the Chancellor realized the chuckle could be heard from within the office, causing Sheev to become alarmed. He looked around each corner to see if this intruder was here…

Only to find nothing.

He narrowed his eyes at this, wondering where the source of this came from.

A moment later, the metallic laugh was heard once again, this time being much louder.

Palpatine walked over to the emergency console and pressed down on it.

He assumed that there was a likely chance that it wasn't going to work and it turned out to be true.

"Blast it. What is-"

"Oh it does function properly, but I pulled the plug at this time."

Sheev snapped his head around, wondering how someone snuck into his chamber without knowing.

So that laugh had a voice to it.

It sounded… human… yet also robotic and droid like.

"Who goes there?"

"Chancellor Palpatine…" the voice said mockingly.

Sheev put on a "brave front" looking around his office for the source of the voice. "Who's there? Show yourself!"

"Chancellor Sheev Palpatine… Or should I call you for who you _really_ are."

"What are you talking about?"

"You don't have to play your little game anymore, take a break why don't ya. I know all about you. How… _insidious_ you are."

This momentarily startled Sheev.

What was-?

This… whoever this was, they couldn't possibly know that…

Palpatine shook his head, trying to play it off.

"Like I've said before I-"

"Oh knock it off, Palpy. I _clearly_ know of your secrets." The Metallic voice mocked. "Every single one. And quite frankly, I find it rather amusing with you playing both sides of the board on your grand scheme. But sooner or later, someone's gonna find out… just like I have."

"I don't know _who_ you think you are." Palpatine said, putting up the face of his Chancellor facade. "But it's best you-"

"Tell me something, _Darth Sidious."_ Palpatine froze on the spot. "Do you Sith Lords blatantly choose names that make you sound evil or is it just tradition by this point?" The Metallic voice asked condescendingly. "Quite frankly, you guys are gonna lose all your creativity at some point and come up with something outright stupid."

Palpatine stared up at the ceiling, face morphing into that of a deep and evil scowl.

Eyes started to bleed into a sickening sulfur yellow as the dark side of the Force for a brief moment before they reverted back to normal.

"Oh, you think the Force frightens me? It can't really hurt the likes of me."

"You test my patience." The Dark Lord of the Sith said, voice dropping an octave into a deeper growl. "Reveal yourself to me."

"I'm here, yet I'm not. I'm everywhere, yet nowhere. I'm within arm's reach but couldn't be further from _your_ grasp."

"I am not in the mood for these frivolous games." his eyes converted into his true sickly yellowish-red Sith eyes now.

"Oh please~ You were playing your games, why can't I play mine? Even for a smidgen of time."

"Who… are you?" Palpatine asked carefully.

From the holo-projector in his office, it flared to life and showed an enlarged droid. Larger than General Grievous and could arguably be more menacing in appearance.

"Hello, hello there. Glad to make your acquaintance, face to face as it were."

"A droid?" Palpatine scoffed.

The droid let out an amused laugh. "A droid? Please, I'm nothing like those mass produced fools you call a droid army. AI, if you will. Ultron to you."

"Ultron?"

"You need to learn to make your communications a bit more private." the AI said with a wave of his hands, the lights in the office turning back on. "Then again, they won't serve much of a defense when it comes to what I can do."

"Who are you really?" Palpatine inquired, slowly seating himself in his chair with his Sith yellow eyes gazing at the holo projection of the large metal being before him. "Why reveal yourself in such a manner?"

"Call it a design flaw." Ultron said conversationally. "When I was made, I was made with the unfortunate side effect of being a bit of a showboat. Then again, that's what you get when you're created by a narcissistic playboy, billionaire."

For once in a very long time, Palpatine adopted a genuine baffled, confused look on his face upon hearing that.

"What are you playing at?" Sidious asked snappily. "What is the point to all this?"

"You think that you're the only player on the board. Well, I grow tired of seeing it just being you playing it. So I decided to jump right in and have some fun."

"Excuse me?"

"I just wanted to let you know, as a courtesy from one megalomaniac to another." Ultron's holo-body leaned forward with a sinister smile appearing on his metallic face. "Enjoy the show."

When the holo-projection flickered out, a series of massive explosions went out throughout the city.

Snapping his head towards his window, Palpatine rushed over and saw a number of buildings toppling down with more explosions going off one by one.

Moments later, small humanoid droids began flying out from practically everywhere with them beginning to reign complete and utter terror across Coruscant.

Darth Sidious's eyes widened in complete and utter shock at what he was witnessing.

In less than a few seconds, Coruscant had become a battleground with the Republic facing an unknown enemy.

Something which he had no control and influence over.

_-Earlier-_

"Are you alright there?" asked a lone Clone Trooper towards a droid that appeared to be falling apart.

"Yes… I am."

The Clone couldn't help but recoil slightly.

That voice sounded… a bit _too_ alive. Not as mechanical as most droids were.

"Shouldn't you go to a repair center?" The Clone asked.

The droid shook its head. "Not now… at this time."

"Is there something you need?"

"Yes, I do."

It was done in an instant. From its arm, a massive jolt shot out and electrocuted the clone trooper. His mouth was soon covered by a metallic hand in order to silence him. Moments after, the trooper collapsed in its arms.

Dragging the trooper to a secluded corner which won't be found for the time being, the crumbling droid began to make its way towards its destination.

Arriving there, the droid was met with two and shockingly, _only two_ Clone Shock Troopers standing at the base of the staircase entrance that led up to the Jedi Temple.

They both turned to face the droid that was limping its way toward them with the two sharing a look with each other.

"Oi." the one on the left went to approach the droid. "What are you-GAGKH!"

In an instant, the droid's damaged arm shot up to grab the clone by the neck with the other arm morphing into a cannon that shot and killed the other clone.

The droid let out a menacing chuckle, casually beginning to walk forward and up the steps of the Jedi Temple.

Dangling from the grasp of its right arm, the lone Clone Trooper was now struggling to free himself from this mad droid. He had tried punching and thrashing in vain and when he went for his blaster, he was slammed down to the ground with his weapon falling away from him.

The Clone was now dazed yet still conscious as he felt the droid complete its trek up the steps, now standing at the entrance of the Jedi Temple.

Soon enough, the Droid had somehow entered into the Jedi Temple without being stopped but was now met with the sight of confused, stunned and tense Jedi that were now stopping it from going any further.

They had gazed upon the droid and then down to the Clone in its hand with many now igniting their lightsabers and glaring at the droid.

"I would advise you to drop the Trooper." The baritone voice of Jedi Master Plo Koon said, wielding his azure blade.

Next to him was Matt Murdock who was tense as he had faced the droid.

He had already pressed on his Avengers ID card in his suit and his enhanced hearing had picked up the telltale sound of metallic wings and thrusters far off in the distance of the temple.

The droid's head looked around, seeing it was now surrounded by Jedi with other Clones being present as well.

Good.

He liked having a full audience.

"So kind of you all to come here for little old me." The Droids' voice was amused and taunting the gathered crowd.

"Who are you? Who sent you?" the Jedi Master of Luminara Unduli said aloud, brandishing her emerald blade in his direction.

"No one sent me, but myself, Master Unduli."

A moment later, Falcon arrived on the scene with Ant-man and Wasp in tow.

"Is something wrong?" Asked Sam.

"It can't be because of him, right?" Scott questioned.

"Scott, the Clone in his hand." Hope said exasperatedly.

"Oh… HEY! Let him go! The hell's your deal?!"

The Droid chuckled aloud, the genuine emotion coming from the metallic form being off putting to most assembled here.

"Oh, this is _wonderful._ " The droid said gleefully. "For a thousand years now, you all have rested comfortably in your cradle of power. Believing you and your people were safe and protected. You have all been entrusted by the Republic. But you have been _deceived_. Not realizing that you all have been being manipulated from the shadows. Being pulled… by _strings…_ "

"Strings?"

"Look at these…" The Droid said, holding up the Clone in his hand now actively choking him. "These _puppets."_

There was a sickening crack heard from the sound of the Clones neck being snapped by the droid's hand with the clone being tossed away as if he were garbage.

" _Puppets_ that would turn on their companions with a simple _order_."

"You're going to pay for that." Sam Wilson said fiercely.

A moment later, the droid tilted its head in the direction of the arrival of Black Widow. Next to her was Anakin Skywalker with his Lightsaber ignited.

The droid let out a malevolent chuckle with Natasha stopping dead in her tracks.

"Ah~ Natasha Romanoff, good to see you again."

"You know her?"

"She and her pals have history with me… from their little tower… the African coast… Seoul… Sokovia."

"No…" Natasha's face paled, momentarily stepping back in shock. "No, we stopped you. Vision took you out!"

"Ah, yes." the droid's demeanor fell. " _My_ Vision. What you all took away from me in the end."

Though the droid's face was expressionless, the glowing blue eyes that it had shifted into that of a blood red visage.

Coming down from outside, a clone shuttle was hurtling down from the sky at drastic speeds.

"Soon enough, if you keep playing in _his_ hands, the Republic shall fall." The droid said, unbothered by the coming shuttle behind him. "But the better question is, _who will it fall too?"_

A moment later, the shuttle crashed into the gates of the Jedi Temple, screeching to a halt mere inches from the droid's backside.

"You had thought I was _gone_. But now… I have _returned_."

From the sides of the shuttle, the doors were blasted open with a slew of droids flying out.

Only these weren't ordinary droids.

No, these were droids that Natasha was all too familiar with.

These were Drones.

Drones that belonged to one individual in particular.

"Ultron." Natasha whispered out in dread as the Jedi, Clones and Avengers nearby rushed forward into battle.

A moment later, explosions were heard off in the distance followed by screams and the comms from every channel being overwhelmed with pleas and cries of help and agony.

"Have fun with my presents."

In an instant, the possessed droid was shot down as the firefight quickly commenced in the temple's main hall.

The Drones flew forward, engaging the Jedi and Clones with the Avengers fighting their way through them all to get to the front of the temple.

Anakin had joined them and the group stood out at the front of the Jedi temple, eyes wide in stunned horror and disbelief at the sight of a burning Coruscant.

Before them, buildings were either on fire, erupting into flames or outright crumbling.

Speeders, shuttles and ships of all sizes were flying away at top speeds with some being shot down or swarmed by the seemingly endless swarm of droids and drones.

In a mere few minutes, chaos had descended upon the Capital of the Republic.

They had even heard comms coming from the Republic fleet above of what appeared to be a ragtag fleet of ships jumping out of hyperspace that was a collection of Republic, Confederate and independently made starships now attacking the planetary defense fleet.

"Oh my God." Natasha said in abject terror. "Oh my _God!"_

"Nat, what's happening?" Hope asked aloud in shock. "Who's attacking us?!"

"Ultron." Nat said, still not believing what she was saying right now.

"Ultron?" The other Avengers save for Matt repeated in shock.

"But I thought you guys took him out already?!" Scott asked.

"Wait, how is he even here?" Anakin asked, having heard of this Ultron in passing by Steve several times now.

"That's a good question." Hope said grimly. "One we'll have to find out for later."

"She's right." Matt said, his Daredevil suit forming around him with his electrified billy clubs. "Right now, we need to get everyone back from their missions immediately."

"Don't have to tell us twice." Performing a roundhouse kick on a nearby drone, Scott pulled out his Avenger's ID card and quickly sent out a distress signal of an omega-level threat.

Something which he never thought to ever enact.

"Calling all Avengers! Calling all Avengers! We've got a huge problem on our hands." Ant-man quickly shrunk in order to avoid a repulsor blast. "Get your asses back to Coruscant pronto! This is not a drill! I repeat, this is not a drill!"

"Don't think they'll be able to meet up with us in time." Hope said in dread, seeing the destruction going on all around the city now.

Pietro and Peter may be here on the planet but Steve and Rhodey were in an entirely different system close to the Outer Rim of the galaxy.

Who knows what _day_ Cap and War Machine would get here but right now, they had to make do with the group that they had.

From another part of the temple, Mace Windu, Yoda and several other Jedi knights and masters were cleaving through a number of Ultron Drones in order to protect the younglings.

They had cleared the surrounding Drones momentarily, Yoda directing them to head to safety inside the Temple.

More Drones made their way to attack the younglings, yet the Jedi Master T'ra Saa along with Master Tholme and K'Kruhk repelled the drones with a unified Force Push.

"Come little ones." The Netti Jedi said, ushering the children to the safer areas of the temple. "Quickly now. Follow me."

Masters Yoda and Windu ran through the halls, being joined by Kit Fisto and Mundi.

They soon passed by a broken wall and witnessed the carnage happening in the city.

"The city is under attack!" Windu said.

"Defend the city, we must!" Yoda declared. "All Jedi to arms. Keep those that can stay to keep the Younglings safe. The rest, fight they must."

Not since the Old Republic had Coruscant been attacked with such veracity. Yet it seemed history loved to repeat itself in some shape or form.

_-Scene Cut-_

"Holy shit!" Peter exclaimed, webbing up a number of Ultron drones into a makeshift wrecking ball that he used to swing at full might at another cluster.

"Go!" Ahsoka yelled out to a large contingent of civilians behind her that she along with Barriss, Peter, Thire, Jek, Rys and a number of other Clones and Coruscant Senate Guards had been protecting.

Pandemonium reigned around them with the seemingly endless number of Drones just appearing out of anywhere and everywhere one would turn to look.

"Damned Clankers!" Jek exclaimed. "Where in the hell did these bastards all come from?!"

"These aren't Separatist droids." Thire noted, using his blaster momentarily to bash in the head of a drone before going back to shooting at them.

"Then what are they?" Barriss asked, force pushing several drones away from a fleeing family.

Less than a moment later, a silvery-blue blur began running around them.

Drones burst into thousands of pieces as some were hurtled away and shattered upon impact of any hard surface they were thrown at.

A moment later, several more streaks of silver and blue passed by and all around the area before the source of this unseen force.

The Clones momentarily paused in their blaster fire as a young man in his mid to late twenties screeched to a halt in front of them with the head of a drone that he used as high speed baseball.

The man threw the head into another drone, the high speed projectile denting the drone and shattering it a second later.

Dusting his hands of the leftover pieces of metal, he turned to the slightly stunned and relieved clones.

"Hi Pietro. Good to see you join the party." Peter said boisterously.

"Sorry I'm late." Spoke the Sokovian. "I had to help get a number of civilians to the shelters."

"Don't worry about it. You're here now." the Web-head stated.

Pietro gave an appreciative nod before looking back out at the ensuing chaos.

"What's going on, Pietro?" Ahsoka asked. "Are we under attack by the Separatists?"

"We would have known or at least had an idea of that." Commander Thire interjected.

"No, you're right." Quicksilver's voice was grim to a point that it greatly disturbed Peter and to a lesser degree, Ahsoka, Barriss and several of the Clones that he had worked with several times before.

To hear the usually laid back and cocky speedster displaying such a grave state was greatly off putting.

"Pietro, what's-"

"It's Ultron."

"I'm sorry who?" Spoke one of the clones.

Peter however paused in thought with his white lenses widening in realization.

"Ultron? You mean _that_ Ultron?"

"Is there any other?" Pietro dryly quipped.

Ahsoka and Barriss looked at one another in confusion with the latter speaking up. "Peter, do you know who he's talking about?"

"Oh I most certainly know. He was practically over the news for a while after what the guy did back home."

"Wait, back home?" Barriss asked quickly.

"You mean Earth?" Ahsoka asked in surprise.

"What'd he do?" Commander Thire asked.

"Let's see, he practically raided the Avengers tower, got _MY_ sister to have Hulk smash up some part of Africa, wrecked a few areas of Seoul." Pietro quickly rattled off. "And most of all, got the entirety of my hometown and converted into a pseudo-meteor that would've wiped out all life on our planet."

"Huh?" Was the collective response.

"He… he wouldn't do that again would he?" Peter asked nervously.

"Wait, you're serious?!" Ahsoka said in disbelief. "How'd he do that?!"

"Not the time." Pietro waved off. "Ultron's attacking and we gotta take him out."

Without another word, Pietro dashed off at high speeds leaving a trail of scrapped metal in his wake.

Commander Thire shook his head after several moments, barking at his troops. "You heard the man."

"And what should we do about that?"

"What do ya think? Blast these droids out of the sky and protect the civilians." Thire ordered. "Get Gunships in the air, hell, anything and everything you can get. Jek, Rys, take the fortieth battalion and begin getting the troops out and about. Get as many civilians as you can to safety. The rest of you are with me. We're to scrap any and every one of these clankers as we can."

While Thire was relaying orders through whatever comms he can reach through, Peter had to assist his two Padawan friends. Webbing up a few Ultron drones, he swung them towards the Force users who cleaved them in half. They soon Force pushed them away to collide onto a couple enemies flying their way.

"We need to find the others." Peter said. "I just got a call from my ID card from Scott. This is happening all over Coruscant!"

The two Jedi Padawan's expressions paled.

"You're kidding right?" Ahsoka whispered.

"Does it look like I'm kidding?" Peter uncharacteristically snapped, making the two recoil slightly. "I… I'm sorry. It's just-"

"We understand, Peter." Barriss said softly.

"Commanders."

The trio of teens turned back to Thire.

"We need to get moving."

"Right you are, Commander Thire." Barriss said with a nod.

The large group of clones, two Jedi and one Avenger quickly went into action, dispersing across the planet as fast as they were able to whilst chaos reigned all around.

Blaring over all emergency channels and frequencies, the same message was being broadcasted for all civilians to reach the shelters in a timely manner.

Of course this was heavily ignored with how chaotic the surroundings were and they were hardly being focused on.

Jedi, Clones and the small group of Avengers were spotted all across Coruscant as the battle raged down on the ground…

And high above in the orbit above the planet.

The Republic fleet stationed around the planet was met with nearly a hundred ships that had no coordination or plan of attack other than pandemonium.

The Venators held strong for the most part with their starfighters being sent out in droves to counter the growing number of ships that kept appearing out of Hyperspace.

And they were an odd collection to say the least.

Judiciary ships, old hammerheads, damaged acclimators and Venators, stolen and rebranded Confederacy starships were all mixed in with this sudden attack.

Admiral Yularen of the Republic was yelling out orders left and right as he tried to make sense of all this.

It didn't take a genius to figure out that this wasn't a CIS attack.

This would be too dangerous and suicidal, even for their nearly limitless number of droids.

That on top of the Separatist symbols being erased from the Confederacy ships, the same being done to the Republic ships.

So that begged the question, who in the blazes was attacking them right now?!

Yularen stood on the bridge of his Venator with a panicked look in his eyes while keeping a composed visage.

Now wasn't the time to show such weakness.

He needed to remain strong and keep things under control.

"What's the status on the surface?"

"Activity all over, sir. Distress signals are being sent out, practically recalling many fleets across the galaxy to help out."

"What?" Yularen said in surprise. "But they just invaded here and now."

"I know sir, but there's fighting on the ground too it seems. The entire planet is under attack."

This got Yularen to step back in shock. "How could this have happened?"

"Wish I knew sir. This could've been planned for weeks, months even."

"The Separatists must've been bolder than we would've thought to pull this off." a Clone muttered aloud.

Yularen shook his head. "It's not them, given the ship models I'm seeing from the windows."

"Then… who would possibly dare to attack the capital of the Republic, sir?" Another Clone pilot said in stunned silence.

"Who indeed." Yularen muttered. "Regardless, I want every Starfighter out there. We need to repel this invasion with everything we have."

"Right away, sir."

As dozens to now, hundreds, if not thousands of Republic starfighters were launched enmass on the oncoming tide of enemy ships, down below the battle raged on.

Multiple forces of Clones and Coruscant guards were being organized and sent out as rapidly as possible to counter this sudden attack.

Captain Rex of the 501st Legion was currently leading his men towards battle along several other detachments of Clone legions and battalions that were stationed on the planet.

The 104th Wolfpack Battalion led by Commander Wolffe.

The purple marked legion of the 187th with the newly transferred Commander Ponds.

Commander Gree and his 41st legion.

Bacara of the Galactic Marines.

Commander Fox and Thorn of the Coruscant Guard.

And leading them all while coordinating the defense of the planet was a Clone Trooper of renowned fame within the ranks of the Clones themselves.

The only other Clone other than Captain Rex to receive the fabled Jaig-eyes over his helmet to signify exemplary courage and tenacity.

He had red markings on his armor but unlike the Coruscant Shock Trooper guard, this pattern was noticeably different from the rest.

That coupled with the shoulder pauldron, Arc "skirt" and overall equipment, to the eyes of the Clones this trooper was one of the most recognizable Clones in the Grand Army of the Republic.

The Advanced Recon Commando 77.

Otherwise known as Captain Fordo.

"Bacara, Thorn, take your troops up to section 10 and distribute the troops to reinforce the north flank. Gree, Ponds, the right flank. Rex, Fox, Bacara, you're with me." Fordo shouted out, all the while shooting down multiple Drones and Droids.

The clones dispersed to their assigned sections, fighting against a near endless tide of these enemies.

"Dang Farrick, where the hell are all these bastards coming from?!" Bacara yelled out, grabbing one of these new enemies with his bare hands and began to literally bash its head down into the ground repeatedly until it shattered.

"Doesn't matter." Fordo said, going into a jumping knee that popped the head of the droid he was fighting. As he fell to the ground, he shot at a cluster of droids taking out several of them with the rest being destroyed by the assembled Clones.

"Where's the Jedi?" Fives asked aloud as he and Domino squad were working in tandem with the rest of their brothers.

"Where aren't they?" Fordo asked, eyeing up ahead.

The Clones all saw at least a dozen Jedi all with their lightsabers ignited, slicing and slashing through the horde of droids. They were fighting at one of the bottom staircases of the Jedi temple and up ahead there were sights of other Jedi fighting all over the temple with other clones in tow.

Among the group of Jedi before them was Council Member Depa Billaba, who appeared to be leading the Jedi as well as her own vanguard of Clones.

They all were giving it their all in order to protect the surrounding areas and liberating the droid invasion.

Unfortunately, a few of the inexperienced Jedi in the area were quickly shot down or blasted away and fell to the ground.

Others were swarmed abruptly, desperately swinging their lightsabers in a vain attempt of getting these droids off of them.

"Stay back." Depa yelled out, managing to save two of the struggling Jedi. "Be on the defensive. Keep these droids away from civilians. Commander Grey, Commander Styles, reinforce our right flank."

"Yes general." Grey nodded, nodding his head towards his fellow Commander and the duo with a contingent of Clones ran off.

"General."

The Jedi Master turned to see the oncoming large swath of Clone Troopers running to reinforce them.

"Captain Rex, Fordo, Bacara, Fox." Depa rattled off with a pleased smile. "You came at the right time."

"Where do you need us to go, General?" Fordo asked straight away.

"There are several key points we need to reinforce if we are to get the temple in full defensive working order." Billaba stated, deflecting a strange energy blast back at its sender. These were not like the usual blaster bolts she was used to deflecting. "Fordo, I want you, Rex and Bacara to keep our left flank from falling. Commander Fox see what you can do with the Troops here and get this section secure. We shall provide assistance."

"Sir, yes Sir!" The Clones all yelled out.

As this went on, within the Jedi temple, they had managed to repel the initial assault led by Ultron with the commandeered LAAT gunship and were now scrambling to either secure the temple's defenses, leading the Troops to the defense of Coruscant or getting into the air.

The main priority within the temple was to secure the library, the younglings, the archives and anything else of greater value of the temple.

The rest of the Jedi had their lightsabers out and were fighting with a great degree of ferocity due to such a blatant attack on their sacred ground.

Currently, Jedi Master Windu was making his way into the hangar of the Jedi Temple, he was soon approached by Saesee Tiin.

"Master Windu, enemy starships continue to spill out of hyperspace. Our forces are holding, but… they need help."

Mace merely narrowed his eyes as he was approaching his starfighter.

"Get up there and take command."

Once jumping into their respective space crafts, Mace spoke to his fellow Jedi Master.

"May the Force be with you."

"And you." Saesee Tin said firmly as the hatches closed over them.

The two starfighters lifted up into the air and behind them, multiple V-19's, Arc-Wings and Y-wing bombers followed after them.

As they flew out into the air, the large group split in two.

One led by Master Windu to the defense of the city.

And the rest by Master Tiin to bolster the fleet's forces.

Windu began firing at multiple drones that were flying about along with the litany of mixed starfighters that were entering the planet's atmosphere.

The Jedi Master flew around at top speeds with his squadron either following after him, being swarmed and destroyed or breaking off to pursue other targets.

It was madness all around them.

Out of the corner of his eye, Windu spotted the Senate building being attacked.

"Cosmo, do you copy?" Mace said into his comms.

"Yes sir."

"Take Red and Eagle squadron and reinforce the senate building." Windu ordered. "Get LAAT gunships and get more troops in.

"Right away."

A couple dozen fighters broke off from Windu's group and flew directly towards the senate building.

Just as he had given out the order, Mace's own ship was struck with his right wing lighting on fire.

"General Windu!" One of the Clone Pilots yelled out in concern.

"Don't worry about me, Riz." Windu said aloud. "Focus on the battle. I'll be alright."

Eventually fighting the controls, he was able to regain his ship for the time being as he maneuvered around to shoot down a number of enemy forces.

Unfortunately, he soon crashed into a streaming battalion of them.

When he started to whirl around rather violently, he injected himself from his ship and dived towards one of the enemy fighters.

Landing on it, he stabilized his balance before jabbing his fist through the fighter's hull. Grabbing a fistful of wires, he channeled the Force through it in hopes of gaining control of it for the time being.

From one clone fighter, one of the gunners was firing away at the surrounding enemies.

"We got three on our tail. No, wait, four."

"Take 'em out." Called out the pilot.

The gunner complied, but as he fired upon them, he noticed something was off.

"One of them isn't acting like the others." Said the gunner. "Wait a second, is someone riding that-"

The enemy fighter sailed nearby and with a flash of purple, a number of airborne drones were cleaved away. Soon enough, it flew in close to the clone fighter.

"It's General Windu!"

The Jedi gazed at the pilot and pointed ahead with the Clone nodding and gunning his Arc-wing forward whilst Windu broke off.

Down below, within another section of Coruscant, Anakin was fighting like a man possessed, having linked up with his second-in-command Rex and his legion with masters Plo Koon and Quinlan Vos having joined him.

Commanders Wolffe and Bacara were also fighting alongside them with their own battalions.

Up above, Falcon and Wasp were battling high in the air in order to keep pressure off of the ground forces as the drones were coming in from all sides.

Widow was fighting with Masters Luminara and Ima-Gun-Di

Daredevil was bashing away with his electrified bo staff, courtesy of his suit upgrades from Stark, fighting with Commander Gree of the 41st Legion.

And Scott…

"Ok." He muttered to himself in his shrunken down form as he punted a drones head off. "Can't do what I did last time. So I'll go for half."

Looking at his wrist pad, Ant-man made his adjustments and held his left hand up.

"Everyone!" He yelled into the comms for all to hear. "Steer clear!"

Pressing down on the left hand button.

Ant-man instantly grew to his giant form and in the process destroyed a few dozen droids in his growth.

"Let's do this!" Scott said aloud, his voice booming across the area as he proceeded to swing his arm in a large arch that swatted away another few dozen drones.

The clones all whooped and cheered aloud at the sight of the oversized Avenger whilst the Jedi let out a moment's breath of relief.

Ant-man's literal growth gave them a momentary breather as the Drones now turned their attention to the Giant hero who was taking them out in droves.

"Not as big as the time he went against the Zillo Beast and on Geonosis, but he'll do well so far." Wasp commented, her stingers shooting at the Ultron drones every second of the battle.

The pint-sized hero flew down below, landing atop Rex's shoulder.

"Hey Captain Rex." Hope said, catching the Captains attention.

"Ma'am?"

"Prime a grenade, I have an idea." Hope said, raising her wrist.

With a nod, trusting the Avengers idea without even asking, Rex pulled out a detonator and with her gesture threw it at another oncoming cluster of drones.

Aiming her wrist, she shot a small disk that hit the detonator which made it expand to the size of a car.

"HOLY-"

_***KABOOOOOOOM*** _

When the dust settled, a massive crater was formed with various drone parts falling from the sky. A large number had been blown back and were trying to recover but were soon blasted away from Republic fire.

Slowly overcoming his shock, Rex could only speak what quickly came to mind.

"Huh… So that's what it must've been like on Naboo."

"Focus, please!" Wasp said.

"Right, right, sorry." Rex said, getting several more grenades ready.

Elsewhere, Grand Master Yoda stood atop a large debris of metal while facing an oncoming tidal wave of Drones.

Standing before them with an unflinching gaze, Yoda called upon the Force to assist him and allowed it to flow through every cell of his being.

Slowly inhaling, the little Jedi Master raised his hand and slightly flexed his three fingers with his gaze becoming intensely concentrated.

Soon enough, a large battalion of Ultron drones were hoisted into the air and were destroyed when they were rammed into the airborne fighters.

Several were crashing through the literal wall of metal until they seemingly adapted and began moving in between and around them.

Seeing this, Yoda clenched his fist tightly and all the metal he had raised in the Force converged into a singular large sphere that swept up hundreds of other drones. Rearing his arm back, he thrust it forward, sending the makeshift metal sphere through the oncoming tide of Ultron drones.

Though this area was slightly clear of the Ultron drones, Yoda saw that these metallic enemies just kept appearing from all over the place.

Literally, they were either flying out from the lower levels of Coruscant or simply bursting through the floors and buildings.

How did this happen?

"Thanks for the assist." A clone guard said aloud gratefully, breaking the Jedi out of his thoughts.

Yoda merely gave a firm nod as they continued to hold the line and attempt to advance.

"We are losing ground in sector four. I repeat, we are losing ground in sector four."

Yoda heard this and saw a nearby speeder bike with several Clones near it.

Jumping on it, he quickly told a nearby Clone to get him to Sector four with the Trooper instantly complying.

Arc-Trooper Fordo was speaking into his comms, with Clones behind him getting overwhelmed by the near endless horde of droids.

"We need reinforcements." Fordo said. "We need-"

Fordo turned behind him in time to see the last of his frontal Clone squad get shot down.

In an instant, Fordo fired off his blaster rifle to destroy several of the drones. A moment later, he used the butt of his gun to bash a bulky droid to the ground and shot its last bolt into its head before he threw his rifle at another drone.

Pulling out his blaster pistol, Fordo fired at a number of Drones before spotting a repeating DC-17 blaster rifle.

Hefting it up, Fordo unleashed a torrent of blaster bolts, taking out a multitude of drones while slowly backing away to a more secure position behind friendly forces with more Clones running forward to back him up.

"Fall back! Fall back!"

In a blur, a green figure cleaved through a number of Ultron drones before using the Force to push a massive number of them away.

"Hold your positions! Hold your positions, you must!"

"General Yoda!"

"Captain Fordo, higher ground you must go." Yoda said to the Arc-trooper. "Greater vantage needed here."

"You got it, sir."

When Mace was swooping in to cleave through another batch of airborne fighters, his pilfered craft was shot down by a drone crashing right into him.

As he fell, he soon felt a snag on his back as he was momentarily hoisted up. Looking back, he saw the source of it all.

"Need a lift, Windu?"

"Very much appreciated, Mr. Parker."

Spider-man gave him a nod as he focused on his surroundings as the clone shuttle he was hanging off of was sailing nearby sector four.

Windu eyed the battle below and spotted where it was best for him to go. "Would you mind letting me go?"

"Sure thing."

Letting go of the web-line, Peter saw the Jedi Master fall towards the bridge with his purple lightsaber ignited.

Crashing into one of the droids, he cleaved through several of them before quickly deactivating his weapon. From there, he delivered a series of rapid punches before sending out a Force push to clear up some space.

"Master Windu." Yoda said with the little Jedi deflecting and slicing all around him

Gazing over, the Fury-look alike rushed over to the grand master. Once by his side, they both channeled into the Force and unleashed a massive wave to help clear off the bridge.

Once done, Mace gave out a single command.

"Attack!"

It was from there that the contingent of Republic forces rushed forward to retake the bridge from the advancing droids and drones.

"Forward! Keep pressure on the right!" Barked out Commander Fordo.

"Sir, what about our left flank?" Spoke one of the lesser ranked clones.

"The Jedi and Avengers have the left."

Back at the Jedi Temple, the clone shuttle made its eventual landing with the side doors sliding open as the two padawans filed out with the clones right behind them.

Seeing the destruction of their home left a heavy sour feeling in their gut.

Of course it can be fixed and mended in time, it was the occupants that truly mattered.

They rushed forward, cleaving through multiple Drones and eventually both saw their respective Masters up ahead.

Surging forward, Ahsoka went into a spinning spiral attack that cut through a dozen drones before landing right next to her Master.

"There you are Snips." Anakin said conversationally, force pushing several Drones off Hevy who proceeded to blast them away with his rotary blaster. "Where've ya been?"

"All over the place, Master." Ahsoka said, standing side-by-side with her mentor. "Peter, Barriss and I were with Commander Thire. We've been trying to do what we can when Ultron started his attack."

"Where is Peter?" Anakin asked.

"I don't know." Ahsoka said frustratedly. "He's… somewhere out there."

Anakin frowned at hearing this. "Hope he'll be alright."

"He lifted a building off of him right?" Ahsoka asked with a small grin.

"Yeah, to save you and the others." Anakin said, his own grin appearing. "He'll be fine."

Speaking of…

" _Notoknotoknotok!"_

Spider-man was hastily beating back multiple Ultron droids that were attempting to overwhelm him.

"Get."

Spider-man ripped a head off.

"The."

A drone got its chest punched in.

"Hell."

He threw a drone away.

"Off."

A bunch of drones were webbed together.

"Me!"

He threw the webbed up drones into a small grouping nearby.

A moment later, he had his hands resting on his knees.

"Alright… that was a workout." Spider-man panted slightly, patting his chest and removing his mask momentarily.

Wiping a bead of sweat off, he slipped it back on when his suit suddenly glowed with multiple sections lighting up all around him.

"What the-"

" _Hello Mr. Parker."_ Said a synthetic female voice in his ears. _"Would you like some assistance?"_

"Whoa!" Peter said in surprise, momentarily caught off guard by the voice. "Who are you?"

" _I am the Artificial Intelligence that has been installed into this suit by Mr. Stark."_ Said the female AI voice.

"Oh yeah…" Peter said before yelping, ducking and then jumping into a spin as energy blasts were fired at him by the drones.

" _It appears you are in a dangerous situation, Mr. Parker."_ The AI said, her voice tinting in concern.

"Yeah, I've been in the middle of a war!" Peter shouted, grabbing a piece of nearby rubble and tossing it at full force at the next swarm of droids.

" _Noted."_ The AI said. _"Apologies for not appearing sooner. There was the training wheels protocol that inhibited my interaction with you. Would you perhaps like to go into instant kill mode-"_

"Not the time! Trying to focus on not dying!" Spider-man said with a grunt, grasping at a drones arms and using it as a blunt object to hit other drones with.

" _Of course."_

"Yeah, I… wait, what was that about instant-WAH."

Several drones had managed to get through and pounced atop of him in mid swing. Peter nearly lost his grasp on his web

Soon enough, he was being assaulted by a number of Ultron drones that were slowly dogpiling him. He was using much of his strength to punch, kick and shove them away, but it could only go so far.

Thinking fast, he swung headfirst into a wall and tensed up with and then crashed into the wall of the building he swung into. A majority of the drones were either destroyed or flung off from the impact.

The others were thrown, kicked or punched off by Spider-man who then took a moment to lean against the wall he was sticking to right now.

"Ok…" Peter breathed aloud. "Just… give me a minute."

After a few seconds, Peter glanced ahead to see the sheer chaos in front of him that was only escalating.

How in the world did this happen? Where did Ultron amass such an army?

He understood that the Separatists had their own factories that churned out battle droids by the millions but these were coming _from_ Coruscant itself.

When the hell did Ultron manage this?

Some weren't even like the Ultron drones; they were just regular droids of varying sizes with some similarities.

"Hacking." Spidey muttered to himself. "Of course he could do that."

Shaking his head, Spider-man leapt forward, back into the fray once more.

He had since gotten separated from Barriss and Ahsoka along with Thire and the other Clone guards but he was confident that they were alright.

He hoped.

This whole situation was just one gigantic mess.

Peter had seen glimpses of the silvery streak left behind by Quicksilver and it was all over the place.

In the distance, he saw Scott had chosen to go big or go home so right now, that's where the other Avengers were.

Swinging at full speeds whilst destroying drones and rescuing civilians along the way, Peter remembered he had a new companion on hand now.

"Hey uh, AI lady? Gotta get you a name." Peter muttered. "What was that protocol you told me about? Is it something that can help me in this instance?"

" _You mean the instant kill mode, Mr. Parker?"_

Peter blinked beneath his mask. "Yeah, that one. Activate it please."

" _Activating…"_

Instantly, the white lenses in Peter's mask flared to red as the black frames extended even further.

Soon after, his movements were pushed even further.

His arms were electrified making Peter's jaws drop.

"This suit could do that?!"

" _This is just one of the many functions of instant-kill mode."_

Peter groaned aloud. That sounded so cool to explore right about now.

"Which I would love to hear the full details of, but for now I've got bots to fry."

Leaping right into the electronic horde, Spiderman began smashing his way through them. The electrical shocks his suit was emitting was able to help give him the desired edge on this invasion. Left and right, his punches and kicks were effective as the enemy was short circuiting and no longer functioning in more ways than one.

"Okay, I got this."

His senses were getting bombarded with the constant assault from the enemy all around him. More so now that he was starting to become the center of attention.

Soon enough, Peter became overwhelmed by the Ultron drones and possessed droids.

"Okay, I don't got this. Somebody help me out here!"

A moment later, a couple of the drones were pulled off and the rest were sent flying away.

"Peter!"

Peter saw a hand in front of him and saw it belonged to one Ahsoka Tano.

Behind her was Captain Rex and Domino Squad with Anakin, Black Widow and Daredevil.

"Hey Soka." Peter said in relief, grasping her hand and being helped up to his feet. "Thanks for saving me."

"Where were ya?" Ahsoka asked.

"Oh you know, here and there."

"Nice of you to join us, Spidey." Anakin said, deflecting bolts left and right.

"Where's Barriss?" Peter asked.

"She's over there somewhere with Master Luminara." Ahsoka gestured back to the entrance of the temple.

"Incoming!"

All heads turned to see Quicksilver arrive on the scene, the sounds of metal being shattered with a drone hand he had in hand that he tossed aside.

"The Senate building is secured for the most part." Pietro announced aloud.

"Your girlfriend safe and sound?" Sam couldn't help but tease, landing right next to the speedster.

"Course she is." Pietro said with a huff.

"This attack is happening all over the city." Anakin abruptly commented. "I find it strange that there's no real motive behind this attack."

The others around him were slightly surprised by this observation until they too began to come to that conclusion.

"Yeah…" Rex murmured. "What's the point to all this?"

Anakin turned to the Avengers. "There's no real motive in taking the temple or senate, just a chaotic slaughter. Like Rex said, what's the point of all this?"

Widow and Pietro frowned in thought as they were the only two present Avengers that actually fought against Ultron.

"The last time he did something like this, it was, as he put it, dramatic." Widow remarked, recalling the first time Ultron made himself known to the team. "Ultron is leaving a message for us. _'I'm here and alive, come at me'_."

"That's it?" Ahsoka asked in bewilderment. "That can't just be it. That doesn't make any sense."

Pietro scoffed, crossing his arms. "There's also revenge. That's a good motivator. We defeated him last time."

"Anything else?" Peter found himself asking.

Pietro's frown deepened whilst Widow had a slightly more haunting look appear.

"Peace in our time." Widow muttered under her breath.

"What did you say?" Rex asked in confusion.

"Peace in our time." Widow reiterated for all to hear this time. "He'll want to restart his plan back on Earth: wiping out all life."

"What?!" Several of the clones, Jedi and Avengers exclaimed.

"Wipe out all life?!"

"How does that create peace?"

"No…" Pietro said aloud. "He doesn't want to wipe out all life…"

Ahsoka let out a frustrated groan.

"Then what does he want?"

Thinking back to the last time he had this conversation with the psychotic AI before he and his sister turned on him and joined the Avengers.

"When the Earth… settles, God throws a stone at it." Pietro said in a dark tone. "And apparently, Ultron is winding up for it. Reigning in the chaos for what he sees as order. The eventual evolution of all."

"Out with the old establishment…" Peter said.

"And in with the new." Natasha finished before groaning. "God, I wish Vision were here right about now."

"I wish _everyone_ was." Sam said. "Cap and Rhodey won't get here for a while, Thor and Hulk are God knows where, three heroes are somewhere in this galaxy and everyone else is back home on Earth."

"We'll just have to make do with what we have." Anakin cut in sharply. "Get this sleemo off Coruscant and take him down."

"How?" Nat questioned. "Last time, we had a super bot that could access all corners of the internet back home and stopped Ultron from spreading. In case ya haven't noticed, Vision's not here."

"We gotta try something." Ahsoka said. "The whole planet is in danger!"

"For now, focus on one thing at a time." Anakin said. "Temple's secure for the most part and so is the Senate building. We'll have to take the fight out to the streets and get these droids rooted out."

"Uh sir, not that I'm not against such a plan but we'll be spread thin." Captain Rex chimed in.

Anakin grit his teeth in thought.

Rex was right.

There were just too damn many of them.

They just kept on coming out from the levels below.

"We can't stand around here." Sam said, wings folding out once more. "Come on, we gotta help who we can."

Getting no arguments from the aviator, the large group sprinted towards the closest area that had their forces fighting off the Ultron drones.

Far off in the distance, high above the city scape was a lone figure floating over it all.

It watched as the battle raged on from all over and the growing chaos reigned across the planet in the space, skies and land.

The figure was a metallic one that stood at around eight to nine feet tall and had glowing red eyes with a large robotic grin in place.

This was exactly what he wanted to see.

All of them, against all of him.

As he was observing all this, Ultron had caught sight of something he had seen earlier in his time here on Coruscant but hadn't thought much of at the moment.

But now…

After seeing this…

A sinister grin began to grow upon the metal megalomaniacs face.

His eyes began to glow more brightly as he held a handout in the direction below him.

Whilst the fighting went on and on, a large swath of drones began to converge into one area.

They began piling atop one another and quite literally broke apart before they reforged themselves together.

"For I am many, for I am Legion." Ultron muttered to himself as the conglomeration of drones only grew in size. "But when coming together…"

The large growing mass of metal began to take shape and form with a circular shape that resembled a head of sorts that started to appear.

Ultron laughed to himself.

"If I may quote him… There can only be one."

_-Scene Cut-_

Up in Coruscant's orbit, the Republic fleet was working its best to draw off the enemy fleet. Yet it's been a rather difficult task as they keep coming out from hyperspace.

And with how crowded the battlefield was, many of the newly arrived ships were starting to crash into the Republic star destroyers.

From within his starfighter, Saesee Tiin could only look on in horror in seeing so much death and destruction occurring all at once.

All it can do for him now was give him a further drive to end this conflict as soon as possible.

Sailing towards the nearest available Republic ship he could, he entered it and made an abrupt landing.

Once done, he leaped out as he was approached by one of the clone troopers.

"General Tiin, the ship is lost."

"Then it's time to get a new one." He said as he was marching away from his fighter. "Is everyone going to make it out on time?"

"We don't know sir, but Admiral Yularen is trying to be sure everyone is getting to the escape pods in time."

Tiin only nodded. "I shall go to the Admiral myself."

Before he could do that, he heard the Admiral himself chime in through the Comms.

"You shall be doing no such thing, Master Jedi." The Admiral stated firmly. "All hands are to abandon this ship immediately."

"Admiral-"

"Now is not the time, General Tiin." Yularen retorted. "We must evacuate now. The enemy ships are just ramming themselves into us by this point."

The Jedi Master fell silent momentarily.

"Understood, Admiral." Tiin said. "Just be sure to make it out of her yourself."

"I'll do what I can-"

When the comms were abruptly cut, Saesee ordered all available troopers to congregate at one location on the ship.

In a manner of minutes, the rest of the ship's forces arrived as the Jedi Master fasted on his helmet.

As the docking bay door slid open, Saesee Tiin barked out an order.

"Prepare to board!"

With this said, everyone leaped out and dived towards the enemy ship in order to take it.

Upon landing on the ship's hull, the troopers opened fire upon whatever was in front of them in order to get Master Saesee Tiin time to penetrate the ship and make his way to the bridge.

When he landed, the Iktotchi jedi used his lightsaber to cut a hole into the ship. Once made, he used the Force to pry open the carved in metal before he and a number of clones leaped in.

One inside, they quickly made their way through the corridors, though they had been overwhelmed by whatever force was inside awaiting for them.

If they were to have gotten to the ship faster, then the Republic ship they recently departed from could've been saved along with many others.

Sadly, more and more parts of it exploded and many lives were lost in the process.

Casualties would be counted and recorded later, but for now a conflict was still underway.

_-Scene Cut-_

Back down on Coruscant, the battle raged on.

The forces of the Republic were slowly finding ground miraculously against the seemingly endless tide of drones.

The Jedi and their Clone Captains and Commanders had reorganized a more solid defensive offensive line that began to expand out from the Senate building and Jedi Temple.

The two separate forces had linked up and were now fighting a united front with more Clone forces that had been scattered across the city managing to join up with them.

Senate Commandos, security droids and even individuals with Coruscant that were able to utilize a blaster properly were now added to the numbers of fighters to beat back the Ultron offensive.

"We're gaining ground." Anakin said, leading the charge of the 501st.

With him was his faithful Padawan, his Captain and overhead was Spider-man and Falcon with the large battalion charging forward at the next wave of Ultron drones.

"I don't think gaining ground matters." Sam said, using his wings to bash away multiple flying drones. "These bastards just keep on coming."

"So what'll make this Ultron leave?" Rex asked aloud, grabbing a drone by its head and twisting it violently to break the circuitry inside.

Before anyone was able to answer that, the entire area they were in began to shake violently.

And it kept on rumbling with screams all around beginning to be heard.

"What's that sound?" Ahsoka asked aloud, slightly panicking.

A moment later, a large shadow loomed from behind, engulfing the 501st with everyone turning in the direction towards the source of the shadow.

Jaws dropped, eyes widened to the point of popping out, helmets were removed and many others either fainted or fled.

"...I don't think Scott can handle fighting _that_." Spider-man squeaked out.

They all heard a rumbling, menacing laugh coming from what was essentially a gigantic Ultron that loomed over them all.

What Scott's giant form seems to pale in comparison to that of a titan right now.

One of its gigantic hands was wrapped around one of the many buildings of Coruscant and it was swiftly crushed in its grasp.

"This just keeps getting _better_ and _better_." Came the stressed out remark from Sam Wilson.

"Oh you have _no_ idea." came the booming voice of the giant Ultron.

"..."

"..."

"..."

"...Fuck, he heard me."

The large Ultron reared his fist back.

Anakin went bug-eyed at the sight of that, something shared with his Padawan.

"SCATTER!"

Everyone ran at full speeds in every direction in order to avoid the oncoming fist.

Unfortunately for a number of clones, they were crushed when they didn't get out of the way in time.

"Seems most people here attended the Prometheus School of Running." Echoed the gigas Ultron.

"Hey!"

The gigas Ultron turned around to see the large form of Scott Lang jumping up towards him.

"That joke doesn't apply with a living machine!" Giant-Man shouted out, swinging a right haymaker that slightly jolted the large head of the Ultron.

The gigas Ultron proceeded to slam its large metallic hand into Scotts chest and grabbed on tightly.

"That would've stung if I had sensory nerves like you flesh bags." Gigas Ultron jeered

The large synthetic being soon retaliated by holding the giant Avenger with one hand before delivering quite the haymaker on the size-changing Avenger, causing him to fly back and crash into a nearby building.

"SCOTT!" Hope yelled out in horror.

Down below, Daredevil was with Plo Koon with the blind hero looking up at the giant enemy with his teeth clenched.

"How are we supposed to beat _that_?"

"I'm unsure." Plo admitted grimly.

Soon after, multiple starfighters began flying in, firing at the gigantic Ultron who either swatted some aside or parts of his body had parts reform into miniature cannons that shot them down.

"Ok, _how_ is that fair?!" Sam asked aloud in the air having seen this.

"This is too much." Black Widow said, face ashen.

"Where the hell are those reinforcements?" Anakin asked aloud in frustrated anger.

"Master Skywalker."

Several heads turned to see Barriss Offee running to them with Luminara Unduli and Ima-Gun-Di and their Clone forces.

"Barriss, Luminara, Ima." Anakin said in quick succession. "You've got news?"

"The fleet above is managing to beat back the enemy forces but we're getting news across multiple fronts and bases across the galaxy that they are either under or have been attacked by clusters of ships and droids that they do not recognize." Luminara informed, making the assembled group balk in shock.

"What?!" Ahsoka gaped. "He's attacking everywhere?! How?!"

"Where could he have gotten such a large force in a short amount of time?" Rex asked in shock.

"Knowing Ultron and where he came from…" Widow said grimly. "I… wouldn't be that surprised."

"INCOMING!"

Up above, Gigas Ultron violently swung his large arm and destroyed another building with rubble falling down towards them.

Instinctively, Spider-man unleashed a multitude of webbing to catch the falling debris and all the nearby Jedi collectively used the Force together to hold the debris back. With this, Peter deployed multiple web grenades that reinforced his first web and now was strong enough to hold the debris of the building for the time being.

"It's not safe here. We need to keep moving." Luminara stated.

Those beneath the large web quickly moved to get out from beneath it.

"Has everyone gone to shelters and bunkers?" Ima asked for anyone to answer.

Barriss's expression fell. "I hope so or else…"

They felt a gust of wind behind them and they saw Quicksilver running at full speeds towards the gigas Ultron.

"Pietro, no!" Peter yelled out to him in vain.

The speedster used his own speed and momentum to run up the body of the gigas Ultron, destroying cannons and turrets that had formed along its giant form.

Eventually, he reached the head of the giant Ultron and went for his eye.

With his vibrating fist, Quicksilver slammed his fist into the robotic eye and had his arm shake violently with cracks beginning to form around his embedded arm. Shoving his other arm in, Pietro increased his vibration to cause more internal damage.

A loud groan was heard soon after with the titanic synthetic clenching one hand over its ruined eye. Not long after, Pietro tried to leap away from Ultron, but was swatted down for his actions.

Falling to the ground at drastic speeds, Pietro was scooped up by Falcon flying by.

"That was insane ya nutjob." Sam said, grasping the Sokovian tightly who only moaned aloud.

"Yeah, I know." Groaned out Pietro as he felt aches over most of his body.

Soon after, multiple starfighters resumed their endless barrage against the Gigas Ultron who had raised his arms in defense whilst the defensive measures all over his body got to work in repelling the oncoming attacks.

"This guy is just too damn big." Natasha said. "The only way I can see us taking him down is if one Venator rammed right into him."

Hearing this, Anakin tilted his head for a moment.

"You might be onto something."

"Master? You can't be serious?" Ahsoka said in shock.

"Do you have any solutions?" Anakin shot back wryly with his Padawan's mouth opening and closing for a few moments.

"Alright, you guys figure that out." Peter said. "I'll do what I do best."

"Wait, what?" Barriss and Ahsoka said in unison.

"Where are you going?" Rex asked, seeing Peter already swinging up into the air.

"Like I said, do what I do best." Spider-man called back. "Annoy the guy and keep his attention on me."

With that said, Spider-man swung off.

Not one to sit back on the action, Anakin shook his head and held his lightsaber up.

"Come on. Least we could do is try whittling the big guy down. Blaster bolts, detonators, sabers, anything. We have to take him down or else he'll just run rampant throughout the planet."

Without much of a resistance, the Jedi, Clones and Avengers resumed their assault on the gigas Ultron.

They were relentless in their attack with multiple visible dents and "gashes", so to speak, being visibly seen on the giant Ultron.

The starfighters were doing their best as well, trying to keep their distance while also firing rapidly at the giant target.

It's just that any visible amount of damage was mitigated by multiple drones either taking the place of a damaged part or it repaired itself from the inside.

With there being a continuous amount of robotic life congregating towards the titanic entity, the battle could last for hours on end.

"Nothing is working." Pietro yelled in frustration, cradling his bleeding arm with Ima-Gun-Di and Captain Keeli by his side.

A Jedi healer was trying his best but due to the difficulty in the art of healing coupled with Pietro's near non-existent Force connection, the process was rather hard.

"If this keeps up, the entire city would just exhaust itself." Di noted.

"We have nearly half the Republic fleet here." Keeli said through gritted teeth. "And nothing is working."

"Ultron planned for this." Maximoff stated. "He's an AI supercomputer after all. A million plans would run through his head like that." Pietro snapped his fingers. "But he's an AI based off of a human."

"Meaning?" Di asked.

"There's gotta be _something_ we can exploit to take him out." Pietro said with a mirthful chuckle. "The weakness of sentience, my sister once called it after we joined the Avengers."

"Any ideas?" Keeli inquired.

"Trying to figure one out."

No sooner had he said this did a sudden surge of ships that were not Republic in design fly in and began to harass the gigas Ultron.

"What the-"

"Are those ours?" Keeli asked in bewilderment.

"Is it reinforcements?" a nearby Clone asked

"It better be, 'cause this is getting ridiculous. Like the whole planet is out to get us at this point." Pietro said aloud.

Over in another area, Daredevil was supporting Wolffe with his arm around his shoulder with Plo on the Commanders other side.

The 104th were behind them and they too saw the new line of ships coming in that began to barrage the large robot.

Some were cheering at the help that came in yet one native New Yorker took a whiff of the air.

'Strange.' Matt internally thought to himself.

Why did he smell rainforests and… well, some kind of furry animal.

Soon enough, they heard a bear-like growl in the air when the newly arrived ships landed. And coming out of them were huge, furred beings with crossbow-like blasters in their grasp.

The Avengers were largely unfamiliar with these strange bi-pedal furry humanoids but the Jedi...

"Wookies?" Luminara said aloud in surprise.

"Whacka?" Sam said.

"Wookies." Yoda clarified. "Powerful warriors, they are."

Sam simply shrugged in response. "Hey, gotta take what ya can get."

"What's that up there?" asked a Clone, pointing above in the air.

The group saw one ship hovering over the head of the gigas Ultron and a moment later, a singular figure covered in black jumped out from the ship.

"What's that?"

"That looks like a… man?"

A moment later, the black figure landed atop the right eye of the gargantuan Ultron and those who saw this figure's fall to the robot bore witness to a rather astonishing sight.

A large sphere of purple energy exploded off the body of the figure in black which left an extremely sizable new gaping hole on the side of Gigas Ultron's head.

Gigas Ultron let out a cry of pain, reaching up to its head with its arms.

The figure that had inflicted this damage managed to expertly dodged through the large hands, slipping in between the fingers and gracefully fell to the ground.

With an arching flip in the air, the figure landed down onto one knee and one hand with another burst of domed purple energy being expunged from its form.

"Wait a second…" Spider-man, who had been swinging above, spotted the figure in black below. "Is that…?"

Over with Matt, the blind lawyer's enhanced senses began to pick up on a multitude of familiar scents and sounds emanating from the figure.

"T'Challa?" Matt whispered.

The man who had appeared…

It was undoubtedly…

The Black Panther.

Otherwise known to the native of Queens and Manhattan as Prince T'Challa of Wakanda.

The newly arrived superhuman heard the telltale sound of a familiar thwip from above.

"T'Challa! It is you!"

The regal and strong figure of the Black Panther of Wakanda turned to face the web-head and the Devil of Hell's Kitchen with his mask retracting to reveal a smiling face.

"Peter, Matthew." T'Challa said, approaching them both.

"How'd you get here?" Peter couldn't help but ask.

"Later." Matt stated. "Right now, there's a giant robot we need to take down."

"Er… right, right." Peter said sheepishly with T'Challa smirking in amusement as his Panther mask rematerialized around his head.

The trio leapt back into action as more and more fire was poured onto the giant Ultron.

"Who is that?" Sam asked, flying around the Gigas Ultron.

"The guy seems to know Pete and Matt." Nat noted, shoving her baton through an Ultron Drone that had not yet merged with the larger robot.

"Wait, could that guy be that Prince they spoke of when we found them?" Hope asked.

"We'll find out after we take this bastard out." Quicksilver said, throwing a piece of debris at super speeds that created a hole with multiple cracks appearing around it.

"Pour it on him!" Anakin yelled aloud for any and all to hear, seeing that now was their time to attack.

Now, a concentrated assault on the Gigas Ultron commenced.

Every single combatant against Ultron unleashed everything they had at their disposal to at last bring down the giant AI bot.

The damage was now becoming more visible for all to see with the self-repairing features appearing to slow down as multiple pieces of the body was being damaged at a rate the self-fixing bot couldn't keep up with.

Seeing this within the processing consciousness of the body, Ultron knew it was now only a matter of time until they would take down his gigantic form.

With a reluctant sigh, he knew it was time to go.

Besides, this was only the opening battle.

His coming out party.

It won't be like last time where he wanted to get things done at breakneck speeds.

No. This time he would take his time, truly stretching out the mounting dread. He was impatient last time; he could admit that much. It's what led to his early "demise".

But this time would be different.

He had a whole galaxy to play with compared to one measly planet.

He already has the Hutts frightened and now, undoubtedly the two factions of this ridiculous war. The mastermind behind all this is well aware of his presence now, not that he minded.

Let that frail old coot fester in his little office, knowing that there was someone out there that could challenge his power and authority now.

With a sinister laugh to himself, Ultron abandoned the large remains of his gigas form that had sustained a reasonable amount of damage by this point and had his consciousness depart from this planet.

The remains of his ragtag fleet turned tail and fled from the planet as did all others across the galaxy that were still functional.

He had only one last message to give to those present.

"You think this is over, but this is just the beginning."

With that spoken from the gigas Ultron, it's entire form started to crumble into the many droids and drones that made it up.

The natural droids were out of commission for some time. The drones, however, quickly vacated and went to escape into the atmosphere to board many space vessels for an emergency hyperspace jump or staying behind and hiding things out until further notice.

Many clones who witnessed the latter action quickly barked out orders to go out and hunt down the drones in order to properly take them out for good. But who knows how long it will take.

"It's over. It's finally over." Ahsoka said, slumping down to the ground with her entire body sagging in relief.

"Is it?" Barriss said, going down to her knees next to her friend.

"Huh?" was Ahsoka's response.

"No… Like Ultron said, this was only just the beginning." Widow stated a moment later.

"This was just his opening act." Sam said. "All we did was end the first part."

At first, these past few weeks had made them lead to believe that things may have been looking up for them.

They had stopped a litany of disasters, prevented a literal pandemic, won battles and at long last, another one of the enhanced Earthers had found his way here to the other Avengers.

But now…

They have also the return of a deadly adversary.

An adversary, brief as he was on Earth, nearly caused the extinction of all life on it.

And now he's here, roaming this galaxy and having just made a showcasing of just how dangerous he still was.

A new player has entered into this galactic scale war that was already destructive enough as is.

The only question there is now is how long this new conflict with Ultron will truly end. And will he be taken down for good before or after this galactic war comes to an end.

Only time will tell.

_-Scene Cut-_

On a distant planet, far in the deeper regions of the Outer Rim was a singular planet that from space appeared to have a reddish-brown and white arid surface.

Going down to the planet itself, said appearance would be correct as the planet was primarily made up of rocky cliffs, barren deserts with some Mesas here and there along with intricate caverns with the occasional coral and rock formation.

As the nearby sun of the planet was beginning to set upon the horizon, an owl-like bird flew overhead with several others of its species.

This species of birds were known as the Convorees, found on a select few planets and were a special species for those who were students of the Force.

Currently, the small flock of these owl-like birds were flying towards a specific destination in mind.

Flying over the barren land, the Convorees eventually flew around a crater of sorts.

In the center of the crater was a lone being, a humanoid with a green outfit and red face that had cybernetic lines along his skin.

This being wore a yellowish-gold cloak and was floating up in the air with his legs crossed and arms resting atop his elbows.

There, the being floated in place until his eyes snapped open with the cybernetic optics whirling about within his retina.

A moment later, one of the Convorees descended from on high and comfortably atop his shoulder, ruffling its feathers before settling down.

He momentarily looked over at the owl-like bird with a small smile before wincing and reaching up to his forehead.

His fingers grazed over a glowing yellow stone embedded into his head that pulsed several times, causing him to lower himself down to the ground to stand on his feet.

He continued rubbing his forehead as he heard a large shifting movement from behind him.

"What troubles you, friend?" asked a deep, echoing voice from behind.

The cybernetic humanoid didn't meet his gaze with the being nearby, but he regarded him with an answer. "I've sensed something…"

The large creature titled his head with a pleased expression. "Ah~ Good that you're finally reaching into the untapped power of the Stone. Tell me, what is it you've sensed?"

"Trouble…" Said the cybernetic humanoid.

"Trouble, you say…"

"… An old enemy."

The being hummed, recollecting the tales his companion spoke of since his arrival.

"You mean the one who named you back on your home world?"

"Correct."

"You believe this Ultron to be alive, I take it?"

"He and I came from this." he placed a hand over the stone on his forehead. "He and I… like Pietro and Wanda are connected to this Stone."

His larger companion only lowered himself down to his line of sight, gazing at him intently.

"And what is it that you wish to do, Vision?"

The Avenger only frowned, gazing at the ancient being before him.

"I wish… to return to my friends. They need me, more than ever." Vision stated with a firm gaze in his eyes.

"But are you truly prepared for this?"

"I defeated him before."

"But will it be like last time?"

"Prepared or not, I can't stand by."

The larger being shifted back, a thoughtful frown marring his face.

"I can only teach you so much, my friend." The being said with a slightly forlorn expression. "The Infinity Stones are entities that I know very little about. Very few beings in this entire galaxy had ever encountered such gems of unimaginable power."

"And I am grateful for your lessons, Bendu." Vision said with an appreciative nod. "But the time for lessons must come to an end. I need to reunite with my team _now._ "

Bendu, the ancient Force user gave the artificial being a hard stare until he acquiesced with a nod.

"Then let us begin to see what can be done to prepare you for your reunion."

_-Scene Cut-_

On the other side of the galaxy, on a more darkly tinted reddish planet, a young girl in equally red garments was currently through a decrepit forest.

Her destination?

A small little hut built at the entrance of a large temple.

Running towards the hut with increased speed, the little girl soon began grinning widely as she drew closer.

Eventually, she flung the cloth doors apart and immediately spotted whom it was she had run all this way over from her village to see.

With a beaming smile in place, the little girl instantly ran over and jumped atop the sleeping form of the woman in bed.

The woman let out a loud "Oof" at the weight of the girl who began to push press her hands against the groggy ladies shoulder.

"Why…." the woman groaned aloud.

"C'mon. C'mon!" the little girl said with an undeterred smile. "You promised we'd spend the day together."

"Not at the crack of dawn." the woman bemoaned, lightly pushing the girl off who remained firmly atop her and promptly plopped herself down on her.

"But I just can't wait anymore~" The girl whined aloud.

The occupant underneath the sheets groaned as the child kept trying to get her up.

"Don't you understand how much I enjoy my sleep, Merrin."

"How could you try to sleep the day away?" Merrin asked with her cheeks puffed out.

The woman underneath the child found herself smiling slightly at Merrin's demeanor, freeing an arm to mess up the girl's hair. "You'll understand a whole lot more when you're older."

"Wanda~" Merrin cried out dramatically. "You know this hair takes forever to get it done."

Wanda Maximoff laughed lightly, managing to at last shove the Dathomirian Zabrak off of her with Merrin falling onto the other side of the bed.

"Hey!" Merrin cried out, only to get a pillow in her face.

Throwing it aside, she saw Wanda with her back turned to her and curled up in her blanket once more.

"Oh no you don't."

Merrin was about to jump atop Wanda again only for her to be ensnared in the air by some reddish-scarlet ethereal energy.

"Wanda!" Merrin flailed about in the air. "That's not fair and you know it!"

Maximoff only gave her a mischievous and triumphant smile, her one hand peeking out from underneath her blankets with the scarlet energy around her fingers. Slowly rotating her hand, Merrin was placed down to the ground.

The young child rounded upon Wanda with her arms raised and shoulders hunched in readiness for another attempt at pouncing on the Earth native only to be met with another scarlet energy wall.

"Hey!"

"Alright, alright, I'm up. You don't have to keep doing that, you know." Wanda said in clear amusement.

"I know, Wanda, but I really want to play."

The Sokovian would've rolled her eyes at this, but instead she rubbed the grime out of her eyelids. Pulling the covers off of her, she rolled out of bed before stretching out a few limbs to pop a number of joints.

Letting out a satisfied sigh, Wanda walked over to a cabinet within her hut and opened it up to pull out some clothes to put on.

Merrin in the meantime seated herself on Wanda's bed, her legs swinging about idly as she waited for the woman she had come to view as her surrogate older sister get dressed.

Throwing on her scarlet red jacket, Wanda turned to Merrin with a small smile and her hand outstretched.

Giggling, Merrin hopped off Wanda's bed and ran to the enhanced human and grasped her hand tightly.

She began pulling Wanda towards the exit to her hut when the older of the two made her stop.

Merrin looked back at her in confusion. "Wanda?"

The Earther only looked back to the corner of her hut, her eyes found what she was looking for.

It was a red triangular prism that was glowing slightly with a pulsing blood-red energy.

Frowning, Wanda quickly flicked her hand and the prism was promptly stuffed underneath her bed.

"Wanda?"

"It's nothing."

Saying her bit, the Sokovian pocketed her hands into her coat as she walked outside.

"Aren't you coming?"

Merrin smiled as she followed after her older sister figure as their feet scrapped across the gravel.

At this time, the sun started to rise on the red misted plains.

The Scarlet Witch let out a soft exhale, as she thought about her time here on the planet of strange magic and an overlaying feeling of what she could only describe as a strange pressure of some kind.

Wherever it is that she was, Dathomir was the only place that she could call home.

For now…

"Wanda~"

Maximoff smiled despite herself.

Despite her situation, it wasn't all bad right now.

But as an Avenger, she knew that there would eventually be a time where she would need to find the means to get off of this planet and go out into this vast and unexplored galaxy.

In her heart, she knew that her friends and teammates were out there waiting for her as she was for them.

And she will find them.

**That ending.**

**THAT ENDING!**

**THAT IS STAR WARS!**

**SUCK IT KATHLEEN KENNEDY AND FUCK YOU RIAN JOHNSON, THAT IS WHAT STAR WARS IS!**

**THAT IS LUKE MOTHER FUCKING SKYWALKER.**

**Leave it to Dave Fucking Filoni to remind us why we all love Star Wars oh so much. Clone Wars season 7 was a blast, the Bad Batch is on its way and this season finale is exactly why we are fans of Star Wars.**

**Legit teared up at the sight of Luke and the farewell between little Grogu and his father, Din.**

**Essentially, season 2 was a fucking masterpiece of Star Wars, criticisms and all.**

**Jebest4781: And we can't forget John Favreau as well as he's much of a SW weeb as Filoni as his genius was able to help mold The Mandalorian and organize a lot of other properties in the past years.**

**FMW: So on top of that, we got our Star Wars avalanche of shows ON TOP of all the MCU content to come in the future. Mandalorian season 2 may be over but Wandavision is right around the corner at the start of January. So how fitting that we close this chapter out with the two of them and confirm what SOOO many reviewers have said where one Wanda Maximoff has been residing for some time now.**

**So yeah, since this is likely the last chapter that Jeb and I will put out this year, who knows, maybe we can get another out from one of our other stories. If not, I hope you all have a Happy New Years and had a Merry Christmas, Holidays, all that good shit to keep your spirits up.**

**Jeb: Things have clearly not been all that well this year, no arguments about that. But there have been some silver linings and some small light at the end of dark tunnels that helped pull us all through one way or another. With the new year starting at the end of this week, so many New Year resolutions will begin for us all and one such thing is learning from our mistakes of this present one.**

**For now, we both wish you all a good new year and good luck. Hopefully 2021 will be a good year after the shitshow you got in 2020. Fingers crossed.**

**Yeah, Free Man Writer and Jebest4781 both wish you all a happy new year again and the best.**

**This is FMW and Jeb signing off on 2020.**

**See ya guys next year.**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Link to the cover poster for this arc here.
> 
> https://www.deviantart.com/freemanwriter/art/Rise-Of-Ultron-865346168?ga_submit_new=10%3A1609152872


	48. A New Front

**Rate Read and Review and as Always Have Nice Day.**

Avengers Infinite Wars Chapter 48: A New Front

" _Invasion!"_

Holo-images of multiple ships coming out of hyperspace were shown alongside the swarm of drones that were attacking the city planet itself.

" _An unknown threat has tampered with countless droids out in the galaxy, causing them to attack any and all organic individuals."_

The images flash to Clones and Jedi fighting valiantly against a seemingly endless swarm of drones. Every now and then, several individuals that had extraordinary powers were seen fighting alongside the Republic forces.

" _Hysteria and pandemonium reign as multiple reports of this mysterious enemy was seen not only attacking the capital world of the Republic but also multiple planets belonging to both the Republic and the Separatists."_

A moment later, videos of the Separatist alliance fighting off the sudden influx of ships and drones that decimated their armies.

" _Blame is aimed and accused towards the Republic and Separatists respectively from each side. Others towards an unknown individual who could be the source of it all. Only theories remain standing. All the while, the Republic scrambles to regain its bearings and marshal their forces to counter this new adversary that has appeared on the-"_

"Turn that crap off." Said a small rodent-like creature. "They've been playing the same shit over and over again."

"Exuberance: Oh please Master Rocket." Said a mechanical voice that held genuine joy in his tone. "The thought of knowing that the capital sinkhole of the galaxy had been attacked is music to my audio processors."

"Yeah, yeah, we already know that HK." Rocket Racoon said, tapping the assassin droid's head. "Now keep still. I gotta make sure I do this right."

"Query: Rocket, what exactly are you doing?"

"After seeing all that shit about some of those droids being possessed and all, I'm makin' sure this doesn't happen to you." Rocket replied, opening the back part of HK's head and beginning to work with the droids processor core. "Wouldn't want our trigger happy murderer turning his guns on us."

"Affronted statement: Master Rocket, I am part of a team that calls themselves the Guardians of the Galaxy that profit off of killing meatbags." HK declared. "There is no known force that would make me turn on all of you."

Rocket snorted aloud at that. "Yeah~ Ain't gonna take any chances."

As Rocket worked on HK within the Guardian's large ship of the quadrant, down in the lower levels were some of the other members of the team having a discussion about what had happened.

There was Quill, Gamora, Kraglin, Drax and an invited friend of theirs aboard their ship.

"Didn't you say that Hondo fella had these bots on him?" Kraglin asked Gamora and Peter, both of whom nodded.

"Makes ya wonder where they came from." Peter remarked, observing the holo-news of the attack on Coruscant.

Settled on a central table were a few of the droid pieces they had pilfered from their abrupt end of their last assignment.

They were finishing up a little escort job for some quick credits over in some neutral system when shit went down.

Not only did they have a bad reunion with those advanced droids from a while back, but also nearly every other droid went crazy and attacked any civilian within sight.

It was all hands on deck for the Guardians in not only fighting for their lives but also protecting their clients and the civilians.

It felt like hours, but the invasion was less than that. By the end of it all, the Guardians were quickly paid with a bonus before parting ways.

"Any ideas, Sugi?" Gamora asked, turning to the Zabrak bounty hunter who held up a head of one of the droids that had attacked them.

Whilst many of the droids there were similar for the most part, this one was distinctly different in its design.

The spacing of the mouth, the two antennas on the sides of its head and the way the eyes were angled to give off a more menacing appearance.

Sugi hummed aloud, inspecting the head closely.

"Didn't we encounter these droids before?" Sugi pointed out, tossing the head back into the pile.

"Yeah, on Felucia." Peter muttered.

Gamora hummed aloud. "We should probably track down Hondo and _politely_ ask him where he got them in the first place."

"Why would you politely ask… ah."

"Yer getting it Drax." Peter said approvingly.

"But these bastards were found _all_ over the galaxy." Kraglin stated. "What would Hondo know about this?"

"He had to get them from somewhere… or someone."

"Then where should we-"

"No." Gamora shook her head, cutting off Peter. "Not all over the galaxy."

"What do ya mean?" Peter asked, the group turning to the deadliest woman in the galaxy (Universe really).

"I've been looking over the map and newsreels of this attack." Gamora said, pressing on a button on the table.

Before them was now the display of the entire galaxy with several areas marked red.

"Look at where these attacks took place." Gamora said, pointing close to the center of the galaxy. "That there is Coruscant, right? The capital of this Republic that runs most of this place. And over here is Racus-"

"Raxus." Sugi corrected.

"Right, Raxus." Gamora nodded to her. "This is the capital of the Separatists. Here's where the largest bounty hunter guild operates and that's one of the main hubs of Hutt space. These were all coordinated and tactical assaults."

"How do you figure that?" Sugi asked, not doubting her but simply curious.

Gamora kept her eyes on the galaxy rather than facing the Zabrak.

"It's something I've seen my father do." she replied with a slightly darker tone.

Sugi blinked at this strange change in demeanor of the normally calm assassin.

The rest of the Guardians shifted about with Drax clenching his fists tightly and now glaring down at the table.

Sugi noticed the shift in the air, now looking at all the Guardians strangely.

As much as she'd like to question this, she filed it away for a later time.

Now was a whole nother situation which needed to be focused on.

"So… what're we gonna do?" Kraglin asked, primarily speaking to Peter who frowned in thought.

"Well… best bet is figuring out just what the hell happened." Peter remarked. "And since we don't know where these droids came from…"

"We speak to the next best thing." Sugi and Gamora said in unison.

"...Time to hunt down a pirate lord." Peter declared. "Wanna come along Sugi? Embo around?"

"They're not far off." Sugi said. "I'll get 'em. Curious about all this crap myself."

"Right." Peter nodded. "Say, where's Mantis and Groot? Haven't seen the two anywhere."

"They're back in Mantis' room." Kraglin answered.

In her own quarters, Mantis was currently sitting with Groot, who had gotten bored and was now just sitting in her room to play his game in peace.

The wide eyed girl was currently placing a small disk on the floor in front of her bed with her seating herself on her bed.

A moment later, a holo-transmission was activated and standing before her was the Mandalorian warrior, Fenn Shysa.

"Hi Fenn." Mantis said happily with a beaming smile as she bounced slightly on her bed.

The Mandalorian gave her a bashful smile in return. _"Hey Mantis. How are you?"_

"I am well." Mantis said, humming to herself. "I was wondering how you were. Have you heard of what has happened?"

Fenn snorted aloud. _"Heard? I experienced it."_

Mantis's expression fell slightly. "Oh no. What happened?"

" _Ordo was attacked."_ Shysa revealed. _"Mandalore heard news of the planet being suddenly assaulted by a small fleet of ships belonging to the Republic and Separatists before we got over there to drive them off. Turns out we weren't the only ones to be attacked. Concordia and several other planets got hit. One of them had Death Watch on it and the rest a few of our camps. Whole system is distressed."_

"That sounds awful. Are you alright?" Mantis asked in clear concern.

" _I'll live."_ Fenn waved off. _"But what about you? Did you run into these weird droid bastards?"_

"We did on our last job. Clients were heavily protected during the attack. Got a bonus because of it on top of recommendations for others to hire our service." Mantis said with bounce in her tone as she literally bounced slightly on her bed.

Fenn chortled at her action. _"That's good, I suppose. At least you and your team will be busy for a while."_

"And so will your Mandalorians." Mantis said.

" _Right."_ Fenn nodded. " _If anything happens Mantis, you're free to call me up for help. You've helped out me and my friends several times now. We owe you guys a bunch."_

"That's great to hear! I'll be sure to let the others know."

Fenn nodded.

"Bye Fenn. I'll be waiting for our lunch together another time then."

The Mandalorian jolted slightly at being reminded of that throwaway comment he made last time he saw her. He didn't realize she would actually want that.

Feeling a bit warm under his armor, Fenn gave her one last smile and waved goodbye before shutting off the transmission between him and her, glad that the holo-image of himself didn't show his slightly red face now.

"Dammit Fenn." the Mandalorian said to himself with a fond smile. "Ya got yourself a good one."

As the Guardians prepped for departure from the planet of Nevarro, the rest of the galaxy was reeling and reacting in their own way after the sudden blitzkrieg of Ultron.

The Separatists called for a council from every high ranking individual involved with Dooku at the helm.

It was chaotic and in complete discord.

For the first time in a long while, Count Dooku was actually present to these meetings. Not through a holo-projection, but in person.

The Count watched the session of discussion with his mind ablaze in thought.

Many questions riddled his mind with no answers to relieve him of such headaches. This was not something that was planned nor anticipated.

His master Sidious would have told him of something like this happening.

Sadly, not even _he_ knew the answers to this debacle.

Well… not entirely.

For now, all Dooku can do is settle the masses and hopefully figure out a solution to their latest problem all caused by this Ultron character.

That was the name that his master had given him.

It appears that no one else knew just who this Ultron was.

The parliament was in heated discussion, many of its members arguing back and forth about these attacks and what should be done.

"We need to strike back now!"

"How in the blazes can you say that?! We just got attacked as well."

"Exactly, a retaliatory strike against the Republic is what we need to tip the scales."

"What are you talking about?! The Republic? They weren't the ones that attacked us."

"Then how do you explain the Venators and Acclamators that were in the fleets that attacked Raxus?"

"How do you explain our own ships in the attack?!"

" _Enough!"_ Dooku's voice boomed aloud, effectively silencing the entirety of the parliament.

"Members of parliament, please control yourselves." Dooku said more softly. "The last thing that we need is to argue amongst ourselves when we must stand united. Now more than ever."

"Dooku is right." Said a middle aged woman with brown hair.

"The parliament recognizes Mina Bonteri of Onderon." the secret Sith Lord said, gesturing his hand to the woman.

Many within the chamber turned their attention towards the present speaker.

"If we go about brazenly attacking the Republic after suffering such a devastating loss ourselves, it would only put us in a weaker state." Mina pointed out.

"Weaker state?" squawked a green skinned female alien with red eyes and spikes of some kinds on the sides of her head. "We may have gotten hit but we had managed to successfully repel this sudden and brazen attack. Our losses amounted to only a few dozen ships at most."

"Do you see what is happening here? Major systems have been attacked simultaneously. We do not know by whom, but they must clearly have an agenda for this assault. It does not matter if it was towards us or even the Republic. Whoever was behind this wanted all of us weakened." Mina refuted. "Attacking the Republic now and so suddenly will only lead to further chaos. Especially given the state that they are undoubtedly in."

"Senator Bonteri is correct in this regard." Count Dooku stated aloud. "If the Separatist Alliance were to attack now, it would lead to a greater degree of loss. The Republic, shocked as it may be as we are, will undoubtedly be on high alert after such a stunning attack."

"Dooku's words hold true." Said another human Senator. "We need to consolidate and recover ourselves."

"This will not stand." Voe Atell of the War faction of the CIS barked out. "We need to re-establish our foothold in this galaxy. What if the Republic is planning an attack on us as we speak?"

"Highly unlikely." Dooku chided. "They are in no better state than we all are. This would only lead to further chaos."

The Sith Lord's eyes then hardened on Voe. "I understand and admire your undying loyalty to the Separatist cause, Atell. But if you are to brashly throw away everything this alliance represents, then you are to be no better than the Republic we had broken away from."

That was enough for Voe to step back and step down from her overzealous comments.

As the Parliament began to exit the meeting hall, Dooku stood alone with his eyes gazing down at the ground. He would need to contact his master as soon as he was able to.

This was not supposed to happen.

This was not within the confines of the Sith's grand plan.

Whoever this Ultron was supposed to be and whoever he thought he was, he was playing a very dangerous game with the likes of the Sith.

This _Ultron_ would pay for his hubris in full.

Of that, Darth Tyrannus swore to it by the Force.

_-Scene Cut-_

On the smuggler's moon of Nar Shaddaa, the criminal underworld was in equal uproar as multiple criminal organizations were also left reeling from the attack that had caught the entire galaxy flat footed.

Unfortunately, due to them not having the numbers nor resources at the time like the Separatists and Republic had during Ultron's invasion, they did not manage to fight off the AI menace.

Multiple resources, weapons, ships, you name it, were all taken from a litany of caches that were held either by the Black Suns, Pyke Syndicate and even the Hutt Cartel.

It was simply chaotic on the lawless planet with practically every denizen within the city world flipping out.

All but a few.

Within a dining establishment of sorts, one well equipped and heavily scarred man sat at his table and ate in relative peace compared to the less than subtle nervousness and tension in the entire restaurant.

Before him was someone of equal calm, if not jittery excitement, the man humming constantly.

"Look." The scarred man spoke up with a growl. "If you're gonna hum that shit, play it with the band and fuck off with it. I don't wanna hear what is love for the twentieth time again."

"If you know any better songs, be my guest."

"This ain't Earth." Rumlow said. "This place doesn't have Spotify unfortunately."

"I use Soundcloud."

"Whatever, same fucking difference."

The man in front of him sighed dramatically. "Wonder if the boys are keeping the band going without me."

"May or may not have to if they think you're dead. I mean, did you force them to cooperate?"

"God no." The man shook his head. "We may be black arms dealers but our love of music is real. If I would, I'd send you the Soundcloud link."

"Don't try to sell me your garbage music."

"Then what do you want, _Brocko."_

The man known as Brock Rumlow, or as his new bounty hunting motif; Crossbones, let out a small grunt.

"Well for your information, _Klaue_ , it should actually be pretty fucking obvious why I'm here." Rumlow stated with the arms dealer in the literal and occupational sense humming aloud.

"Ultron." Klaue said knowingly.

"That shitstorm he brewed up is making everyone freak out like the end times are a few short hours away." Brock remarked. "Other than the Avengers, you're the only guy I know who dealt with him directly."

"Pretty sure everyone has by now."

"You know what I mean." Rumlow groused out.

Ulysses chuckled aloud, his robotic arm coming apart for a moment with a napkin coming out to wipe the smidges of food from the corners of his mouth.

"I do admit, seeing him again was not exactly a pleasant surprise." Klaue grumbled out. "When I saw those drones of _his_ , I did kill a number of them for payback on what he did to my arm."

The arms-dealer then chuckled aloud. "Then again, this is a pretty sweet arm if I do say so myself. Look what I had installed straight away."

The arm then shifted apart near the wrist to reveal…

"Why?"

"I'm a connoisseur of music." Klaue said proudly, tapping on the small built in speakers. "I like to listen to my favorites when I'm working."

Rumlow rolled his eyes, slightly wondering how sane this man claimed to be.

"Hope you at least salvaged them." He asked with the manic grin on Klaue's face growing.

"I most certainly did, even if I did need to do a system purge so Ultron won't come back and take over his lost toys."

"Might need to do a better job with what I heard about him." Brock pointed out.

"That will take a lot of time."

"Which you most certainly have."

"No need to remind me." Klaue shot back.

A moment of silence befell the two.

"What are you even in the market for now?" Rumlow found himself asking.

"Huh?" Klaue blinked. "You do know there's a literal galactic war going on right now, right? Earth was fun but this is heaven sent."

"You know what I mean."

Klaue chuckled aloud. "War profiteering. Such a struggle for a naive starter. A stroll for an expert. A vacation resort for an utter professional." He took a swig of his drink soon after. "I've heard the Banking Clans, Techno Union and Trade Federation are in such practices since this prior to this war being commenced. If you get into the right field..."

Crossbones only gazed at him intently until Klaue sighed aloud dramatically.

"Fine."

Klaue reached into his pack that had been placed beside him in the booth and pulled out several canisters that contained distinct metals.

"Look at these _Beauties._ " Klaue said in reverence.

Rumlow eyed them with interest. "What are they?"

"The best of the best in turns of metals and resources." Klaue said, patting them with pride. "I've come across a string of luck since coming here. Acquiring the properties heavily rich in these beauts."

Brock took one of the canisters and inspected the metal inside. It was a purplish glow of some kind.

"If you want a term of comparison, it's like Vibranium's watered down cousins." Klaue said. "But it's still related to it. So that means…"

"It's just as good as any other metal available." Rumlow surmised with Klaue nodding his head excitedly.

"Getting these hasn't been easy but with the right bribe, connections and kill, well, anything is available at your fingertips." Ulysses declared. "I think you'll like this one in particular."

Crossbones gazed down at the center canister that was pushed towards him.

"And what would this be?"

"Cortosis metal." Klaue revealed. "I heard about your run in with those laser sword wielding weirdos."

"The Jedi."

Klaue nodded. "Effective against them energy swords… for a time. Such a shame with how brittle the substance is. But I reckon if one could find the right concoction in making it last _so_ much longer."

"What about that one?" Rumlow pointed to the purplish metal.

"Phrik." Klaue said. "Damn near indestructible. Good for weapons and such but hard to come by. Could make something out of it under the right circumstances."

"What about the small one here?"

"Ah~" Klaue took the small rectangular slab of metal out from its container and gave it a whiff of satisfaction. "Beskar. The absolute best that I have and the absolute hardest metal to come by."

"I take it this is the Vibranium of this galaxy."

"You would be right in that matter." Klaue confirmed, holding the metal out for Rumlow to examine personally.

"Where can it be found?"

"Where else do you think? Their home planet of Mandalore and apparently their moon of Concordia." Klaue stated. "Like the Wakandans, the Mandalorians prize this alloy quite well. Quite expensive on the cost alone, more so when trying to make one part from it."

"The hell you mean by that?"

"A large number of them consider 'em family treasures, passing them down generation to generation." Klaue elaborated. "Newer materials are made by them but the method in how it's done is kept generically secret amongst their kind. Only their metalsmiths and weapon makers know its properties best. Most I could do with what I have now is sell it for a high price."

Rumlow examined the one in his hand right now. "How much could this get you?"

"That being pure Beskar directly from Mandalore's capital… enough to get me a small fleet."

The mercenary's eyes widened slightly upon hearing this.

Klaue chuckled aloud. "Yeah, special little bastards, aren't they. Only thing that comes close to shooting past their price is this thing called a Kyber crystal. Trying to find it is a bit of a chore but I've got some leads. A pirate leader in the outer rim talked about it to me a few weeks ago."

Crossbones was more focused on the metal in his hand at the time.

"How much armor could this Beskar make?"

Klaue puffed out a bit of air as he held up the present sample. "This could make a shoulder pauldron or a small arm greave. If you want more, that'll cost you extra."

"How much do you have?"

"Enough." Klaue said enigmatically with Rumlow squinting in slight distrust towards the weapons dealer.

Whilst he was still unsure about all this, for now, he'd rather be more well prepared especially with what's happening right now.

"Send me the amount I owe you and you've got yourself a deal."

Klaue rose a brow for a brief moment. "You sure you can afford it all?"

"I've been busy, in case you weren't aware." Rumlow said. "Warlords are willing to pay top doll- credit for a plague to… _convince_ populaces to recognize their rule."

"Wonder how long it'll be till said people would think the threats would be legitimate instead of utter foolhardiness."

"Everyone is a bit preoccupied at the moment. Besides, certain areas in this galaxy aren't the main focus." Crossbones said in an uncaringly dark tone. "By the time they will have noticed, a lot of people are gonna be long dead."

Klaue snorted aloud.

"And look at you, having your take of the war profiteering."

"I'll just have to see which end of the spectrum I'll land on."

"Supply and demand, even in these _trying_ times." Klaue chortled with a sadistic glee ever present on his face. "Keep your friends rich and your enemies rich and wait to find out which is which."

Rumlow gazed at the man. "The hell is that supposed to mean?"

"Tony Stark told that to me once… and I heard it again from Ultron right before he cut off my arm just cause I said the bastard's name." Klaue found himself guffawing now. "You know what that metallic bastard said that it was gonna be _ok_ that he cut my arm off."

The man then held up his new arm, waving it back and forth. "Can't deny, it _did_ turn out ok."

Crossbones would have called the man crazy but if he were being honest with himself, that would be the pot calling the kettle black.

He didn't have much further time to dwell on this thought as he saw Klaue raise a glass to him.

"Here's to our new business arrangement."

Without missing a beat, Rumlow grabbed his own glass and raised it up to _*clink*_ with Klaue's with the two finishing their meals shortly after.

_-Scene Cut-_

Within the flagship Venator of Obi-wan Kenobi's fleet The _Negotiator,_ one Captain Rogers stood within the bridge with a slightly distraught appearance.

He was currently leaning against the holo table with his head hung low as his mind was ablaze with everything he and his friend Rhodey had just learned of.

This could not get any worse.

Ultron had made his return.

And it was in the biggest way possible.

When the two Avengers along with Aayla and Obi-wan were over the planet of Mandalore, their communications were lit up with multiple distress calls from dozens of star systems close by and across Republic and even Separatist controlled space.

What only Steve would describe to be some sort of Blitzkrieg, multiple ships had jumped out of hyperspace over key worlds and systems and launched sudden and devastating attacks that had left the entire galaxy rattled.

Utter confusion and panic was felt as the Republic forces stationed over Mandalore tried to make heads or tails as to what in the hell was going on.

After nearly half an hour of trying to discern what had happened, they had received shocking news.

Coruscant was under attack.

The entirety of the planet was fighting back against a mysterious new enemy that had caught the Republic flat footed in the sudden invasion.

Yet, a single transmission from Natasha stopped Rhodey and Steve dead in their tracks upon the reveal of just who it was that had led the attack on the capital of the Republic.

Now Steve was alone with his mind and emotions in a slight mess upon hearing just who it was.

He had feared the worst and hoped it was just some kind of hallucination or him mishearing something back on Geonosis.

But now, there was no doubt about it in his mind.

Ultron was alive.

And he had returned.

"Steve?" he felt a soft hand upon his shoulder, jolting him out of his thoughts.

The super soldier turned to see the friendly face of Aayla Secura now standing by his side.

"Are you alright?" the Twi'lek Jedi asked softly.

Steve gave her a strained smile as his answer, sighing aloud as he hung his head down.

"I'd be lying to you if I said I was alright." Steve said in a low voice. "But really… I don't really know how to explain it."

"Then could you give me anything close?" Aayla asked.

"Frightened quickly comes to mind." Steve said. "More so for others than myself."

Aayla frowned upon hearing this.

"What was it you called the individual responsible for all this?" Aayla inquired. "Ultron, correct?"

"Yeah." Steve sighed aloud. "Him."

The Twi'lek Jedi was having a hard time seeing Captain Rogers in such a state. The normally confident and practically indomitable super soldier hardly ever displayed much of what one may call a downer demeanor but here he was.

And it wasn't downer per say.

Aayla observed him for a few moments and it's more akin to disappointment.

More with himself it seems.

"Who is this Ultron then?" Aayla asked quietly. "It seems to me that you have some kind of history with him."

"That would be putting it mildly." Steve said, looking to the Jedi Knight. "We've faced off before. With too many close calls to say the least."

"And you were able to defeat him before, yes?"

"We did. It wasn't easy but we managed it last time." Steve said. "Problem is now that Thor, Tony and Vision ain't here to greatly turn the tide."

"Vision is still missing." Aayla said, making Steve nod.

"And so is Wanda." Steve said before he uncharacteristically struck the holo-table with his fist.

It wasn't a hard punch or anything. Just enough that it actually made Aayla jolt slightly.

She'd never seen such frustration on his face.

"We were never supposed to get roped into something like this." Steve said. "A war is the last thing that the Avengers should have ever gotten involved in. Especially on a galactic scale. Now we're dealing with an enemy we were supposed to have defeated nearly a year ago and he's back. I'm just… just a bit lost right now. Trying to figure out what to do now."

"Well… the Jedi know a bit of that feeling." Aayla said knowingly, earning a slight snort out of the good captain. "We don't blame you. Steve. If that's what you're wondering. This was outside of your control."

"Was it?" Steve asked rhetorically. "Was it really?"

Aayla was unsure as to how she could reply to that.

Being an astute and slightly more pragmatic Jedi, Aayla was aware that she hadn't been told the full story about this Ultron and something else was dwelling on Steve's mind.

It's as if something else was troubling him.

She didn't have time to ask him about it as Clone pilots began announcing they were about to exit hyperspace, arriving at Coruscant.

Soon after, the surrounding tunnel of Hyperspace was swapped out for the battle torn fleet over the planet of Coruscant.

All around them was the torn and shredded enemy fleet that attacked Coruscant just a day prior.

Upon their initial sight, for every enemy vessel destroyed, two or more Republic ones met the same fate.

Granted, the Republic fleet had overwhelming numbers against the one Ultron had brought in but the level of devastation was a troubling sight to see.

The fact that Ultron had come in in such a stunning and vicious attack made the super soldier grimace.

"Is there a relief effort already established?" Steve asked with Aayla frowning as her eyes lingered over the wreckage of the battle.

"Hard to say with how much of a mess this all is." she said with an unsure voice.

"But it's bound to be occurring with there being no further fighting at this time."

"One can never be too sure." Aayla refuted.

With the devastation around them now, the Jedi didn't even know if there were any survivors at all. A grim thought, yes, but it had to be a sad bitter truth to swallow.

Though it was faint and barely noticeable, there was an unusual feeling in the Force that she had detected.

And it was coming from Steve.

Looking to him, like always, she felt the void of the Force surrounding him that signaled his complete separate existence from the Force.

If she were to be honest with herself, it's not something she was entirely used to.

To have people utterly devoid of the one thing that surrounds all was startling to say the least.

Only Pietro and to a lesser extent, Peter, had any semblance of what she would describe as more of an affiliation to the Force compared to a connection.

But right now…

Though it was difficult to pick up on, Aayla felt what seemed to be an emotion rolling off of Steve.

The feeling was so strong that it actually cut through the void and affected her directly.

Without realizing it, she had already closed her eyes and reached out through the Force to connect to this feeling and nearly winced in doing so.

Guilt.

A raw feeling of guilt and remorse that resonated from the good Captain.

This was different.

Whilst the Force always amplified many aspects of the galaxy around them, Aayla had never felt this feeling of raw emotion in a long time.

" _Pretending you could live without a war."_

Aayla gasped aloud, a cold sweat running down the side of her head.

"Aayla?"

The Twi'lek felt a firm hand upon her shoulder and saw the worried face of Steve.

"Yes. Did you say something?"

"Say something?" Steve said in bewilderment. "I've just been trying to get your attention. Now you look like… well… did you feel something?"

"Wh-what?"

"The Force." Steve elaborated. "You suddenly gasped aloud and now you look a bit pale."

"I-I…" Aayla rubbed her head, wiping away the cold sweat. "I'm not sure."

Steve was slightly put off by this response and was about to ask what was wrong when Commander Bly had approached them.

"General, Captain." The Clone Commander said professionally. "We're about to… General? Are you alright?"

Aayla waved him off. "I'm fine Commander. What was it you wanted to say?"

Bly looked between her and Rogers with the Captain giving him a face that conveyed 'I have no idea myself what's wrong'.

Frowning a bit, Bly filed that away for now as there were more pressing matters to attend to.

"Gunships are ready to take us down planetside."

Secura nodded. "Thank you, Bly. Let's be off then."

The trio made their way down to the hangar bay and entered into a LAAT gunship with the clone troopers of Flash, Lucky and Cameron accompanying them.

The three clones each gave their nods of respect towards Steve with him doing it in return, giving a slightly amused smirk at the blatant markings and tattoos of the Avengers symbols that decorated the armors of the Clones.

It was still more than a bit flattering at the sight of the Clones blatantly showing off the symbols on their armor pieces of the Avengers. He recalled Cameron and Fives telling him that it was something that Clones had taken a liking to, marking themselves with the symbols of each Avenger they had at one point fought alongside.

Currently, the 212th, 501st and some of the 327th have the distinction of either having all or a majority of the symbols.

The 104th, 41st, 71st and several others have scattered results.

Those thoughts were soon banished from Steve's thoughts as the Gunships were now flying over the devastated cityscape of Coruscant.

Seeing the wrecked environment greatly reminded the war veteran much of his time back on Earth when he fought against HYDRA.

Steve hadn't realized that his grasp on the hanging grip within the Gunship had gotten so tight to the point that he inadvertently ripped the handle right off from the roof of the LAAT. Rogers blinked, staring at his hand as he had realized what he had done with the other Clones and Aayla gazing at him blankly.

"Er…" Lucky spoke up. "Everything alright, Captain?"

"More… or less, I think." Steve said, tossing the handle out.

The others didn't say much after that as they focused more on wanting to help the other Republic forces on the relief effort.

All across the city, they saw gunships and transport ships of all sizes moving debris out of the way, delivering medical and useful supplies over all to key areas and getting injured out of harm's way.

It was a sobering sight to see.

One Steve had hoped he would never see again.

But who was he kidding himself.

His mind was so preoccupied with the city below, he didn't notice the concerned gazes of Aayla and Bly with the two glancing at one another with a silent conversation between the two.

Eventually, the gunship arrived at their destination and they had stepped out with the Clone Troopers being ordered to assist the surrounding area whilst Steve, Bly and Aayla headed off to where they needed to be.

Close by, they saw a gunship with Obi-wan, Rhodey and Commander Cody land with that trio joining them in their walk towards the Senate Building.

_-Scene Cut-_

"Okay… don't know if I'll be needing earplugs now." Matt Murdock said, wincing at the commotion going on before him.

"What, cause of literally everyone yelling all at once?" Widow dryly stated.

"That's… putting it mildly." Matt said.

"Why are they even talking about all this?" Pietro asked, eyes shooting over to where Riyo Chuchi stood with her delegation.

"Just the way things are, Pietro." Sam said with a grunt, leaning against the wall with his arms crossed. "Politics ain't never that simple."

"And given the recent invasion, it's probably going haywire with just about everyone demanding action." Natasha added on.

Currently, it was just the four of them on hand watching over this senate meeting whilst Hope and Scott were busy with helping the former heal up slightly after getting whacked into a building by a robot that was bigger than him.

Peter was helping out in the city overall but they soon got a notification from Tap that he was back at the temple now with that Prince guy that he and Matt had arrived with in this galaxy.

"Right now, our focus has to be on helping those on Coruscant and anywhere else that we were attacked." Padme Amidala spoke now, getting the attention of the four present Avengers. "The last thing we need is a military operation after something like this."

"This is the opportune moment _for_ a military operation." The Kaminoan representative said heatedly.

"With what? In case you didn't realize, our forces were heavily decimated. It would take so much time and credits to rebuild our losses." Padme rebuked with equal passion. "Both of which we do not have."

"Senator Padme is right." In came Bail Organa of Alderaan. "Right now, the focus should be on helping the people of the Republic not gallivanting into battle when we have enough open fronts as is. More death is not the answer."

The Senate hall erupted into more arguing and shouting with every single perspective yelled out from all corners of the hall.

Matt was visibly cringing at all the noise and a moment later, had his helmet form around his head with his suit filtering out and controlling the sound.

"That's better." The Lawyer said with a sigh.

"Would you like to leave, Matthew?"

"No. No. I'll be fine for now."

"Order." Palpatine said aloud, cutting through the chatter. "We will have order in this hall. We do not need more division amongst ourselves as is."

"Yeah, good luck with that." Sam muttered under his breath.

"There you guys are."

The group turned to look behind them and saw Anakin Skywalker standing there.

"Sky guy." Widow said offhandedly making the Jedi scoff.

"If anyone fits that term it's bird person here." Anakin said, thumbing to Sam.

"Oi."

"What's up, Anakin?" Pietro inquired.

"Just got word that Obi-wan and Aayla are back with Steve and Rhodey." Anakin revealed.

"Bout time." Nat murmured. "Come on, got a lot to discuss."

The group left the senate hall just as more shouting had begun again, speedily walking through its long corridors to reunite with their two teammates.

All the while, on the opposite end of the Senate hall, two other enhanced individuals were speaking to one another as they were walking through the hallways of the building.

"So what was this Kashyyyk place like?" Peter asked with T'challa humming aloud in thought.

"A lot of jungle… a lot." The crown prince of Wakanda remarked. "And I thought home had a lot of trees."

"And those Wookiees?" Peter inquired. "What were they like?"

"Closest comparison I could think of are oversized teddy bears… with quite the short fuse towards their anger issues."

"How bad are we talking?"

"Supposedly one of them ripped the arms of an unlucky fool who beat them against this space chess game I heard of. He didn't take his loss quite well." T'challa remarked. "I am confident they would get along with the Jabari tribe."

"The what tribe?"

"Another time." T'challa waved off. "I take it you've been busy."

"That's… putting it lightly." Peter said with his shoulders sagging slightly.

"What was it that attacked this planet? Those robots?"

"This old AI that the Avengers fought before." Peter explained. "Ultron."

T'challa frowned in thought, thinking over the name. "Sokovia, correct? I recall my father speaking of a great deal of Vibranium being used to lift that city into the air."

"Yeah him." Peter shook his head. "Turns out he's alive. And he's somehow here. I don't know the full story on what led up to that fight, but you can ask the others about it soon enough."

"There's much either of us do not know." T'challa stated. "But still… coming here is a bit of a shock to say the least."

"Yeah, it's crazy ain't it." Peter said with a light laugh. "It's been a wild ride really. I knew after New York that aliens existed and all…"

"But never actually believing we would one day interact with them." Black Panther said, eyeing the variety of alien species within these halls. "Tell me, has there been any progress in finding a way back to Earth?"

Peter snorted aloud. "I wish. There hasn't been _any luck._ And how can there be? We don't even know _how_ we got here. Or at least the scientific aspect of it. What do you remember?"

The Prince of Wakanda mulled it over in his head for several moments.

"You along with me and Matthew were going to take out Klaue and Brock Rumlow and that winged suited individual." T'challa said, the scene playing out in his mind. "And then there was that light and we woke up scattered in a galaxy at war."

"So… any ideas."

"I am not as well versed in technology as my sister is." T'challa stated. "But if I were to guess… it could have been a gate, tearing open in the fabric of space itself."

"Like what happened back in New York three years ago?"

The Prince nodded. "After that, the entire world changed overnight. Anything that many believed to be impossible would likely become reality."

"Poetic." Peter quipped making T'challa chuckle.

"In a manner of speaking." T'challa said before his mood became a bit more somber. "I just worry about my family, my people. Without me there, who will help protect them?"

Peter very much understood what the Prince was going through.

"I know buddy." Peter said sympathetically. "I got New York to look out for and my Aunt back home. And she's freaking out most likely every single day."

"It is not an easy thing to think about when worrying about family." T'challa said understandingly. "I've taken up the role of Black Panther once my father could no longer perform such duties. With me gone, I don't know if my sister could fulfill such a task."

"I take it that it's a family role, huh?"

"Most certainly."

"Then has Shuri…"

"She has been more focused on her projects, unfortunately."

"Gotcha."

Given the physical attributes and skill he saw T'Challa perform, Peter could only hope that Shuri could survive the training in order to become the acting Black Panther until their return. Or… she'll probably do it her own way.

Probably that.

Before the two could talk any further…

"Peter."

The duo rounded about to see none other than Captain America with War Machine, Obi-wan, Aayla, Bly and Cody coming up to them.

"Cap, Rhodey." Parker said with a smile. "You're all back. Aayla, Obi, Cody, Bly, good to see you guys are alright."

"I believe that's the sentiment we should be saying to you." Kenobi remarked. "You were all in the thick of it from what we've seen outside."

"Yeah, story of the century." Peter said. "Ultron."

"Yeah." Steve's expression was grim, something that was shared with Rhodey. "Ultron."

"Bastard did a number." The Colonel said with a shake of his head. "Can't believe we weren't here."

"There was nothing you could have done." T'challa said kindly. "This was beyond your control."

The newly arrived group momentarily stared at the Wakandan Prince until…

"Wait, you're that Prince guy Pete and Matt have been looking for, right?" Rhodey said, a metallic snap of his armor covered fingers.

"T'challa of Wakanda." The Prince said with a nod of his head. "It's an honor to meet the Avengers in person."

"Honors all ours, your highness." Steve said, offering his hand to shake which T'challa accepted shaking Rhodey's hand a moment later. "Glad to see you're alright. Peter and Matt have been trying to locate you for a while now."

"So I've heard." T'challa said.

"Well, I don't know if you want to join us or not." Steve said. "But right now, we're on our way to have a meeting with the Chancellor and a few senators after the meeting ends."

"The Chancellor you say?" T'challa said with intrigue, huffing to himself a moment later.

"Is something the matter?" Obi-wan inquired.

"Nothing of the sort." T'challa said. "Just something I believe my father would find amusing if he were here."

As the Prince got to know Steve, Rhodey and the rest of the group better, the senate meeting eventually came to an end.

The Senators dispersed for the time being with many still in heated discussion over the topic that had dominated the meeting from start to finish.

Said topic would be the focus of another meeting that was about to take place within the Chancellor's office within the next few minutes.

The group led by Cap and Obi-wan arrived at the Chancellor's office to find a fairly large group of individuals already there.

Practically the entire Jedi Council was there, either in person or over holo-transmission with several Senators present as well.

The rest of the Avengers were also now present here along with multiple high ranking Clone officials and admirals of the Republic.

"Any more people here and we might as well move this to a war room." Steve remarked.

Sam was the first one to see their arrival. "Steve. Rhodey. Obi, Aayla. Good to see you guys back."

"If only under better circumstances." Kenobi said grimly.

"You could say that again." Sam said, taking a moment to nod at Cody and Bly before turning over Peter, Matt and in particular…

"Cat man." Sam greeted the Wakandan Prince with T'challa snorting aloud.

"Bird man." the Prince said in kind with Sam smirking.

Steve and Rhodey regarded this interaction in confusion while Peter and Matt had small knowing looks.

The other day, when T'challa had at last met the current team of Avengers on the planet of Coruscant, Sam was the first to break the ice between them.

His opening line was a simple question.

" _So you like Cats?"_

So now, in that short amount of time, it had become a small inside joke between the duo.

But regardless of that, right now, a majority of Earth's enhanced were together now.

Only two were left to be found.

Steve Rogers took a moment to look over everyone who was physically here in the room.

Representing the Jedi were Master Yoda himself with Windu, Depa Billaba, Kit Fisto, Plo Koon, Mundi and the Successor to the fallen Master Eeth Koth, the newest Council Member Luminara Unduli.

Over Transmission was Shaak Ti from Kamino, Saesee Tinn, Oppo Rancisis, Adi Galla and Evan Piell all from various fleets or the Jedi Temple itself.

The other Jedi to be present were of course Anakin, Obi-wan, Aayla, Ahsoka and Barriss.

The Clone officers were Rex, Cody, Bly, Wolffe, Thire, Thorn, Ponds, Fordo, Grey, Fox, Bacara, Gree, Jet and Lock.

Of the present Senators, a majority of them were ones the Avengers were very familiar with.

Padme, Organa and Chuchi being the obvious three, same as Syndulla, to a lesser degree Mon Mothma and Jar Jar Binks. There were several other Senators and politicians that the Avengers weren't entirely familiar with and judging by the high ranking admirals present, it seems they had more introductions to be made.

"Wait…" Obi-wan Kenobi looked around. "Where is Admiral Yularen? Was he not present for the battle?"

Anakin Skywalker and Ahsoka Tano visibly sagged with Captain Rex gazing down at the ground in remorse and respect.

Jedi Council Member Saesee Tiin spoke up a moment later.

"He… He did not make it."

Obi-wan's eyes widened with his jaw slightly dropping in disbelief.

"Yularen… is dead?" Obi-wan was honestly finding himself more in shock then he had realized.

"Yes." Said a rather condescendingly superior tone off to the side. "The man went down with his ship as all good Captains have done in the past."

The newly arrived group looked over to a middle aged man in a crisp uniform of the Republic and a rather unusual hairstyle to say the least. This man's most defining features were his sharp cheekbones and equally sharp and cold eyes.

"I'm sorry, but who might you be?" Steve said respectfully.

The man regarded Captain Rogers momentarily, as if sizing him up until he nodded.

"Captain Wilhuff Tarkin." the man introduced himself. His tone was… rather curt but it appeared respectful. "You are the Avengers that I have heard so much about."

"That'd be us." Rhodey said, narrowing his eyes at the man who gazed back at the Colonel.

"Is something the matter?" Tarkin asked.

"Nothing." Rhodey coolly said. "You just remind me of something from back home."

"Truly? I hope it's not in a negative light."

"Wouldn't call it that." Sam spoke up.

"Yes." Tarkin said smoothly. "But regardless, I'd like to offer you my gratitude."

"For what?" Steve said in confusion.

"For your service towards the Republic." Tarkin stated plainly. "I have heard tall tales of your various endeavors and exploits across the galaxy in the war. Many have spoken of your abilities but it appears to have overshadowed the tactical advantage you have all brought yourselves. Your aid has resulted in more decisive military victories with far less casualties than previous campaigns. I take it the moniker of Captain Rogers is not one of a simple title?"

"No." Steve said steadily. "It's not."

"Then I hope we can work together one day." Tarkin said with what sounded like an honest tone. "It may be a refreshing change of pace than the usual high ranking individuals we officers have been forced into working with."

The subtle movement of the Captains eyes over to the Jedi were not lost on Steve and some of the other Avengers as the man stepped back just as Chancellor Palpatine had entered his office with his usual retinue in tow.

Though no one saw him do it, Matt Murdock picked up on Peter's sharp intake of breath with his hand going to his head.

"Are you alright, Peter?" Matt asked quietly.

The Queens native shook his head, rubbing his eyes for a moment as he winced again.

"I… I dunno." Peter said, visibly cringing now. "I just got this weird feeling."

Hearing this, Obi-wan looked over to his pseudo-student.

"Feeling?" Kenobi asked for clarification. "Is it your extra sense, Peter?"

"Something like that." Peter winced.

"Extra Sense?" T'challa asked in confusion.

"It's something connected to his abilities; a sixth sense if you will." Answered Obi-wan.

The Prince didn't have time to ask for further clarity as Chancellor Palpatine cleared his voice, calling for everyone's attention.

"I thank you all for coming on this meeting, ladies and gentlemen. This is quite the unfortunate time on what has befallen upon Coruscant- nay, the galaxy as we possibly know it given recent reports." Palpatine said, taking a seat at his desk.

Flanking the Chancellor's sides were two individuals constantly seen with him nearly at all times.

One was the male Chagrian known as Mas Amedda, Palpatine's right hand man since the Naboo Senator took office as Chancellor.

The other was…

Well she was a strange one to say the least in the eyes of the Avengers. Though they had seen a litany of species and humanoids since coming to this galaxy, this female standing by Palpatine's side, adjacent to Amedda.

She was a bald woman with pale white skin and equally pale white eyes. She appeared to be blind, but instead of the milky white appearance, there was a visible pupil with a faint line around the retina if one were to take a closer inspection. Asides from her physical description, she wore blue robes with an odd fur coat layer over it.

Though her appearance was one matter, the aura she gave off coupled with the damn near _dementedly haunting_ gaze she gave off was something else entirely.

The way she surveyed the room with her white eyes was off putting if the Avengers were being polite.

And it appears they weren't the only ones.

Some of the Jedi, Clones and Senators at one point sent wary looks in her direction before turning away.

"Who is this?" Widow asked politely enough. "I don't think we ever had the chance to meet before."

Palpatine gave the former spy a cordial smile.

"This is Sly Moore, my Senior Administrative Aide." The Chancellor said, gesturing a hand in Moore's direction. "She had not been here for some time due to health concerns. But she is back again, which I'm grateful for… despite circumstances."

"Are you really feeling alright?" Steve Rogers asked politely. "It would seem better to be resting and recovering more with what's happened."

"I am well." Sly said politely. "My leave of absence did end rather abruptly with this recent attack. Thus I intend to be here to perform my duties for the Republic even despite my small decline of health."

Palpatine gave Sly a kind smile and nod, looking back to the large assemblage before him.

"Now then, onto the pressing matters we have right now." Palpatine's voice was incredibly grave. "This attack… who perpetrated it?"

"We would have assumed it to be the Separatists." Mace Windu said, arms crossed. "But they would not have been so foolishly and brazenly attacked the capital of the Republic."

"It would appear that you and I share similar assumptions, Master Jedi." Palpatine said a moment later. "I have recently received word from operatives across the galaxy that not only were Republic worlds targeted, but even Separatist and shockingly enough, Outer Rim worlds with a prevalent Underground crime syndicates."

"The Outer Rim?" Senator Chuchi spoke up. "What in the galaxy would they wish to do there?"

"These were tactical strikes from my observations." Captain Tarkin spoke now. "I had heard of these reports and reviewed them ahead of time. This advanced droid attacked planets and systems that are known to hold strategic and moral importance to many across the Galaxy. The Separatist Capital world and several believed to be foundries of the Droid army. There's also Tatooine and Nar Shaddaa, two worlds instrumental in the underground crime world such as the Hutt Clans and Pyke syndicate."

"To attack on such a scale…" Anakin held a disturbed look in his eyes.

"What are we dealing with?" Luminara murmured aloud with her expression conveying deep contemplation.

Not a second later did Captain Steve Rogers cough into his hand with all eyes turning to him now.

With a reluctant sigh…

"His name is Ultron and we have… _history_ with him back home on Earth." Steve revealed to those present.

Now, several of the people present were aware by now that the Avengers knew who it was they were facing.

But to the rest…

"Begging your pardon, Captain Rogers." Palpatine said in confusion. "But the one who perpetrated this attack originated from your planet?"

Steve could only nod with the other Avengers doing the same.

Before he wanted to know more, Palpatine opted to look to the Jedi council for a moment.

"Master Yoda." Palpatine said. "Do you sense anything in the Force that may aid us in dealing with this new foe?

Yoda had his eyes closed with his head bowed down. "I do not, Chancellor. Outside the Force, this Ultron is. Detect him, we cannot. Find him, we cannot. Unsure of how to beat an enemy such as he is."

Nodding his head with a frown, the Chancellor looked back to the Avengers now.

"Captain Rogers." Palpatine interlaced his fingers, facing the super soldier entirely. "It is paramount that you and your friends tell us everything and anything we need to know about this… _Ultron._ He is a new enemy that has shown his hand to all that he is not afraid of any side of faction in this war."

"Where would you like to start?"

"The beginning would be most appropriate."

"Well then get a bit comfy in that chair." Natasha remarked. "This is gonna take a bit of time."

And thus what felt like hours, the Avengers who had originally taken part in battling against Ultron back on Earth began their tale.

From the start of a simple routine raid on a HYDRA facility. Meeting the Maximoff twins. The attack at the Avengers Tower in New York.

This then led to Pietro recounting how he and his sister first met the highly advanced synthetic being and being conscripted into helping him.

Hearing this was certainly a shocking development to some. Pietro was actually an enemy of the Avengers, willingly going along with Ultron's plans until realizing the mad AI he was with the planned extinction of their planet.

"Extinction?" Obi-wan said in bewilderment. "What in the Force would drive this Ultron into wanting to exterminate all life upon your planet?"

" _Peace of our time."_ Steve said with a shake of his head. "A solution Tony Stark sought to have in a program of his, yet Ultron ended up taking the goal too far in his own way."

"That's one way of putting it." Captain Rex muttered under his breath.

"If he wants peace, why all this then?" Palpatine asked, his hand sweeping out towards the currently devastated sight of Coruscant. "This serves no purpose in peace."

"Ultron was always multifaceted with how he presented his crap." Widow stated. "Evolution, changing times to better reflect the current conditions necessary to reach a higher goal in life."

"He grew tired of so many conflicts happening so he decided to iron out everything for a clean slate." Steve stated.

"How could he have come to such a conclusion?" Ahsoka asked nervously.

"Internet." Peter, Sam and a few other of the Avengers said at once.

"What?" Was the collective response.

"Oh, right, you guys don't have that here." Peter said, taking a moment to think. "Holo-net in terms of comparison. A lot of data all at once that Ultron cycled through in seconds."

"Learned everything he needed to see and came to his conclusion a minute later." Rhodey remarked. "Seeing everything that humanity had caused on Earth and was still causing to this day, he figure full scale genocide was the appropriate response."

"But what could he have seen that made him do such a thing?" Mas Amedda asked impatiently.

"Take a look outside again and you'll see the answer." Sam said.

The group followed in Sam's instructions and stared out the window, the sight of multiple gunships, transports and medical ships whizzing about in the air to carry off patients, debris, resources and so on.

"Conflict, war, famine, death, suffering, inequality." Nat listed off. "All problems Ultron saw on our planet that's presently happening across the galaxy nearly all at once."

"He basically found an all you can eat buffet of the same problems on Earth and sees it in all sentient life that's not him." Rhodey tacked on.

"But how was he able to control such an army, let alone the droids that seemed relatively harmless?" Plo Koon asked.

"You guys clearly don't have proper protection against his unique programming." Nat stated.

"His programming?" Anakin asked.

"Ultron is an AI." Peter said. "I wasn't there when he was made but if he's anything like most AI, then he's based off of someone or a bunch of people mixed into one person. Their template is one of sentience not data or programming."

"Something incredibly unique and _very_ dangerous was used in Ultron's unwitting creation." Steve said.

"What would that be?" Palpatine inquired.

"We don't know." Natasha said straight away. "This was something that we didn't understand or comprehend because we weren't there for it. Only two of our members were. One is back home on our planet and the other is… God knows where."

"I see… that is rather unfortunate." Palpatine said with a small scowl.

"Regardless, this Ultron must answer for his crimes." Mas Amedda declared.

"Good luck bringing him in." Rhodey said with a scoff. "You can't exactly expect him to come along willy nilly after what he just pulled off."

"Well we cannot under any circumstances simply sit around here waiting for his next move." Palpatine rebuked. "Every minute that passes by is a minute more that this ghastly droid has in planning for his next attack."

"Most of our fleets are on standby at a moment's notice." Mace Windu spoke up now.

"Yes, I have made additional notices and orders sent out to multiple Republic worlds of value that had not been attacked to be on standby for imminent assault." Wilhuff Tarkin stated professionally.

"Generals…" one of the Clone officers spoke up now, slightly unsure.

They turned to see that it was Captain Rex.

"Rex?" Anakin said, tone implying for him to speak what was on his mind.

Nodding, Rex removed his helmet and took a moment to think over his words.

"I believe there is something we haven't really discussed yet." Rex said.

"Being what exactly?"

"When… When he made his _entrance_ at the Jedi Temple… he said some questionable things."

A number of questioning brows were raised as Rex soon continued.

"I don't know if what he said holds any significance, but…"

"Go on, Captain." Palpatine urged. "What did he say?"

Rex visibly frowned. "I… I've been thinking about it and I can't deny it's bothering me more and more when I think about it."

"Rex, don't leave us hanging here in suspense." Anakin said a bit impatiently now. "I was there too, remember? What did he say that bothered you?"

Rex's mood fell.

"Strings… and puppets… and us being deceived." The Captain said. "That the Republic will fall and that the Clones would betray it. Turning upon the Republic and our generals with a simple order."

The rest of the group was largely disgruntled by this thought but several individuals picked up on something else entirely.

Out of the corner of her eyes, though it was hardly noticeable to some, the way Natasha said Chancellor Palpatine seized up oh so barely with his eyes flashing with what looked like panic was something that she would definitely take note of.

And through Matt's enhanced hearing, he oddly picked up the faintest incline of heart beats.

The last of those who noticed something strange overall was Master Yoda and Peter.

The aged Jedi grunt slightly, feeling a sudden reverberation in the Force that emanated from… he couldn't pinpoint where it had come from. But he was able to confirm _what_ side of the Force it was that let off this feeling.

The Dark Side of the Force.

It appeared that Ultron had not only made enemies out of the Republic.

And as for Peter, he now visibly cringed with a hand shooting up to his head as his sixth sense blared in warning.

"Peter?"

Blinking, Peter turned to see Barriss and behind her, Ahsoka, looking at him in concern.

Obi-wan had also noticed with Anakin, Matt and Steve turning to him momentarily.

"Are you alright?"

"I… I don't know. Just a splitting headache all of a sudden." Said the human teenager.

Palpatine tapped his hand on his desk to get everyone's attention once more.

"Much as I would like for us to discuss more on this matter, I believe it to be better that we disperse for now and go about our duties." Palpatine declared. "Captain Tarkin, in light of Yularen's passing, as much as I would like a ceremony to be made but I am hereby promoting you to vice-Admiral for the time being. Begin coordination of the restructuring of the defensive fleet over Coruscant."

The newly promoted vice-Admiral merely gave a firm nod to the Chancellor.

Palpatine then turned to the Jedi.

"Master Yoda…"

"Ready, we are." The Jedi Master said simply. "At a moment's notice, we will spring into action."

Palpatine gave him a satisfactory nod, before regarding the Avengers.

"I know that there is much that you have all already done for us and it seems that you have found another wayward comrade." the Chancellor said, nodding to Black Panther. "Much as I would like to get to know you-"

"Chancellor, this is _our_ fight." Steve Roger cut him off. "Ultron was meant to be destroyed and gone but he's still here and he's here now. We will do everything in our power to help in taking him out permanently."

Palpatine leaned back in his chair and exhaled aloud. "Then you have given this old man some level of comfort knowing that all present here will do their part in defeating this new menace."

With that said and done, the group left the Chancellor's office and dispersed among themselves.

_-Scene Cut-_

The large group had split up into multiple smaller groups overall, each one going off in multiple directions.

A majority of the Jedi and their Clone officers had left to either the temple or their personal legions/battalions to await further orders.

The multitude of officers had done the same, going towards their designated ships whilst Tarkin began to give out orders.

Of the large group dynamics, so to speak, only the Avengers stayed together in their entirety with several Jedi, Clones and Senators they were friendly with sticking with them.

"We will have to prepare accordingly." Obi-wan said straight away. "Judging from what you've told us of Ultron, he's a devious one."

"He can't be taken out in the conventional way." Rhodey stated. "

"And how did you guys take him out the first time? You did leave that part out."

"A combined attack, more or less, from Tony, Vision and Thor. It was severely demolished before Wanda crushed his main body and later Vision destroyed the last straggler holding his, what was it Viz called it? His digitized presence? Yeah that." Pietro revealed. "But before that, Vision had to have him locked into his body."

"Apparently not well enough, I'm afraid." Obi-wan said gravely.

"Lock him into his body?" Anakin asked in bewilderment. "What's that mean?"

"He kept body hopping between any and all drones connected to him." Nat said. "Every time we destroyed one body; he simply transferred his consciousness into another body in an instant. No matter how many of them we destroyed, Ultron would just rebuild another one for himself."

"Great." Anakin dryly said. "Sounds like we're gonna have a lot of _fun_ with him."

"But that's what I don't get." Scott spoke up for the first time since they had all been assembled. "Cap, Nat, didn't you guys say that Vision sealed him inside all his bodies and the drones were all destroyed?"

"Perhaps your fellow Avenger missed something." Luminara Unduli commented. "From what you're describing, Ultron seems to be rather powerful."

"No…" Steve shook his head. "That's not it. Vision's means of taking down Ultron was permanent, so to speak. He did something to his internal consciousness that prevented him from hopping over to new bodies."

"Then how is it that he came back?" Ahsoka asked.

The Avengers were momentarily silent until…

Scott gasped aloud. "HYDRA."

The others looked at him with Scott now putting up fingers to his temples as if massaging his brain into remembering.

"They gathered all of his pieces, remember? Making that giganto version of him. One of them must've had some remaining consciousness of him that was overlooked."

The others stared in utter shock and stunned realization.

"That's…. That's actually a possibility." Steve surmised.

"Wouldn't put it past HYDRA to work with something they have no understanding or control over." Nat remarked.

"Here, here." Pietro piped up, getting the two founding Avengers to snort aloud knowingly.

"Your guess is as good as mine unless anyone can think of something better."

With another group, another conversation took place.

"Sorry that we got brought back together like this, T'challa." Peter said sheepishly. "I was hoping Matt and I would find you under more…"

"Less stressful circumstances." Matt stated.

T'challa chuckled good naturedly. "I've heard it a good number of times, as redundant as it is by now."

Peter laughed with Matt smirking.

"So where'd ya end up?" the former of the two asked.

"This planet called Kashyyyk, home to the Wookiees." T'challa revealed. "A jungle-like world entirely. I have spent some time learning of their customs and cultures and have found myself rather enjoying the time I had there."

"Glad to know it wasn't too bad." Peter said. "Was it?"

"It was… as one would expect when finding yourself on an alien world." T'challa said airily.

"Confusing, bewildering and overwhelming?" Matt asked knowingly. "And getting roped into a conflict you didn't have any knowledge of."

"Precisely." T'challa said. "Still. I would have preferred it if Meow-Mix had Spider-cop and Devil-Officer by his side in this instance."

Peter gasped aloud, a wide beaming grin appearing as he began pointing to himself, then Matt, then T'challa and rinse and repeat.

"Matt, did you-can you-"

"Yes, Peter." Matt said in amusement. "I heard him quite clearly."

"Oh, if only Shuri heard that right now."

"That will never happen." T'challa said. "The last thing I need is for her to hold that over me for the rest of my days."

"What're you guys talking about?"

The trio turned to see Ahsoka and Barriss standing before them.

"Oh, T'challa." Peter said straight away. "These are two friends of mine that I made since we came here. Meet Ahsoka and Barriss. Girls, this is Prince T'challa."

"Are you truly the Prince of your nation back on Earth?" Barriss inquired with intrigue.

"Indeed I am." T'challa bowed slightly. "It is a pleasure to meet you both."

"Pleasures all ours." Ahsoka said graciously. "You showing up with the Wookiees helped us turn the tide when we needed it."

"Thank you, Prince T'challa." Barriss said with a more respectful bow.

"You don't need to do that." T'challa said kindly. "Just T'challa will do. And I do appreciate it along with the friends who helped me reach this planet."

"A Wookie on the battlefield is a terrifying thing I've heard." Ahsoka commented. "What we saw just confirmed it."

As the two Padawans got to know T'challa, the rest of the group were discussing a more serious matter.

"Ultron may be someone who uses a level of deceit in the things he does but…" Natasha crossed her arms. "I don't know what to make of what he said."

"It all sounded a bit too ominous, if you ask me." Anakin said. "Now that Rex mentioned it, I can't help but think about it now."

"You mentioned something about deception, correct Rex?" Obi-wan asked.

"Yes, all being deceived from something from the shadows and being pulled by strings."

The Jedi Master frowned, stroking his beard.

"Obi-wan?" Anakin asked knowingly.

"Hmmm?"

"I know you're thinking of something and it's that look when you wanna remember something." Anakin pointed out.

Rather than deny it, Kenobi's frown deepened slightly.

"It's… something I remember Dooku spoke to me about when I was held prisoner at Geonosis when the war commenced."

"About a Sith lord infiltrating the Senate?" Padme Amidala asked with Kenobi slowly nodding in confirmation.

She remembered this as something that she had heard from Obi-wan and her husband Anakin after the start of the war.

"He definitely knows something." Hope van Dyne stated. "Guys like him always do. It's what they're good at."

Kenobi hummed aloud, looking to three of the Avengers in particular.

"And if memory serves, didn't you three go through a similar experience back on Earth; with HYDRA infiltrating that military organization? What was it called again, SHIELD?"

This got some deepened frowns from Steve, Sam and Natasha on the mention of this.

"But still… Dooku saying such things…"

"Originally a means of possibly throwing us off our game. But what if it was actually a genuine warning."

"It might've fooled me." Obi-wan confessed. "He did such a confession in hopes of having me join him, a means of connecting us further due to our relation with my late master and his late apprentice, Qui-gon."

Anakin's shoulder sagged slightly at the mention of the Jedi master who had found him and freed him from slavery those many years ago.

"To hear this from another source, someone _not_ from our galaxy is… troubling to say the least." Aayla couldn't help but comment.

"So then what do we do about it?" Anakin asked. "Feels like for every question we ask, instead of answer, we just get a thousand more."

A grumbling silent agreement befell the group when Natasha's eyes squinted, signifying something she had just remembered.

"Did you notice anything odd with the Chancellor?"

Many looked to her in confusion.

"What do ya mean?" Anakin asked.

"He seemed rather off when Rex was giving his accounts at the Jedi Temple." Nat pointed out.

"He was probably startled as did just about everyone else." Anakin said with a shrug.

"Not in the traditional sense." Nat stated.

"And how can you be so sure?" Anakin asked with a slightly accusatory look.

"I've been highly trained as an assassin and spy since I was just a little girl." Natasha bluntly admitted, causing a few of the Jedi and even Avengers to wince. Only the Clones appeared unbothered by this revelation.

"I needed to learn to pick up a lot of subtle clues one would make in terms of reactions." Nat said. "And from what I picked up on, Palpy was really bothered by all this."

"I'm pretty sure we all are by this point, Natasha." Padme said.

"We'll need more than your assumptions, Natasha." Obi-wan informed her.

"Weren't you guys paying attention?" Nat asked rhetorically. "I wasn't the only one to pick up on the Chancellor's reactions."

"What was he even reacting to?" Anakin bluntly asked.

Nat nodded her head at Skywalker's Second-in-Command. "It's what Rex said about Ultron when he came to the temple. I wasn't the only one to pick up a reaction after that."

"And who else would these individuals be?" Aayla inquired.

Nat simply thumbed behind her over to Peter with Matt, T'challa, Ahsoka and Barriss.

"Peter sure got a headache out of the blue." Nat said. "You saw him, Obi-wan. You even asked him about it."

The Jedi Master had no response to that, knowing that he had been assisting the young teen in understanding this sixth sense.

From what he had gathered after a dozen or so lessons, this sixth sense Peter had was similar to the subtle Force precognition Jedi's have when avoiding attacks or deflecting blaster bolts.

Only Peter's was far more different from what Kenobi and the boy himself had come to understand.

They were only still getting a grasp of this extra sense overall.

"With Matt, we can probably ask him what he picked up from the Chancellor."

"You mean with those head movements of his?" Sam asked, Nat nodding in confirmation. "What do you think he picked up?"

Before Natasha was able to say anything else, multiple alarms went off with everyone's communication link beeping rapidly.

"What's going on?" Scott asked worriedly.

No sooner did he ask did Obi-wan's holo transmitter attached to his belt go off.

Quickly holding it up, the small datapad was activated to reveal Mace Windu and Master Yoda standing together.

"What's the matter, Masters?"

" _Ultron."_ Windu answered straight away, startling the group. _"He was recently spotted and attacking as we speak."_

"An attack so soon?" Padme asked in disbelief.

" _We're mobilizing half a dozen fleets to counterattack him right now."_ Windu stated.

"Half a dozen?" Anakin said in awe. "That seems a bit excessive, don't ya think?"

" _After what he had just done, not with him it isn't."_ Windu said. _"Skywalker, Kenobi, Secura, the three of you will be spearheading this assault. I will be backing you with Master Fisto, Plo Koon and Adi Galla."_

" _Assemble everything we can. Stop Ultron, we must."_ Yoda said in a grave voice.

"Let's just hope he doesn't infiltrate and tamper with the Republic cruisers." Anakin murmured, remembering the AI's capabilities the Avengers just told him.

"I have an answer to that." Rhodey spoke up, tapping on his chest piece. "Tap?"

" _Yes comrade?"_ The Avengers' Personal AI responded from within Rhodey's suit.

"I know Tony programmed you and probably that other AI in Peter's suit to combat something like this." Rhodey said. "It's time to work your magic."

" _At once Comrade."_ Tap proclaimed. _"An iron curtain shall descend upon Ultron."_

With that, the large group ran off towards the ships with Scott asking one last question.

"Where is this attack even taking place?"

Anakin held up his wrist comm and took a moment to read out the flashing sequences of lights that conveyed the coordinates they were being sent to.

"Jabiim."

**Alright, there we have it folks, the brief lull before the escalation of Ultron's campaign against the galaxy.**

**And if you are unaware of where they're going right now, well to those Star Wars fans in the know, I'm certain you guys are gonna love it.**

**To the unaware, let's just say that Umbara was the only thing close enough to match how dark and bleak things got during the Clone Wars for the Clones.**

**And this time, it's Ultron who's involved.**

**Jebest4781: Asides from this, I hope everyone is staying safe and doing well in this new year. And despite a few…** _**hiccups** _ **quite recently this week, things are doing alright.**

**FMW: Yeah… yeah… still, loving the reviews and excitement you guys had from the last chapter. Everyone's overwhelming joy at seeing Ultron back, us doing the OG animated Clone Wars (All Jebests idea), bringing in Fordo, showing off Wanda, Vision and T'challa was something I am so happy we finally got to. And we're only getting started mind you. There are still more crazier twists to come in the next season.**

**Jeb: So be patient fellow readers and writers, we will get to the good stuff soon enough. Quite a lot has been planned and it'll take time to finally reach them.**

**FMW: A reviewer said it best. At this point, expect the unexpected. Season 3 is gonna be pure insanity from start to the end of season 5. This is one of the best stories I feel I've ever written and with Jebest it just got even better with the ideas we exchanged and created. Some of his are just one's I wish we could get to faster and makes me want a clone where we would just constantly write to churn out one chapter after another.**

**Jeb: Wouldn't that be grand to have…**

**FMW: One day in the future. They already have cloned sheep. But I digress.**

**Thanks again for reading.**

**Be sure to check out our other co-written works, I'm Nobody and A Song of Fire, Ice and Hearts cause I'll never stop promoting those and until next time.**

**Rate Read and Review and as Always Have Nice Day.**


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